Walden by Henry Thoreau. What Ann Dillard and Henry Thoreau has in Essay

Walden by Henry Thoreau. What Ann Dillard and Henry Thoreau has in similarities - Essay Example The book is a work of the author’s self-discovery, the discovery of individuality and the discovery of the right path to lead a life of peace and satisfaction. The author harps on how human being wastes their labor on â€Å"excessive toil† (Thoreau) but fails to acquire the â€Å"true integrity† (Thoreau). Taking a cue from the work of Henry Thoreau and inspired by the author, the book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard revolves around the Dillard’s life about how she spent her life in the Tinker Creek of Virginia. Dillard spends her days in the lap of nature by walking through the woods, watching the cows, ducks, frogs, and observing the praying mantis pod which is evident when she talks about her spending time by sitting â€Å"on a fallen trunk in the shade and watch the squirrels in the sun† (Dillard, 6). She spends her life amidst the nature, â€Å"A couple of summers ago I was walking along the edge of the island to see what I could see in the water, and mainly to scare frogs† (Dillard, 7). The writing reveals her alternate revelation of the natural beauty and the philosophical muse. Through the book the author makes an attempt to explore the true characteristics of nature that surrounds the living world. The author pens down her thoughts as she observes the harmony of nature at the eponymous Tinker Creek during her stay at the place. The book is a work of chronicle, science, anthropology, myths, and way of life, divinity, and environmentalism. The book reveals the existence of the mixture of sublime character and a horrific character in the Nature. (Dillard) However despite the similar themes in the works, there are some differences in their approaches. Walden is a work of Henry Thoreau that mainly revolves around his stay at the woods by the side of the Walden Pond, where he went for the quest of self discovery, as he feels that human beings spent their time in â€Å"mere ignorance and mistakes† (Th oreau). On the contrary Anna Dillard’s stay in the forest has been mainly to understand the true character of the Mother Nature and discern her natural world. It is a book that navigates between the paradox of celebrating and mourning, â€Å"I used to have a cat, an old fighting tom, who would jump through the open window by my bed in the middle of the night and land on my chest†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Some nights he kneaded my bare chest with his front paws, powerfully, arching his back, †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ And some mornings I’d wake in daylight to find my body covered with paw prints in blood; I looked as though I’d been painted with roses.† (Dillard, 3) Dillard’s writing explores between the true nature of the red stains- was it the bloodstain or the roses painted. She makes an effort to know the answer of whether nature is that harmonious and unified system that operates according to the principles of co-dependence and compassion or it is the force, which is h ardhearted and unthinking and has an eerie mystery and obscurity in it. (Dillard) Thoreau’s book is more about renouncing the worldly pleasures an idea of â€Å"get away from all† whereas, Dillard’s stay is more about finding the true aspect of Nature and to discover the mysticism in it. While Walden reveals that Thoreau was not living the life of a hermit, which is evident from the chapter â€Å"Visitors† when he says â€Å"I have had twenty five or thirty souls with their bodies, at once under my roof†, Dillard’s writing reveals that there was no connection with the community. Thoreau withdrew from the community to lead a life, which is prophetically outside the society, but the writing of Dillard reveals the escapist nature of the author when she says, â€Å"I shy away from the arts, from the emotional human stew†¦and I drive myself deeper and deeper into exile from my own kind.†

Charge of the Light Brigade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Charge of the Light Brigade - Essay Example The details of the historical incident have been recorded fairly accurately since the communications and the events of the charge have been saved by historians of the time. The charge was conducted by the British cavalry Light Brigade which formed the Fourth Royal Irish Dragoon Guards in conjunction with the Heavy Brigade. At the battle, the total Cavalry force was commanded by the Earl of Lucan who received an order to charge from Lord Raglan who was present as the overall army commander. The order stated: "Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy, and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate. (Wikipedia.org, 2006, Pg. 1)." The order was delivered by Captain Louis Nolan who was killed in the action that followed the order. The action taken by Lord Cardigan was to take more than six hundred men straight into the valley where they faced twenty battalions of Russian infantry and more than fifty cannons pointed at them. The Russians had forced deployed on both sides of the valley where the British light cavalry was charging into (Bachrach, 1997). From a military standpoint this situation can easily be understood as quite negatively stacked against the British. The Light Brigade was able to go through the cannon fire and attack the Russian forces to push them back. However, charging through the cannon fire cost the British heavily and the Light Brigade was forced to retire from battle. The Heavy Brigade failed to help the charge of the Light Brigade since they entered the mouth of the valley but did not come any further. The French (who were allied with the British in the Crimean War), were only able to provide cover for the few remaining soldiers of the Light Brigade at the end of the charge. The charge was successful in meeting the objective given to