Jack-Animals
My group worked together on Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. We each covered our own subtopic within the text, and my focus was on animals in the story. Through my close readings of the text, I soon found a theme. The text seems to give animals a much higher status than traditionally given to animals, especially in an industrialized world. Thoreau places a large emphasis on animals and their role within the story and even gives a sense of divinity in the animals due to their close connection to nature. Thoreau makes it obvious to readers that animals hold great power, and are deserving of more respect than humans typically treat them with.
Since my work centers around close readings, I will insert one of the passages here. This particular passage portrays the elevated status that Thoreau gives to animals:
“Certainly no nation that lived simply in all respects, that is, no nation of philosophers, would commit so great a blunder as to use the labor of animals. True, there never was and is not likely soon to be a nation of philosophers, nor am I certain it is desirable that there should be. However, I should never have broken a horse or bull and taken him to board for any work he might do for me, for fear I should become a horse-man or a herds-man merely; and if society seems to be the gainer by so doing, are we certain that what is one man’s gain is not another’s loss, and that the stable-boy has equal cause with his master to be satisfied? Granted that some public works would not have been constructed without this aid, and let man share the glory of such with the ox and horse; does it follow that he could not have accomplished works yet more worthy of himself in that case? When men begin to do, not merely unnecessary or artistic, but luxurious and idle work, with their assistance, it is inevitable that a few do all the exchange work with the oxen, or, in other words, become the slaves of the strongest.”
This passage is taken from pages 48-49. It seems to view animals as equals to humans, or possibly something even greater, which I will expand on later. Thoreau refers to the oxen as the “strongest”, and notes that by relying on the strongest to do our work for us, we became slaves. Even though it is humans that domesticate and train the animals, they become slaves to the animals when they can’t do any work without the use of them. Oxen are particularly important, because they are much stronger than any human, and are often used for things like farming and building. Farming provides us with food, and buildings provide shelter, both of which are necessities to human survival. When it’s the oxen that pull the plows and carry the heavy building materials, it diminishes the meaning of the work, because it is humans that take credit for it even though they use animals for most of the work. By relying on these oxen and other animals, humans become lazy. Furthermore, men who use these animals are referred to in this passage as “horse-man or a herds-man merely”, using the word merely to diminish the status of the human. Because after all, they’re completely dependent on these animals in order to complete their work. By placing the horse and the herds before the word “man”, it implies that animals are even more important than humans. And by hyphenating the two, it makes it seem as if the horse and herds are in ownership of the men who claim to control them. What’s more, philosophers, who are the most intelligent and enlightened humans, would never use animals for labor or eat them. We often turn to philosophers for guidance on important moral subjects, and it’s obvious in this passage that using the labor of animals and butchering them is unethical.
Another passage I have that illustrates the theme I found is from page 108. It reads;
“The wildest animals do not repose, but seek their prey now; the fox, and skunk, and rabbit, now roam the fields and woods without fear. They are Nature’s watchmen,-links which connect the days of animated life.”
This passage illustrates the high status of animals that Thoreau notices. He even seems to be placing them above humans. They are much more closely-connected to nature, and are able to roam the wild natural world without fear. This is unlike humans, who are so insecure that they need to master or dominate nature in order to feel comfortable in it. This passage gives the animals an almost divine status, as they are the watchmen that guard the natural world against those who would do it harm; humans. This makes the animals into heroes and the humans into villains. Animals serve as the links that connect humans to nature, and humans rely on these animals for all kinds of labor. Rather than placing humans at the center, Thoreau illustrates that humans are much less important than we think, and that it is really the animals that are more important. By using animals for labor, humans feel more connected to nature, which wouldn’t be possible without the work of the animals. Also, the animals don’t need to “repose” or rest, unlike humans, who need rest even after using animals for their labor.
Thoreau also speaks of the power that animals hold, and illustrates how even the smallest of animals can have a large impact. This is exemplified in my close reading of page 202;
This passage illustrates that animals can cause change that is much bigger than themselves, even when those animals are quite small. In relation to time, the pond changes and freezes over, and the animals make their mark on it. There are “furrows in the sand where some creature has travelled about and doubled on its tracks”. He then goes on to say that the furrows “are deep and broad for them to make”, suggesting the power that animals have to create significant change, even if they’re small and seemingly insignificant. The cadis worms are quite small, but they can still leave marks much larger than themselves.
In Thoreau’s text, he gives animals a much higher status than one normally would. He even goes so far as to suggest that they are superior to humans in their close connection to nature and their ability to traverse it freely. Not only do animals do much of the work that humans need, they also protect and watch over nature as its guardians.
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