Walden
(Henry David Thoreau)

Henry David Thoreau

The author of Walden, he embarks on a 2 year quest to leave the confines of modern society and live a natural life in the woods surrounding Walden Pond. He is an essayist, a poet, and a member of the burgeoning Transcendentalist movement. He was educated at Harvard and founded his own progressive school before the events of Walden. Though he “admires” simple living and poverty, he is clearly an educated (some would say pretentious) man. He makes it clear that his experiment in solitude and simplicity is a temporary one.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Emerson is a friend of Thoreau, and a recognized poet and essayist. Though it’s not mentioned in the book, Emerson is the owner of the land Thoreau lives on during the events of Walden. Thoreau was inspired by Emerson’s philosophies, which included an emphasis on self-reliance as a tactic for spiritual awakening. Strangely, Thoreau never mentions the borrowed land or Emerson’s name in the book. When Emerson visits him, he is referred to as “Old Immortal” and not given any particular significance.

John Field

Field was a poverty-stricken laborer that Thoreau accidentally encounters after being caught in a rainstorm. Despite the man living a pretty similar life to the ideal proposed by Thoreau, he doesn’t treat him as an equal, but rather an object of scorn. Thoreau lectures him about his overconsumption of meat and coffee. Interestingly, Thoreau tells us that Field suffers from the genetic Irish predisposition to laziness, an oddly racist remark from an abolitionist.

William ‘Ellery’ Channing

A letter Channing wrote to his best friend Thoreau was the catalyst that set the events of Walden in motion. He is, like Thoreau, a poet associated with the Transcendentalism movement. He visits Thoreau often during his time at Walden Pond, and eventually publishes a biography of him, Thoreau: The Poet Naturalist.

Amos Bronson Alcott

Another Transcendentalist friend of Thoreau’s, Alcott was the father of celebrated author Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women. Alcott was a frequent visitor to Thoreau at Walden Pond. His character is referred to anonymously as “another welcome visitor.” He was a progressive educator who cofounded the highly-influential Temple School. He would later become Superintendent of the Concord public school system.

Alex Therien

A Canadian woodchopper who often visits Thoreau, Therien is described as close as possible to the ideal man. He is hardworking and intelligent, but not well-read. Though Thoreau thinks of him in somewhat glowing terms, Thoreau maintains a distance from Therien during their frequent visits, and stops short of calling him a friend, leading some readers to ponder whether Thoreau was truly a champion of the simple life, or simply a class-conscious snob on an extended vacation in the woods.