27 April 2014
Dear Mr. Thoreau,
My name is [name]. I am a student attending Pembroke High School in Massachusetts. I find your views on nature and the human disposition to be very interesting. To be specific I find it intriguing that you think; life is too bogged down and should be lived as simply as possible, that man should rely on himself only, and that one should exercise civil disobedience when displeased with the running of his or her government.
When it comes to embarking on the virtue of simplicity, I agree greatly. You state; “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail” (Thoreau). I could not agree more. I find that keeping a limited count on my affairs keeps my life in order, and without issue. When you create too many events, you lose track and you lose order. Due to that, you lose quality, for if you divert your attention to too many happenings, you lose the ability to uphold your concentration on one.
I also agree with your notion that a man should be self-reliant. I think that too much interdependence can lead to an easily collapsible society. Like in Jenga, if every piece’s support is stacked on the support of the one beneath it, when the piece below falls, all of the others shall fall too. “All good things are wild and free” (Thoreau). I think that all should have the freedom to live apart from each other and exist in solitude and self-reliance if they please. Yet I ask you, how did you manage to live without reliance on others for so long? I fear I could not endeavor on such an advancement.
I also am very smitten with joy over your bravery to stand up to a racist government and show them how you feel. I am astonished by your ability to hold to your beliefs and state that “Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves” (Thoreau). That is to fight the true...