The author argues that “Walking” is an essay on nationalism. Subverting Americans’ admiration for the settled countryside of England, Thoreau derived this nationalism from the sinks and swamps symbolized by “the Wild” and “the West.” But he resisted the lure of Manifest Destiny by looking to the localism of a natural community.

Issue Section:
Articles
This content is only available as a PDF.
© 2012 by The New England Quarterly
2012

Supplementary data

Supplement 1

Listen as Andrew Menard and Laura Dassow Walls discuss the notions of walking, wildness, nationalism, and the role of beauty in Thoreau's "Walking." This conversation was recorded on February 27, 2014.

- mp3 file