The Thoreau Society Bulletin

2005·1.8 MB·English

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generations ofwriters through his own writings, through his
Thoreau
civic examples as a relentless defender oftheAmerican
wilderness, and through his pioneering work as the founding
director ofthe creative writing program at Stanford
—
University aprogram which shares honors with the Iowa
Society
Writers Workshop as one ofthe two premiere centers for the
advanced study ofcreative writing inAmerica. Among the
writers Stegner mentored at Stanford between 1946 and 1971
were EdwardAbbey (DesertSolitaire, 1968), Wendell Berry
Bulletin (The Unsettling ofAmerica: Culture andAgriculture, 1977),
Ken Kesey (One Flew Overthe Cuckoo'sNest, 1962), N.
Scott Momaday (The Way to RainyMountain, 1969), Tillie
ISSN 0040-6406 Number 252 Summer 2005 Olson (TellMe a Riddle, 1961), Robert Stone (Dog Soldiers,
1974), Ernest J. Gaines (TheAutobiography ofMissJane
Pittman, 1971), and Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove,
"Invading Walden;' Part II: The
1986). Wendell Berry has described the extent ofStegner's
Thoreauvian Dilemmas of Wallace influence on his own work more than once: "I've become his
Stegner's On a Darkling Plain follower in lots ofways. And it didn't,happen at Stanford,
but when I came away, when I came back and settled here [in
Steven Hartman
Port Royal, Kentucky] and began to read his non-fiction
books WolfWillow, Beyondthe Hundredth Meridian, the
Iamcertainly influencedbyThoreau; Ihuntupthe Devoto biography, and the conservation essays. His very
mostremotebackwoods farminVermonttospend
mysummerson; Iwritethingsthathavethe painstaking attempt to understand himselfin terms ofhis
own regional sources has been extremely important and
inescapable stampofhisinfluenceonthem. Callit
apervasiveratherthan aspecific influence, andI confirming to me.... I thinkhe's probably the firstAmerican
amreadyto agreethatDarklingPlain stems from fiction writer to be a conservationist.... Stegnerbecomes the
Walden. It's apoorthing, butmineown, andI ancestor or predecessor ofthe next generation ofpeople like
ratherliketheideaofitshavingdistinguished EdwardAbbey and Gary Snyder."4
ancestors.1 Indeed, some ofthe preeminent writers on nature and the
environment from the past several decades havelikewise
Thus ends Wallace Stegner's letter to Walter Harding of paid Stegner the highest tributes as an influence, among them
14 July 1940. Stegnerwould go on to become an Terry TempestWilliams, Barry Lopez, Gretel Ehriich, Ivan
importantAmerican writer. Author ofthirty books in Doig, and EdwardAbbey. Stegner's "Wilderness Letter"
a variety offorms and genres, he earned the Pulitzer Prize in (1960) and his essay "The Sense ofPlace" (1986) are classic
fiction forhis novelAngle ofRepose (1971) and the National texts in the history ofAmerican literary environmentalism.
BookAward in fiction for his novel The SpectatorBird The former document in particular served as arallying
(1976).2 Five times the winnerofan O. Henry Memorial manifesto for many within the nascent environmental
Award for short fiction, seven times anthologized in the movement, catalyzing passage ofthe landmarkWilderness
annual BestAmerican Short Stories anthologies, Stegner had Act of 1964, as the National Wildlife Federation noted in
been reckoned one ofAmerica's masters ofshort fiction in their 2003 citation upon inducting Stegner into the
the 1940s and 1950s, until he decided the short story was a
young writer's game and stopped writing them altogether.3
Contents
Instead he chose to focus on his novels (ofwhich he wrote
thirteen in all) and his many volumes ofnon-fiction, which Words that Burn: Early Testimony
included sophisticated, evocative works ofmemoir Wolf ofThoreau's Genius 7
(
Willow, 1962), biography {The Uneasy Chair:A Biography Another "New" Thoreau Letter 8
ofBernardDeVoto, 1974), criticism (The Writer inAmerica,
The New John Brown Biography:
1952), and history (Beyond the Hundredth Meridian: John
AReview 8
Wesley Powellandthe Second Opening ofthe West, 1954), as
well as collections ofessays (The SoundofMountain Water, For a Time as ShiftingAs Sand: Walden
1969) on subjects as diverse as the art offiction, Mormon in the UnitedArab Emirates 10
history and culture, the American—West, racism, nature, Notes & Queries 12
conservation and the environment all subjects about which
Additions to the Thoreau Bibliography 15
Stegner had an enduring interest and passionately held
convictions. Calendar ofEvents 16
Stegner exerted significant influence on younger
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
Conservation Hall ofFame (other writers to have been the Thoreauvian dilemma."8
inducted include Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, John Muir, Other distinctive voices in the American literary
John Burroughs, and Henry DavidThoreau). Scholarship tradition have staked out similar territory to very good
—
focusing on Stegner's literary, environmental, and scholarly effect Thomas Merton or John Haines come quickly to
contributions toAmerican culture and public debate have mind. Neither ofthese writers would appear to be seriously
dramatically increased in the past decade, particularly in the indebted to Thoreau's experiment in rustic self-sufficiency at
context ofhistoricizing theAmericanWest. Walden Pond, nor to the narrative ofspiritual independence
When Wallace Stegner wrote back to Walter Harding in and environmental engagement through which he
July 1940, he had achieved as yet almost none ofthe immortalized that venture as anAmerican cultural
accomplishments sketched out above, but he had already touchstone. Yet in the wake of WaIdens canonization,
begun to exhibit thematic preoccupations that would literary narratives ofsolitude, simplicity, and voluntary
underpin his writings over the next halfcentury,just as he retreat into wild or rustic settings are bound to draw
had begun to form ideas that would influence the direction comparison to Thoreau's masterwork. Indeed, Wendell
ofhis public life. Some ofthese preoccupations and ideas Berry hasjustly complained that "one ofthe strongest of
are evident in his early letter to Harding, and even more so contemporary conventions is that ofcomparing to Thoreau
in his third novel. "Probably my admiration for [Thoreau] every writer who has been as far out ofthe house as the
had something to do with the attraction ofthe gathering mailbox."9 Fortunately, this mistake is easy enough to avoid
theme ofDarkling Plain. His disgust with certain sides of in the case ofStegner andThoreau. As writers they are
human society is easy to agree with in 1940, and easy and altogether different animals and despite some broadly
perhaps mistaken imitations ofhis primitivism are concurring views ofhumanity, nature, and culture (but not of
tempting."5 society), it's hard to imagine two more temperamentally
Though late in life he would not look back at On a incompatible figures.
Darkling Plain as one ofhis favorite works, referring to it Yet given Walden s primacy in theAmerican tradition of
disparagingly as "a littlejejune novel" in which he was literary withdrawal narratives, we should not be surprised
experimenting with the materials ofhis Saskatchewan that Stegner's novel came to Walter Harding's attention in
childhood,6 it was in fact his first full-length novel, the most the first place through the agency ofa review in the New
WALDEN
ambitious fiction project he had yet undertaken, and he was YorkHerald-Tribune that had labeled it "a ofthe
inclined to take it seriously enough when he responded to plains."10 The reviewer overstated the matter, to be sure.
Harding's query. The response was eloquent, well-framed, The most obvious similarities between the works are partial
and uncommonly generous in its provision ofdetails. and to some extent superficial, yet they are also far from
Stegner sketched out the novel's autobiographical basis, insignificant in other ways. When Stegner eventually
tracing the roots ofits story to a series ofmemories from recognized "the Thoreauvian dilemma" as the "essential
childhood that had been rekindled during a recent walking problem" ofhis protagonist, the alienated romantic and
trip in Vermont. Offering Harding a briefaccount ofhis hit- would-be hermit-poet Edwin Vickers, he also understood, if
and-miss work on the novel, which took him through several belatedly, that in a very real sense he was "invading
distinct draft versions (two ofwhich he destroyed), Stegner Walden": "Even though I did not consciously walk in
noted for the record some ofthe literary stimuli that had Thoreau's footsteps in the novel, I immediately recognized
prompted him, in part, to undertake the novel, including what I had done when it began to take shape." The upshot,
some stirring imagery and ideas in the poetry ofArchibald
MacLeish and Matthew Arnold. Accordingly Stegner turned
We
to MacLeish for the novel's title-page epigraph, "Men are are grateful to
brothers for life lived, and are hurt for it," and he took the Films by Huey
novel's title from the closing lines ofArnold's most famous
poem: "And we are here as on a darkling plain / Swept with
Princeton University Press
confused alarms ofstruggle and flight, /Where ignorant
armies clash by night."7
forsupporting the Thoreau Society's publications
Stegner de—votes the bulk o—fhis letter to Harding to one
last important albeit general influence ("Call it a with its advertisements.
Those interested in supporting the Thoreau
pervasive rather than a specific influence" he suggests), of
Society's publications should contact Jayne
which he admits becoming aware comparatively late in the
Gordon, Executive Director, Thoreau Society,
writing process: "I can't see any direct impetus from MA
55 Old Bedford Road, Concord, 01742 U.S.A.;
Thoreau, since I hadn't been reading him at the time and so @
far as I can remember didn't think ofhim until, with the e-mail Jayne.Gordon thoreausociety.org
manuscript piling up, I recognized the essential problem as
—
"
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
Stegnerreadily agrees in retrospect, is that "Darkling Plain view ofthe greaterhuman community, an exaggeration of
stems from Walden."11 Thoreau's Walden narrator at his crankiest: "human society
Ifnot quite on the same level ofaccomplishment as was, and had always been, a miserable failure. Only by
these classics, Stegner's On a Darkling Plain thusjoins detaching themselves from society could human beings stay
Henry Beston's OutermostHouse (1928) andAldo human; only as individuals, in isolation ... could they keep
Leopold'sA Sand CountyAlmanac (1949) among works of their dignity."15
"retreat literature" from the early- to mid-20th century which The principal conflict in On a Darkling Plain is an
"should be seen," in Lawrence Buell's words, "as eternal one. In the palliatives ofsolitude and nature, Edwin
Thoreauvian documents even though they make little Vickers seeks spiritual restoration after the soul-crippling
reference to Thoreau. Whether in fact it was Thoreau or experiences ofwar. Similarities to the author-narrator of
some entirely different constellation offorces that prompted Walden are evident in any number ofways. Ayoung poet
these 'Thoreauvian' experimenters is ultimately less who keeps a dailyjournal, Vickers builds his own hovel
important than how his image as pastoral hermit gave public (with the help ofa distant neighbor). "The walls were dirt,
shape and articulation to other such ventures, whatever their the floor dirt. He would share the snugness ofhis burrow
actual impetus."12 Buell's exposition ofthis tradition is with spiders andbugs and mice. But that didn't matter.
limited largely to biographical and autobiographical Reduce your wants to the minimum ifyou wanted to be
narratives (that is, works ofnon-fiction) that depend content. And all he wanted was a shelter,that he couldretire
conventionally upon what he terms the "plot of to in bad weather."16 He has a critical turn ofmind
relinquishment." Yet his list ofnotable works from the "Realities!... The only way to get at reality w—as to throw out
second halfofthe century that extend this tradition include everything that most people called reality"17 and in some
the likes ofEdwardAbbey's DesertSolitaire (1968) and respects a classic Thoreauvian personality. He keeps one
Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (1974),13 texts that book with him, an anthology of 19th-century poetry,
clearly challenge conventional understandings ofnon-fiction disdaining to read the newspaper: " 'Papers,' Vickers said,
(much as Walden does) as a literature offactual narrative 'are one ofthe things I came out here to get away from.
unsullied by artifice or fictional invention. This fact There are too many crises in papers. You have to make up
suggests that fictional texts are as suitable as biographical or your mind every halfhour. Ifyou don't know about the
autobiographical texts (ifless frequently employed) as crisis you don'thave to make a decision, and itjust passes
vehicles for a literature ofrelinquishment. Indeed On a quietly by/ 18 '
Darkling Plain involves precisely the kind ofvoluntary There are numerous otherWaldenic nuances to On a
simplicity narrative Buell highlights as one oftwo principle Darkling Plain that need not be catalogued
forms (ortypes) ofrelinquishment that have captivated the comprehensively. Yet there are also obvious departures from
imaginatio—ns ofAmerican environmental writers since this well-established model. The longerVickers remains on
Thoreau14 almost, I might add, as ritually reenacted plots his own, the more he begins to experience self-alienation
or narrative points ofdeparture. instead ofspiritual healing; and extended solitude,
On a Darkling Plain follows the betterpart ofa year in monotony, and frustrated sexual desires begin to drive him
the life ofEdwin Vickers as he lives alone in ahovel to distraction, exacerbated by his obsessive thoughts for the
purpose-built for an eremitic existence on the open prairie of teenage daughter ofa neighboring homesteader.19
Saskatchewan. It is spring 1918. Acasualty ofthe Second Amonth ago, hereflectedruefully, the societyof
Battle ofYpres (1915) and the Battle ofVimy Ridge (1917) peoplethathehadleft behindhadbeen the
in the GreatWar, Vickers has been sent home with shrapnel sickness, andhe the health. Amonth ago ithad
wounds and lungs damaged from German gas attacks, unfit beenhe andMatthewArnold andthe stars, learning
tobethemselves, living serenely, untroubledand
fhoirmfutQrtrheejroidnu.ty.RatYheterhtehcaonnrseitduerrnstsoochiisetayffelvueenntlefsasmifiltyfionr sane. Nowhe wasnervous, irritableevento
himself, savagewithungratifieddesires and
Vancouver, the young veteran sets out on his own to build a unresolveddoubts. He fussedoverthe problem,
sod hut and stake ahomestead for himselfin the middle of tryingtogetitintohis diary, feelingthatifhe
the open prairie, five miles from his nearest neighbor, fifteen couldoncegetitstartedhe shouldhave whipped it.
miles from the nearest town in Montana, and forty-five miles Butthelogic always camebackandconfronted
fromWhitemud, the nearest Canadian village. Modeled on him: Ifhecouldn'tfindthepeace, the senseof
the small town ofEast End, Saskatchewan, where Stegner belonging, eitheramongthepeopleoralone, then
spent his early childhood, the village ofWhitemud is the he was atthepointofdenying the valueofstaying
novel's Concord. Vickers's limited experience ofthis small alive. The only realpeace, apparently, wasthe
society matches in some respects the often less than mindlessexistenceofearth andgrass and wind, the
sanityofunconsciousness.20
flattering view ofvillage life ushered forth by Thoreau in
In 1991, as Walter Harding was preparing to step down
Walden. Ifanything, Stegner's protagonist takes a far darker
as the Secretary ofthe Thoreau Society after fifty years in
—
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
that office, Wallace Stegner was preparing forpublication a individualism in virtually every line he wrote. Remarkably,
book that was destined to be his last, a fine collection of the seeds ofStegner's ambivalence towardThoreau and
essays titled Where the BluebirdSings to the Lemonade toward the cultural traits with which he identifies him are to
Springs: Living and Writing in the West (1992), which would be found already in his 1940 letterto Harding, but we find it
go on to be shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle expressed most cogently in one ofthe last essays he wrote.
Award. Stegner hadThoreau on his mind again because he Itis an interesting coincidence that Stegner's two most
was revising an essay that he'd published the yearbefore on focused and sustained commentaries on Thoreau came at the
the history ofenvironmental thought and activism for very beginning and then at the very end ofhis career. The
inclusion in this essay collection.21 Thoreau figures first ofthese bookends is obviously the letterhe wrote to
prominently in the essay, as Stegnerextols him for Walter Harding in 1940; the other is the "Qualified Homage
—
"[Repudiating his countrymen's concerns progress, to Thoreau" Stegner made when he contributed an essay
—
betterment, accumulation and their predatory habits in the with this very title to Heaven is Under OurFeet(1991),24
wild," as well as forpromoting a "notion ofnature as having the anthology Don Henley and Dave Marsh edited as part of
healing powers [that] has now the force a concerted effort to save Walden Pond
ofrevealed truth." In Thoreau's and its surroundings by raising public
writing, Stegner notes above all, "there awareness about development plans
is virtually every idea that later became threatening the ecosystem in the early
gospel to the environmental 1990s. Lawrence Buell has aptly
movement." BeyondThoreau's described Stegner's contribution to this
contributions to environmental thought, volume as "unique ... in being
Stegner appreciates his seminal astringent rather than encomiastic
—
impacts onAmerican nature writing: toward Thoreau"25 and as such, I
"the form ofThoreau's essays would add that it does the volume no
rumination hung upon the framework small credit.
—
ofan outdoor excursion has Despite Stegner's ratherbold claim
influenced virtually every nature writer that "virtually every idea that later
since, from Burroughs and Muir to became gospel to the environmental
Wendell Berry, EdwardAbbey and movement" exists in Thoreau's
Barry Lopez."22 Wallace Stegner, ca. 1940s writings, he had noted in the same
These and other observations on Courtesyofthe SpecialCollectionsDepartment, essay that these ideas ne—vertook the
Thoreau would seem to demonstrate a J. WillardMarriottLibrary, UniversityofUtah form ofa "call to action unless
clear, ifconventional, admiration on withdrawal is action."26 In his final
the part ofStegner for his intellectual and literary forebear essay on Thoreau, Stegner is disinclined to view Thoreau's
from Concord. And yet there's more than meets the eye to self-example as an appropriate way ofinspiring action
Stegner's regard forthe author of Walden and "Civil because his "experiment in spartan living fudged its declared
Disobedience," more to the "pervasive ... influence" he had restrictions, and ... the lessons Thoreau drew from it are
acknowledged already before the SecondWorld War. As it therefore less persuasive than they sound."27 The assertion
turns out, Stegner's view ofThoreau was ultimately affected finds support in such oft-cited facts as Thoreau's having
by the very mixed bag ofvalues the author of Walden had squatted on Emerson's land and borrowedAlcott's axe. This
come to represent for so many inAmericanculture. Some of particular argument is one ofthe pillars ofthe secondary
these values (his passion for "wildness and the savage canon ofresistant readings of Walden, very nearly as old and
heart"23) Stegner applauded; others (like the ethos ofrugged time-honored as Thoreau's masterpiece itself.28 From James
individualism) he debunked as self-serving, self-deluding, Russell Lowell to Llewelyn Powys, down through Leon
and inevitably destructive in their abiding appeal to the Edel, Hayden Carruth, Richard Bridgman, and beyond, this
American popular imagination. Stegner's career as a writer critique has earned pride ofplace in a tradition that seeks to
involved a lifelong effort to negotiate these and other debunk the putatively uncritical view ofThoreau as a wise
antithetical strains inAmerican cultural history. Stegner is and beneficent patron saint ofnature and the all-sovereign
not necessarily paying Thoreau an undiluted tribute in his individual. The built-in flaw to this particular line of
letter to Harding when he describes him as "certainly the criticism is that it is based on intelligence about Thoreau's
fountainhead inAmerican thought andAmerican writing of life at Walden Pond that the author actually takes pains to
that spirit ofincorrigible independence, that isolated human provide for his readers in Walden. While the flaw does not
atom fighting for its toehold in eternity, that we look back on necessarily invalidate the criticism, it does deprive the
now with nostalgia." Aesthetic enemy ofthe picturesque for charge ofsome ofits bite. Stegner actually reinvigorates the
its own sake, social realist in the tradition ofDreiser, Stegner argument, notby pointing to any new orforgotten
guarded against the dangers ofnostalgia and romantic biographical evidence, but by doing what he does best,
,,
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer2005
constructing a thoughtful and measured argument that Bumppo and listening to the loons and living on moose meat
considers the author of Walden in a broaderhistorical and moving on ifpeople come within ahundred miles, is a
—
context that is, in light ofthe very real cultural impacts of veryAmerican figure buthe is not a full human being. He is
his life, his works, and his exploits (real or imagined) as a wild man ofthe woods, a Sasquatch."31 The detail
nothing less than afolkhero who came to be emulatedby listening to the loons seems to me a fairly obvious intertext
thousands. to one of Walden's more memorable episodes,32 while the
Stegnertakes none ofthe adhominem swipes at phrase living on moose meatprojects ahead to Stegener's
Thoreau that are now a hallmark ofsuch oppositional mooseburgers reference in "Qualified Homage." And there
commentary, what we might call the op-edschool of are numerous other points ofintersection, most significantly
criticism. Still, I suspect his most strident criticisms of in the figure ofthe Sasquatch. In "Qualified Homage" what
Thoreau would be likely to meet resistance from many Stegner claims to miss inThoreau, "as I missed it in the
confirmedThoreauvians, especially ifisolated from his more extreme rebels ofthe 1960s, is the acknowledgement
larger argument in "Qualified Homage toThoreau." For this that their society shaped them, that without it every
reason I have no intention ofaddressing most ofhis individual ofthem would be a sort ofSasquatch, a solitary
numerous arguments and observations concerning Thoreau animal without language, thought, tradition, obligation, or
out oftheir original context, except as they help to commitment. It is culture, tradition, that teaches us to be
illuminate the "Thoreauvian dilemma" in On a Darkling human, teaches us almost everything, including how to
Plain. (To those who are so inclined, the essay is well worth protest and what to protest about."33 The Sasquatch is not
reading in its entirety.) Stegner's idea ofthe Thoreau narratorin Walden; no, this
"Instead ofworking to improve the world," Stegner figure is his nightmare version ofThoreau as culturally
paraphrases Thoreau, "one should try only to make oneself received and amplified too far in one direction. "Easy and
'one ofthe world's worthies.' " Believing such advice to be perhaps mistaken imitations ofThoreau's primitivism are
motivated essentially by a constitutional "loner's aversion to tempting," Stegnerhad noted in his 1940 letter to Harding.34
society," Stegner seems to—regard Thoreau as a contradiction What is all but explicit in this observation is Stegner's
ofthe mostperturbing sort an enlightened man apparently acknowledgement thathis protagonist Vickers has
unconcerned with enlightening his neighbors, a man of committed himselfat the outset ofOn a Darkling Plain
genius hording his virtues to himself. Stegner arrives at a precisely to one such "mistaken imitation" ofThoreau. "I
revealing ifcontentious conclusion, that "[c]ivil have an uncomfortable conviction," Stegner admits to
disobedience came easier to Thoreau than to most people Harding "thatThoreau wouldn't go all the way with my
because he never cared much for the civil aspects oflife in solution ofthe problem."35 That solution remains
the firstplace. His antisocial stance is veryAmerican, like unspecified, for it's there in the dramatic resolution ofthe
his independence, but it is less a philosophical position than novel, where Vickers's epiphany amounts to a repudiation of
atemperamental dislike ofinfluence and control."29 rugged individualism, an acknowledgement in the face of
As this last statement demonstrates, Stegner's catastrophic tragedy,35 that redemption is possible only
observations on Thoreau usually build into larger cultural through embracing one's community and through acting
interpretations or assertions, rather than descending into the without deliberation on the human impulse forcharity. It is
politics ofpersonality, and in this respect he differs from a very unThoreauvian moment. "[Vickers] knew, as he had
most ofThoreau's oppositional critics. This tendency is a always known since Ypres, that in the comradeship ofruin
by-product, no doubt, ofStegner's considerable experience there was a tempering ofthe spirit; the resiliency of
as a historian. It is this tendency that leads him to speculate humanity under the whip wasjustification for all its
on the greater cultural consequences ofThoreau's meanness."37
temperamental leanings. "[Thoreau's] demonstration ofhow "Stegner's pen issued words that elucidate and
little it takes to live, and live healthily and well, stirs the illuminate the civic responsibility ofthe artist," observes'
mind. So does his demonstration ofhow far personal Terry TempestWilliams. "He was more than a social
independence will take us. Over the past 140 years commentator, dramatizing his beliefs through fiction. He
"
thousands ofpeople, singly or in couples, have taken offto understood writing as 'an act ofconsequence.' 38 The
places where they can escape the rat-race, own their horizon, rationale for Stegner's inversion ofthe Waldenic master
live close to nature, and subsist on fish and mooseburgers. narrative may be fully explicable only ifwe consider On a
Thoreau was the model for most ofthem, probably."30 The Darkling Plain against the history that had shaped his own
last assertion may overstate the matter somewhat, but not in understanding ofindividuals and communities, against the
away that is likely to provoke incredulity. In his essay "The entire drift ofhis development as a writer and citizen. "Any
Sense ofPlace," first published in 1986, Stegner describes reasonably long life, looked back upon, irresistibly suggests
one extreme version ofthis Thoreauvian type: "That ajourney," Stegner explains. "As ajourney, my life has
romantic atavist we sometimes dream ofbeing, who lives covered a good part ofthe twentieth century, and it has been
alone in a western or arctic wilderness, playing Natty quintessentiallyAmerican, though it could not now be
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
reproduced: childhood on a belated and benighted frontier, painters, his imaginationcouldnot. Itdemanded
youth in a provincial capital, maturity with the whole theutterly wild, free scenes ofaBierstadtora
confused world to run in. And along with the expansion of Moran.41
my physical universe, a corresponding social and intellectual The signs ofStegner's lifelong ambivalence towardThoreau
expansion; for as a child I knew little beyond the atomic, are there to be seen in On a Darkling Plain, for at the heart
migrant western family that pursued anAmerican dream ofthat am—bivalence is Wallace Stegner's ownThoreauvian
already over for almost everyone else, and pursued it x dilemma his lover's quarrel with the tradition he both
sometimes beyond the boundaries ofthe law. I had a long embraces and repudiates in different ways. Thoreau may be
way to go, and the faster I traveled, the faster the world the "fountainhead" ofanAmerican tradition of"incorrigible
rolled underme and the further I got from the primitive, independence," as he writes in his letter to Harding, the
deprived, barren, lawless, and sometimes idyllic condition archetype ofthe "isolated human atom fighting for its
from which I started."39 toehold in eternity"; but "theproblem changes when the
There is not one "Thoreauvian dilemma" in On a atoms get too thick," even if"the impulses are still there."
Darkling Plain, but two. The first is the classic balancing To that extent, Stegner claims, he is "also a 'disciple' of
act between a life ofsolitary independence and self- Thoreau."42 He is careful to qualify this in any number of
determination, on the one hand, and one ofsocial ways, not least in his "uncomfortable conviction that
responsibility and engagement on the other. One pole in the Thoreau wouldn't go all the way with [hik] solution ofthe
problem."43 Nothing better sums up Stegner's sense ofhis
dichotomy is the village, the other pole is the lonely sod hut
on the plain, the analogue ofThoreau's simple house in the own inte—llectual, spiritual, and cultural indebtedness to
woods. It matters little whetherVickers's hermitage stands Thoreau—nor his obligation to dissent from the great
five miles or merely one from its nearest neighbor, forty-five dissenter than the last lines ofhis "Qualified Homage to
miles or two from the village center; the iconography of Thoreau." When Walden Pond is dedicated, he says, "I will
Walden ensures a fairly settled meaning for that lonely island go there and walk the shore arguing withThoreau's ghost.
hovel surrounded by rolling seas ofprairie. It mattersjust as But I will go there."44
little whether the natural environs surrounding it are open
Notes
plains or second-growth forest: nature in theAmerican
popular imagination tends to be viewed, perversely, as the 1 Wallace Stegner, LettertoWalterHarding, 14July 1940 (see
absence ofhuman community. One cabin is a lonely pioneer Thoreau Society Bulletin 251, pp. 3-4).
2 Unfortunately the dates ofpublication specifiedforboth of
outpost in harmonious accord with nature. Unless one of
these works inthefirstinstallmentofthis article were incorrect.
them happens to be an outhouse, two cabins might as well be
This installmentcorrectsthoseerrors.
a city. And this leads us to the second Thoreauvian dilemma 3Wallace Stegner, Forewordto CollectedStoriesofWallace
in On a Darkling Plain. This dil—emma is faced not by Stegner(NewYork: RandomHouse, 1990), p. x.
Edwin Vickers, but by his creator it is the quandary 4Wendell Berry, as quotedinJacksonJ. Benson, Wallace
Thoreau causes for Stegner. The primitivism Stegner Stegner: HisLife and Work(NewYork: Viking, 1996), p. 263.
associated with one culturally amplified version ofThoreau 5 Stegner, LettertoHarding.
is precisely what Edwin Vickers rejects in OnA Darkling fStegner, asquotedinBenson, WallaceStegner: HisLifeand
Plain, for it is the pipedream he had romantically sought out, Work, p. 96. Stegnerwas so unenamoredofthis early workthat, as
only to learn that "Men are brothers for life lived, and are Benson says, he "refusedtoallow [the novel] tobereprinted"
hurt for it." The logic ofthis dramatic resolution implicates duringhislifetime. Itis worthnoting, however, thatthenovelhas
received very favorablecommentfromNobellaureate Sinclair
Stegner in the politics ofthat choice.
Lewis, poetandnovelistJamesDickey, andnovelistand
Yet there is never any question but that Stegner is deeply countercultural icon Ken Kesey. As Ireportedinthefirst
respectful ofThoreau, an ardent admirer. "He could be
installmentofthis article, plans aremovingforwardtoreissuethis
wrong, as I have surlily tried to demonstrate; but when he novel forthefirsttime sinceitsoriginal publication.
was right he was often spectacularly right, and he was, right 7ArchibaldMacLeish, "Speech tothosewho say Comrade,"in
or wrong, American to the marrow."40 In the end Stegner is PublicSpeech (NewYork, 1936), unpaged; as cited in ForrestG,
devoted to the very idea ofwildness that the author of Robinson and MargaretG. Robinson, WallaceStegner(NewYork:
Walden had given such resonant cultural expression. Twayne Publishers, 1977), p. 171, n. 3. Firstpublished serially in
Onecannotimaginehim as ahunter; hethought Redbookin 1939 underthetitle Clash byNight, thenovel would
every creature wasbetteralive than dead. He appear inbookform one yearlaterfromHarcourtBrace and
lovedandstudied, notalways accuratelybut Companywithsomesignificantmodifications;besidesthose
devotedly, the creatures ofthe woods andrivers outlinedby Stegnerin his letterto Harding, oneofthe most
andponds aroundConcord, Massachusetts. From significantchanges wasthenew title, OnaDarklingPlain. Both
arusticAmerican base, he strovetolooktothe titlesderivefrom"DoverBeach,"originallypublished inMatthew
edgesoftheknown world, andbeyond. Though Arnold'sNewPoems (London: Macmillan, 1867), now
his lifecouldhavebeenillustratedby thehalf- ubiquitouslyreprinted inanthologiesofEnglishliterature.
tamed, half-wildlandscapes ofthe HudsonRiver 8 Stegner, LettertoHarding.
.
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
9Wendell Berry, "AFewWords inFavorofEdwardAbbey," 42 Stegner, LettertoHarding; emphasis added.
in WhatAre People For? (San Francisco: North PointPress, 1990), 43 Stegner, LettertoHarding.
p. 40. 44Stegner, "QualifiedHomage toThoreau," p. 292.
10Milton Rugoff, Review ofOn aDarklingPlain,New York
Herald-Tribune, "Books" Section, 11 February 1940, as citedin
WalterHarding, LettertoWallace Stegner, 6July 1940 (see
Thoreau SocietyBulletin 251, p. 5). Visit the Society's e-commerce site
" Stegner, Letterto Harding.
www.shopatwaldenpond.org
12 Lawrence Buell, TheEnvironmentalImagination: Thoreau,
Nature Writing andthe Formation ofAmerican Culture
(Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press, 1995), p. 326.
13 Buell, The EnvironmentalImagination, p. 326; see also
Buell'sprovocativediscussionoftheaestheticsofrelinquishment
(pp. 143-179). "Words that Burn": Early
14 Buell, The EnvironmentalImagination, pp. 144-145.
15Wallace Stegner, OnaDarkling Plain (NewYork: Harcourt, Testimony of Thoreau's Genius
Brace and Company, 1940), p. 68. James Dawson
16 Stegner, On a Darkling Plain, p. 31.
1178 SStteeggnneerr,, OOnn aa DDaarrkklliinngg PPllaaiinn,, pp.. 7937.. The 12August 1854 issue ofthe weekly NationalAnti-
Slavery Standardpublished extracts from an early
19Vickers is only 20years oldhimself.
20Stegner, On aDarkling Plain, pp. 110-111 version ofThoreau's "Slavery in Massachusetts"
21 Wallace Stegner, "ACapsuleHistory ofConservation," in speech, which he had delivered in Framingham,
Where theBluebirdSings to theLemonadeSprings (NewYork: Massachusetts, on the Fourth ofJuly 1854. That
RandomHouse, 1992); originallypublishedin slightlydifferent newspaper's fiery preface to the extracts, under the title
formas "ItAll Began with Conservation,"Smithsonian 21, no. 1 "Words That Burn" and possibly written by the editor at that
(April- 1990): 35-43. time, Sydney Howard Gay (1814-1888), constitutes an early
22 Stegner, "ItAll Began with Conservation," pp. 37-38. recognition ofThoreau's unique genius. Although scholars
23Wallace Stegner, TheAmerican WestasLiving Space (Ann have quoted from the briefpreface, it is not widely enough
Arbor: University ofMichigan Press, 1987), p. 74. known and deserves to be reprinted in full.
24Wallace Stegner, "Qualified HomagetoThoreau," in
The NationalAnti-Slavery Standard, the official organ
HeavenIs UnderOurFeet, eds. DonHenley andDave Marsh,
(Stamford, Conn.: Longmeadow Press, 1991), pp. 288-292. oftheAmericanAnti-Slavery Society, headquartered at 142
25 Buell, The EnvironmentalImagination, p. 532, n. 47. Nassau Street in New York City, was publishedjointly at the
26 Stegner, "ItAll Began withConservation," p. 37. New York headquarters and at the office ofthe Pennsylvania
27 Stegner, "QualifiedHomage toThoreau," p. 290. Anti-Slavery Society on 31 N. Fifth Street, Philadelphia.
281 am indebtedto HenrikOtterberg forhis notion ofa The preface appears on p. 1, Thoreau's extracts on pp. 1-2.
secondarycanon ofcriticismandinterpretation that accrues around
amuch-discussedworklike Walden (oraroundan elementofthat WORDS THATBURN.
work); seehis "Hound, Bay Horse andTurtle Dove," The Concord
Saunterer, N.S. 12-13 (2004-2005): 224-280. Among the speakers at Framingham, Mass., on the
29 Stegner, "QualifiedHomage toThoreau,"p. 290. recent Fourth ofJuly, was Mr. Henry D. Thoreau, a sort of
30 Stegner, "QualifiedHomage toThoreau,"p. 290. literary recluse, who is understood to inhabit a small hut, in
31 Wallace Stegner, "The Sense ofPlace," in Where the
an out-of-the-way place, in Concord, Mass., and to be in
Blueb3i2rSdeeSiHnegnsrtyoDth.eTLheormeoanua,dWeaSlpdreinng(sP,rip.nc2e0t0o.n, N.J.: Princeton close affinity with Emerson. We have heard him spoken of,
University Press. 1971), pp. 233-236. rather contemptuously, as a mere satellite and imitator ofthat
33 Stegner, "Qualified Homage toThoreau,"p. 289. erudite and transcendental philosopher; but we shall
34 Stegner, Letterto Harding. hereafter count such imputations as little better than
35 Stegner, LettertoHarding. profanity, and resent them with our whole stock ofvirtuous
36Adevastating local outbreakofthe flu during the 1918 indignation. Mr. Thoreau has no need to perch himselfon
influenzapandemic. another's shoulders, or to fill his lamp with another's oil. We
37 Stegner, On aDarkling Plain, p. 230. own that we had quite overlooked his Framingham speech
38TerryTempestWilliams, "Wilderness Conversation," in until a friend, who knew what was in the man, assured us
(WWaalslhaicnegSttoeng,nDe.rCa.n:dIstlhaenCdoPnrteisnse,nt1a9l97V)i,sipopn..,2e1d3.-2C1u4r.tMeine that it was eminently worthy,ofour attention. We are sure the
39Wallace Stegner, Forewordto CollectedStoriesofWallace readers ofthe Standard will share our gratitude to that
Stegner(NewYork: Penguin, 1990), pp. ix-x. friend, and we hope they will also pardon the dullness that
40 Stegner, "Qualified Homage toThoreau," p. 292. needed such a reminder, when they have perused the extracts
41 Stegner, "ItAll Beganwith Conservation,"p. 37. which follow.
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
Another "New" Thoreau Letter and "Tanner's Residence among the Indians" [John Tanner
Bradley P. Dean [17807-1847],A Narrative ofthe Captivity andAdventures
ofJohn Tanner... during Thirty YearsResidence among the
In Thoreau Society Bulletin No. 246 (Winter 2004) I Indians... [New York: G. & C. & H. Carvill, 1830])—andthe
reported on a "new" Thoreau letter discovered in a book citations for these borrowings end that academic year's
I had checked out ofthe Harvard College Library in record ofThoreau's borrowings. But written diagonally in
January 2002. Thoreau wrote that letter on 27 December pencil underneath the final citation, the one for the Tanner
1850 to Harvard College Librarian, Dr. Thaddeus William book, is a two-line note in Harris's handwriting: "Notifd /
Harris (1795-1856). In the very next number ofthe Bulletin June 22." Similarpencil notes appear underneath the
(No. 247, Spring 2004), RonaldWesley Hoag reported on borrowing lists ofthirty-six othernon-student library
another "new" Thoreau letter that he had purchased from a patrons. Ofthose, twenty-nine specify "June 22" as the date
rare-book dealer in June of 1996. That letter, dated 29April that a notification was mailed to a patron.
1851, was also written by Thoreau and directed to Harris. Fortunately, Harris placed two copies ofhis
Recently, while researching Thoreau's borrowings from "notification" form letter in the "Library Charging List"
the Harvard College Library, I discovered yet another "new" volume for 1853-1854. One ofthe letters is bound into the
Thoreau letter. Unlike those earlier two, this one was volume at p. 7. The other is laid in at p. 176 and appears
here through the courtesy ofthe Harvard University
written by Harris to Thoreau. Strangely, though, this latest
—
"new" letter does not exist or at least is not extant. Archives. Obviously Harris directed or planned to direct
Properly speaking, I discovered not the letterbut very clear this particular letter to a female patron and therefore wrote
evidence ofa letter dated "June, 1854" and sent to Thoreau "Madam" overthe printed "S7r,"; in all otherparticulars, we
by Harris on Thursday, 22 June 1854. But Dr. Harris may assume, this letter duplicates the one Harris sent
actually only wrotepartofthe letter; in fact, he wrote a Thoreau on 22 June 1854. S Libraryof Hwixtrd College.
single numeral, "4," and signed his name before posting the \ Cambridge, Jura,, \^'->Ac
letterto Thoreau. What's more, Harris posted the same
letter to almost thirty other non-student library patrons that
same day. (Yes, it was a form letter.) Because he and The approaching examination of the Public
Thoreau were fairly regularcorrespondents, met on those
occasions when Thoreau visited the library in Cambridge, Library makes it necessary that all books should
and shared several professional interests (e.g. entomology, now be relumed.
botany, ethnology, New England history), Harris may also
have added a note to the copy ofthe form letter he sent to
Thoreau; but ofcourse we would only come to know ofsuch Lihniniiii.
a note ifthe letter itselfwere to come to light.
The "Library Charging Lists" ofthe Harvard College
Library for the period 1849-1861 are housed in the Archives For a Time as Shifting as Sand:
UA
ofHarvard University, ShelfList III 50.15.60. Walden in the United Arab
Thoreau's borrowings for the 1853-1854 academic year are
recorded on the top halfofp. 122 in the volume titled, Emirates
naturally enough, "1853-1854," which records all ofthat Jeremy Bendik-Keymer
year's withdrawals by those who had the right to withdraw
books (e.g. students, faculty, administrators) and those others This Spring, I taught Walden in my Introduction to
who, like Thoreau, had secured permission to borrow books Philosophy class atAmerican University ofSharjah.
from the library (mostly clergymen living in the Boston- The students here come from fifty countries, most
Cambridge area). hailing from the Middle East,Africa, South and WestAsia,
On Tuesday, 9 May—1854, Thoreau had borrowed three and countries ofthe former Soviet Union. Most are Muslim,
books from the library "Heckewelder's Narrative" with many Hindus and Christians as well. Sharjah adjoins
(Reverend John Gottlieb Ernestus Heckewelder [1743- Dubai, which is onejrfthe most rapidly developing cities in
1823], A Narrative ofthe Mission ofthe UnitedBrethren the world and seems destined to become the vacationing,
among the Delaware andMohegan Indians,fromIts banking, and media hub for the region. There are so many
Commencement in the Year 1740, to the Close ofthe Year five-star hotels in Dubai that a large table ofpeople could
&
1808... [Philadelphia: M'Carty Davis, 1820]); "Anc1. Sea not count them on theirhands together. Every third or fourth
Margins" (RobertChambers [1802-1871],AncientSea- car is aBMW, a Mercedes, or anew Porsche S.U.V. The
Margins, as Memorials ofChanges in the Relative Level of capital ofthe UnitedArab Emirates (U.A.E.), Abu Dhabi,
Sea andLand [Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers..., 1848]); has one ofthe largest oil reserves in the world. The U.A.E.
Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
was founded thirty-five years ago, and fifteen years ago it ways farmore radical than they were inThoreau's day.
boastedjust a few high-rise buildings. Today its skyline Thirty-five years ago, this country was pure desert with
looks increasingly like Chicago's, only with a subtle blend some shell and mudhomes.
ofIslamic themes amidst its prevailing modernism. The My experience ofteaching Walden atAmerican
laborfor all this development comes mostly from the poor University ofSharjah has been fascinating. Students
areas ofSouthAsia and the Philippines. immediately identified with Thoreau's living spirituality. Yet
havingreached the end ofthe book, they were notjumping
Usman is abrilliant student who carries a book around in out oftheir seats at the message ofexperimentation. On the
his pocket even to the mall. He writes in one ofhis otherhand, when Socrates refused to leaveAthens in the
journal entries that a book is his Walden Pond. On the last Crito, students seemed inspired. As a roughjudgment, I'd
day ofreadingHenry David's book abouthis "experiment," say students here find Thoreau's spiritual relation to nature
we listened to "Nonaah" by theArt Ensemble ofChicago familiarbut not his modern search for a new, and individual,
and to "Six Pianos" by Steve Reich. We discussed morality.
experimentation and innovation as part ofanAmerican Ourbest day ofthe semester was when we discussed
culture to which Thoreau's philosophy contributed. The "The Ponds" chapter. The spiritual center ofthe book, this
discussion centered on Thoreau's appropriation ofSocrates chapter opened a discussion as clear and profound as the
and his subversion ofAmerican colonialism: "Explore ponds Thoreau described. Miray, a brilliant engineer,
thyself." We discussed how modern Thoreau was when he opened the class straight offby pointing out how the pond's
encouraged anew awakening, a new form for society like nature discloses human nature. The discussion itselftook on
the winged life emerging from the apple tree table. After the character ofclear, meditative thought moved by ripples
class, Usman commented that he did not feel the discussion each time aremark was made. We experienced a deepening
would resonate deeply with people from the Middle Eastern, ofawareness as the class became quieter. Silence listened.
—
Muslim world. It was an amazing experience one ofthose perfect classes
—Usman, who knows both the—Qu'aran and Shakespeare you remember. I believe the students were open to this area
well the Qu'aran exceptionally said that the push to ofThoreau's writing and thought, in part because their
articulate the new felt counterintuitive to Qu'aranic culture places respect for nature among basic moral attitudes
anchoring. Among Sunni Muslims (the vast majority of a human should have. That, too, is Muslim.
Muslims in the U.A.E.), he said, the archetypes forboth self As I also discovered this semesterby teaching
and society have been seen. They are in the Prophet environmental ethics andpolicy, there are many sources
Mohammed and in the society which he founded and in within Islam that fosterrespect for nature, farmore than I
which he lived. Exploration and innovation suggest a have found in Christian tradition, where there are many but
departure from the anchor ofthesejoined archetypes. One not quite so many. Here, young people go to the desertto
does not need to find something as yet undiscovered norto spend their weekend nights, and although ecological literacy
make something new. Rather, one should imitate what has about cryptobiotic soil is limited, young and old people alike
been Revealed and is very old. seem disposed to respect nature rather than think ofit as
Usman is not whatAmericans call a "fundamentalist," mere stuff. Although there are massive consumption
and the spiritual direction he described is not that ofa burdens in this country, they seem the result ofecological
Luddite. He was trying to explain why explorers and illiteracy and the dynamics ofglobal capitalism more than of
innovators may fall flat for a culture to whom the archetypes cultural presumption. Here Thoreau was inspiring.
have been revealed. Yet at the same time, he and everyone For myself, I wonder—whetherThoreau's deeply
in the U.A.E. are aware ofthe incessant innovation and American "rock androll" the idea, not the assimilated
—
exploration in the region. On a spot where a year ago was media phenomenon whetherhis innovation oftradition
—
sand, you now find the Ibn Battota mall named after the through experimental simplicity with pre-colonial echoes,
great Muslim explorer and neighboring an area ofDubai whether the 19th-century liberal idea ofexperiments in
where some thirty high rises are currently being built at living, will take hold. After all, he was discussing moral
once. You can enjoy Starbucks coffee under the vast dome experimentation most ofall. It seems to me that such an idea
ofthe tiled Iranian court. Meanwhile,just earlier this year, does not have a place here in the broad and full way Thoreau
the neighboring Qatar announced the largest natural gas' urged it. To permit such latitude to free experimentation
dome discoveryin recent history. would challenge the authority ofIslam itself. The authority
The U.A.E., Dubai especially, are among the most has been divinely given. It is not to be discovered by
modern areas in the world. As a relative said, "the national individualism.
bird is the construction crane." You can count hundreds of Yet official policies are one thing, daily realities another.
them from a decent skyscraper. So while the moral WhereThoreau does strike me as being relevant to people in
archetypes seem given and old, the material reality and the U.A.E. is at the level ofwhat is actually going on
popular culture ofthe U.A.E. are rapidly changing, and in culturally. Usman is right that, upon reflection, Thoreau's
10 Thoreau Society Bulletin, Number 252, Summer 2005
tropes pull against the rationality ofthe region. But ifyou are very strong in this region. Though self-gratification has
go to Dubai. Manama, Doha, or any ofa number ofother begun to change people, it is unclear whether the answerto
Gulfcities, you will see that infact morals are changing. it will come from individualistic innovation. Here, family
This is because the ideological power ofmaterial culture and structure and religion are best suited to handle the matter.
exportedAmerican lifestyles are shaping a more self- Here is a final reason why I believe Walden may not be
gratifying people. I doubt the "self," thus gratified, is the most vibrant in this culture. Walden is a very solitary book
kind ofselfThoreau explored, but moral innovation will and the solutions it reaches are not reached through human
become a necessity for thoughtful people placed between community. In the U.A.E., community is the great
such an emerging self-culture and official moral precepts. counterbalancing power to the tensions ofmaterial self-
It's in this innovation Thoreau may be most helpful. gratification. Perhaps, then, we need aThoreau of
What we as a class noticed aboutThoreau, and community.
appreciated, was his way ofmaintaining ties to tradition
while at the same time finding ways for tradition to grow.
—
Thoreau may parody Christian teaching for instance, when Life with Principle, the
he suggests philanthropy can be a form ofnot loving one's
— DVD
neighbor but he also repeats much ofit in a modified form, Thoreau Educational
for instance, when he suggests one cannot live on bread
alone and so must find one's own truth that will set one free. Produced by Mel Hopper in association with
He is an innovator who suggests continuity can be the Thoreau Society and in collaboration with
maintained with interpretive work. Here, Usman agreed. Lobitos Creek Ranch
Even when we try to understand meaning taken as With a full accompanying curriculum,
archetypal, we have to interpret it, and that interpretation interactive student workbook, and
cannot be had without the exploration ofpossibilities. commentary by Bradley P. Dean
Moreover, that interpretation cannot be livedwithout
experimenting with those possibilities. Thoreau might help For classrooms, community forums,
people faced with the task ofmoral innovation in a culture workshops, and group discussions
set in tension by one ofthe world's increasingly multiple
modernities, and by the confusions and pathologies ofthe Connecting Thoreau's challenges to us
and the choices weface today
selfengendered under capitalism.
It thus struck me as most interesting that people in class Watch this fall for updates, ordering
remained silent as to the elephant in the room during alPof information, and announcements ofrelated
ourdiscussion ofThoreau's "Economy." Why didn't the programs: www.thoreausociety.org
class focus on the U.A.E.'s economy? The U.A.E. is
wealthy beyond all measure by virtue ofthe current global
economy, especially the oil economy. Shouldn't this same
economy risk heightening the disastrous pulls and pressures
Thoreau criticized in the first chapter of Walden! Shouldn't The New John Brown Biography:
it plow humans into the ground and give people over to lives A Review
ofquiet desperation when they act like machines? I worry it
risks silencing the desert's silence. Yet no one in this class Sandra Harbert Petrulionis
ofthirty intelligent students enjoying their free elective
connected the dots to the gray beast. Why? John BrownAbolitionist: The Man Who KilledSlavery,
I believe there are two reasons. First, the economy has Sparked the Civil War, andSeeded CivilRights. David
given so many here not only a more comfortable material S. Reynolds. New York: AlfredA. Knopf, 2005. 578
life but greater global fluency and, for many, a chance to pp. ISBN: 0375411887 $35.
shape themselves more to their liking. This is true even for
Of
the most disadvantaged, who come here from Kerala, on all the men who are said to be my contemporaries,
India's southernmost tip, rather than remain unemployed. it seems to me that John Brown is the only one who
For this reason, Thoreau's particular liberality will not has notdied. I meet him at every turn. He is more
resonate in people's souls here until the tensions ofself- alive than everhe was.... John Brown has earned
gratification, and the exploitation ofhumans and nature, immortality." With this assertion in hisjournal three days
have placed more ofa moral burden on the thoughtful after John Brown's public hanging forthe crimes oftreason,
person. Yet it is uncertain that aThoreauvian moral burden inciting slave insurrection, and murder, Henry Thoreau could
must appear. This is because, secondly, family structure, and not have realized how accurately he was writing for
the stabilizing influence ofritual and widespread religion, successive generations. The tense political atmosphere that