Thoreau’s Idea of Loneliness

In paragraph 12 of “Solitude,” Thoreau describes his experience of being alone, as at this point of his life he is still living by himself in the woods. He does this in a very intriguing way; he starts with his experience and from that, moves up one level of abstraction and into theory. He does this by him stating his opinion first, which is that he loves the idea of being by himself and doesn’t really seem to enjoy other’s company. Then, he takes what he has experienced for himself, being alone, and turns it into a general claim on what loneliness really means. He shifts his language and instead of using the word, “I,” changes it to “we,” to encompass all of society in his generalization. He moves up one level of abstraction and theorizes that loneliness is more of a concept and state of mind, rather than physically being near other people. To help with his general claim, he adds a comparison between a farmer and a student, “the farmer can work alone in the field or woods all day… and not feel lonesome, because he is employed, but when he comes home at night, he cannot sit down in a room alone…he wonders how the student can sit alone in the house all night and most of the day without enui and ‘the blues.’ ” This comparison helps to understand his theory because the farmer’s not alone when tending to his farm, which is his field. The student’s field is different, his or her field is inside a building studying. Hence, his theory contains the idea that everyone is different with what he or she has as a field, the place where he or she can work without feeling lonesome. His belief is that as long as the mind is engaged with something, for instance a certain activity, than there’s no way to be lonely because you’re engrossed with whatever you’re doing. It was necessary for Thoreau to start with his experience then theorize because, as a writer, it gives him more credibility on the subject. If he were to just state his beliefs about loneliness out of nowhere without any context, it would cause the reader to say, “so what?” If he had no experience with what he’s claiming, his idea wouldn’t be listened to or taken as seriously because a person needs to have involvement in the subject if he or she is going to make a general claim. I find the move he uses interesting because instead of just recounting his experiences, while interesting, doesn’t really grab the reader’s attention as well as a theory that questions common ideas of society. It’s more interesting to question on what the term, “lonely,” means, then to just read about how he likes to be lonely. By using the word, “we,” it’s more inclusive and the reader can be a part of the conversation. In this way, moving up one level of abstraction allows the reader to judge Thoreau’s ideas about loneliness and can determine if he or she agrees or not. I also find his theory interesting because he may be trying to justify his decision in staying in the woods. He may want to prove to people that he isn’t lonely, even though he lives by himself. Thus, Thoreau’s theory about loneliness gives the reader a lot to think about and challenges him or her to think differently about what he or she previously conceptualized.