American Slavery and Greek Myths: Where They Intersect in Walden

In Chapter 2 of Walden, Thoreau describes his readiness to embark upon his “experiment” at the pond: “To enjoy these advantages I was ready to carry it on; like Atlas, to take the world on my shoulders,—I never heard what compensation he received for that,—and do all those things which had no other motive or excuse but that I might pay for it and be unmolested in my possession of it.”  When Thoreau comments, “I never heard what compensation he received for that,” he expands his telling of his feelings before relocating to Walden Pond into the theoretical realm.  Thoreau was a renowned abolitionist.  During his time, slavery played an immense economic role in both the North and South: “cash crops” like cotton were invaluable to the Southern economy, and Northern factories relied heavily on them as well.  Perhaps the “world” of the industrializing United States economy was built on the shoulders of slaves—receiving no compensation for their toil.  Atlas, whom Thoreau directly references, is a Titan in Greek mythology, forced to bear the world upon his shoulders after the Titans were defeated by the Olympians.  Thoreau theorizes that some sort of compensation or greater acknowledgement at the least is due to Atlas—literally for holding up the world we live in.  As readers, we can expand this and read it as a commentary on the peculiar institution during Thoreau’s life.  For the important role slaves held in building the “world” of the American economy, they deserve their freedom and a just compensation at minimum, Thoreau appears to argue.  By inserting this short but substantial commentary on Atlas, Thoreau opens up a whole layer of theory surrounding society—which he has no shortage of problems with already.