A Victorian hippie sporting an epic neck beard goes into the woods to reduce life "to its lowest terms." Not low as in, "down-in-the-dumps" low. Low as in, "what are the things I can live without?"
While out there, our boy Thoreau builds his own cabin, grows his own beans, and launches his own personal campaign of civil disobedience. His actions affect the philosophy of History's greatest leaders for years to come.
Oh, and he writes about it.
And now for some head-spinning questions. Hold on to your seats.
How is Thoreau's vision of "living life deliberately" related to ecological studies? What can we learn about a character just by examining his values concerning what he can and can't live without? What can we learn about our society by examining what our literary characters can and can't live without?