This week, we are in the middle of the chapter, “House-Warming.” He uses a lot of old-fashioned terms to describe various locations in a house. Do you know what a “hearth,” “parlor” or a “dumb-waiter” (133)? You won’t be able to understand some of the wonderful metaphors he makes here unless you look them up! He compares a house to a “bird’s nest,” “cell,” and a “palace” all in one paragraph (133)! What would you compare your house to? Does that comparison help you to understand any of Thoreau’s? He describes making his house ready for cold weather (133-134).
On page 134, he describes the pond as winter comes. He uses similes to describe the pond’s icy surface. Once again, he layers one image over the next. He’s not comparing the pond to only one thing, but many things. Why do you think he does this? Have you ever seen ice on a lake? I think that Thoreau is like a painter, except with words. Just like a painter will use shading to give depth, he uses several images to do the same thing. On page 135, winter has come to Walden Pond. His house is sealed up and ready. He describes sheltering in his house and I think how lucky he is to shelter by choice. Keep in mind that in Thoreau’s time, houses did not have central heating systems, which meant that in the winter, people had to burn wood or coal to keep their houses warm. The paragraph on page 136 that starts with “Gilpin,” is almost like an introductory paragraph to an essay. He gives background and context by talking about forests, hunting, farmers, and Romans for the NEXT paragraph where he describes the “value” of wood. Compare that to how our homes are heated today with oil or gas. He then goes on to discuss how different types of wood burn. Since heat is so crucial to survival, knowing this information was important, especially for someone living alone in the woods in the winter. The next chapter, “Former Inhabitants and Winter Visitors,” starts on page 139. To keep himself company, he thinks about the people who used to live in the woods, who lives nearby, and who is passing through. In the last paragraph on page 139, he describes Cato. This is such a sad passage. Cato grew walnuts, but a white man came and claimed his property since he was a slave and did not own it. The next paragraph, on the top of page 140, is also terrible. It is about Zilpha whose house was burned down in the war. Later, a passerby hears her saying to herself that she is starving--”all bones, bones.” Thoreau has opinions about drinking. He compares rum to a “demon” and a murderer. “Breed’s hut” was like a pub or bar, but it was set on fire by some boys. On page 141, he describes how fires were fought back then, which is so interesting. He describes other neighbors, like Col Quoil, who have died. I’m starting to get the feeling that these places that are deserted or burned down are the neighbors. He’s surrounded by the past, by history. He doesn’t have Netflix and so keeps himself entertained by constructing stories of the people who lived here before him. That’s so cute. On pages 144-145, he’s walking around in the snow. He looks up and sees an owl. He looks down and sees various tracks in the snow. The chapter ends with several metaphors. On page 146, I feel like he’s saying that men are poor images of G-d and the earth is a house for all mankind. Extending the metaphor in the next paragraph, he compares fishes and clouds to thoughts. On the bottom of page 146, he references “Vishnu Purana” as a model for the “duty of hospitality.”
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