Question

In the first paragraph of “Conclusion” in Walden, how does Thoreau explain his departure from the woods?
He explains that he left the woods because he had nothing left to write about.
He views his departure as a rejection of the idea of living in nature.
He explains that he left because he was no longer comfortable in the woods.
He explains his departure as the movement from one part of his life to another.

Answer 1

He explains his departure as the movement from one part of his life to another.

Thoreau writes, “I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one,” showing he left to begin a new phase of life, not because he’d rejected nature or run out of things to write.