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2008
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- “Where I lived, and What I Lived For” 13
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- Letter from Birmingham Jail 12
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- “Won’t You Be My Friendser?” 11
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- “But Enough About You” 11
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August
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5 comments:
With the concluding paragraph Thoreau gives an ending to his simplistic ideas. Through the two metaphors in the conclusion, Thoreau gives his idea on how he wants to portray time and what he considers intellect. “Time is but the stream I go afishing in.” That although one takes part in enjoying the stream, meaning time; one only looks at the shallowness of it. This is a metaphor to the way we portray our lifetime. As we work for the future, we only see the minuteness we have left of it although it goes on forever. The other metaphor “I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born,” refers to the sense which as we are born that we have. Compared to now, as babies, we did enjoy life without complicating ourselves with the curiosity why things happen. Everything just flowed as it was supposed to be and without worries about what's ahead.
In Thoreau's final paragraph, he clearly shows us how he thinks about intellect and time. "Time is but the stream I go afishing in." His definition of time is rather simple compared to the real complicated definition of time. He considers it to be shallow and mysterious, but at the same time it is beautiful. The stream he describes is eternal and questionable, yet so perfect. Changing subjects, Thoreaus definition of intellect bases itself on his quote, "I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born." Intellect goes beside time, and as time progresses, our minds expand and become more complex. Life itself is tougher with unanswerable questions, thus making it confusing to live. Yet these two must not be tempted, and we can neither turn back and fix the past. We need to resist the temptation and let ourselves go with the flow.
Thoreau says: "Time is but the stream I go afishing in." The author describes time as if it was an unending stream, and he also realizes how shallow the bottom is. This metaphor suits for describing a person's life. One may enjoy drinking the water from the stream, but the truth is that the water's surface is shallow and limited, yet the current never ends. Thoreau also says "I have always been regretting that I was not as wise as the day I was born." When we are babies, we do not have so much knowledge, or experience in life, which means when we were young, we did not know all the specific parts of life. As we grow, our minds grow and our lives are filled with darker futures and responsibilities. As babies, we are not prepared, nor have to face all these like today. However, it is an individual's responsibility to live knowing such truth and face life face to face.
When Thoreau states that “Time is but the stream I go afishing in” he is aware that his share of time is so small compared to eternity; and that it will flow on with or without him. When he states “The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things” he means that there is no need of over thinking and overanalyzing the happenings of life, for we are born with all the knowledge we need to survive. What he means by fishing, is that when he needs something from time, he trusts his intellect to fish for it. He cannot control it, or fight it, but he can work with it and get out what he needs from it. He cannot allow himself to be attached to it, because it is what it is, whether he understands it or not.
In paragraph 3 what metaphor does he use
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