The Ocean's Indifference: Confronting Death in the Natural Landscape of Thoreau's "Cape Cod"
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2015
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Haverford College. Department of English
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Thesis
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Award
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eng
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Open Access
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Abstract
In my thesis, I contend that Thoreau’s posthumously published Cape Cod represents a significant change and maturation in his stance towards, and relationship with, nature. Three other critics, including: James McIntosh (1974), Richard Bridgman (1982), and Sharon Talley (2004), have also studied Thoreau’s changing relationship with nature in Cape Cod. However, these critics find Thoreau’s stance towards nature in Cape Cod either bleaker or simply continuous with ideas voiced in works such as Walden. In my own analysis, I elaborate upon the work done by these critics, while also extending their views by incorporating a deeper analysis of the extensive death Thoreau sees in the landscape of the Cape. Furthermore, to perform an analysis of Cape Cod, it was also important to carry out a thorough investigation into the complex history of the production, publication, and reception of this text, as well as investigate the historical context of Thoreau’s life while writing Cape Cod. In Cape Cod, I believe Thoreau’s philosophy on nature and wakefulness matures in witnessing so many scenes of death within the landscape of the seashore. Not only does Thoreau realize a new type of sublime in this deathly landscape, but also he learns that the ocean has a type of immutability the land does not, and additionally realizes that to truly understand nature and life, is to acknowledge death, and the role human perception plays in the whole of experience of life.