# Critique of Materialism and Business in Essays

> Theme guide for Essays by Henry David Thoreau.

Thoreau sharply criticizes the relentless pursuit of wealth, business, and labor for mere profit, arguing that such activities degrade human life and distract from higher, more meaningful pursuits.

## Where it surfaces

- [Biographical Sketch](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/biographical-sketch): Thoreau's renunciation of pencil-making and his disdain for wealth and conventional employment highlight his critique of materialistic society.
- [Natural History of Massachusetts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/natural-history-of-massachusetts): He dismisses political and commercial concerns as paltry compared to the vitality of the natural world.
- [The Landlord](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-landlord): The essay contrasts the genuine, open hospitality of the tavern with the civilities of commerce and the privacy of the man of genius, celebrating a life free from modern fashionable diseases.
- [Paradise (to Be) Regained](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/paradise-to-be-regained): Thoreau criticizes Etzler's vision for aiming at gross comfort and pleasure, arguing it paints a Muhammadan's heaven rather than a truly elevated existence.
- [Slavery in Massachusetts](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/slavery-in-massachusetts): Thoreau criticizes the North's focus on property and commerce while ignoring the moral crisis of slavery, calling it a worship of Mammon.
- [Life Without Principle](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/life-without-principle): Thoreau condemns the incessant focus on work, trade, and money-making as opposed to poetry, philosophy, and life itself.
- [Chesuncook](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/chesuncook): He criticizes hunters and lumberers as hirelings motivated by profit, who lack love for nature and treat it coarsely.
- [Walking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/walking): Thoreau criticizes politics, trade, and the village as trivial, and values the wild over commercial society.
- [The Purple Grasses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-purple-grasses): He contrasts the farmer's utilitarian neglect of the grasses with his own appreciation, critiquing a society that overlooks natural beauty for economic gain.
- [The Elm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-elm): Thoreau contrasts the ripe elm leaves with the 'crudity or greenness of thought' in villagers, implying a critique of shallow, materialistic lives.
- [Fallen Leaves](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/fallen-leaves): Thoreau contrasts nature's effortless muck-making with human commerce, noting he is more interested in the leaf crop than in 'sulphur and the cost of carting.'
- [The Sugar-Maple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-sugar-maple): He criticizes the use of obscure foreign and commercial names for colors, advocating instead for natural, local references, and dismisses the need for costly celebrations when nature provides a superior spectacle.
- [Wild Apples](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/wild-apples): Thoreau implicitly critiques the commercial cultivation of apples, valuing the wild apple's independence from human commerce.
- [The History of the Apple-Tree](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-history-of-the-apple-tree): He contrasts the ethereal, spiritual value of apples with the vulgarity of transporting them to market, where only the pulp and skin remain.
- [How the Wild Apple Grows](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/how-the-wild-apple-grows): Thoreau contrasts the wild apple's intrinsic worth with commercial fruit breeding, suggesting that true value arises from hardship, not artificial selection.
- [The Fruit, and Its Flavor](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-fruit-and-its-flavor): He criticizes farmers and pomological gentlemen for selecting apples based on size, mildness, and marketability rather than spirited flavor, and values the unsalable wild apples left for walkers.
- [The “Frozen-Thawed” Apple](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/the-frozen-thawed-apple): He criticizes the modern practice of grafting and fencing in trees for profit, predicting that future generations will lose the joy of foraging for wild apples.
- [I: Concord to Montreal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/i-concord-to-montreal): Thoreau criticizes the military's mechanical harmony and the market's focus on demand and supply, contrasting with his preference for simplicity and honest walks.
- [II: Quebec and Montmorenci](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/ii-quebec-and-montmorenci): Thoreau criticizes Patterson for fencing off the falls and using the water for his mill, arguing that such natural wonders should belong to all humanity.
- [III: St. Anne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/iii-st-anne): Thoreau notes the absence of shops, signs, and artisans, contrasting the self-sufficient, non-commercial life of the habitants with American materialism.
- [IV: The Walls of Quebec](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/iv-the-walls-of-quebec): Thoreau criticizes the wasteful expenditure on fortifications, calling the citadel 'England's folly' and noting the lack of cultivation or pasturing within the walls.
- [The Scenery of Quebec; and the River St. Lawrence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/chapters/v-the-scenery-of-quebec-and-the-river-st-lawrence): Thoreau notes the modest Canadian houses compared to New England's, and the Yankee attempt to pass off Canada coppers.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/themes/critique_of_materialism_and_business
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/essays_2_se/themes