Henry David Thoreau Group

Question:

poem
poem
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In Thoreau's "Conclusion," what are the two things being compared in "Is not our own interior white on the chart?"

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Posted by poem on Saturday November 22, 2008 at 8:39 PM and tagged with henry david thoreau, metaphor.

Answers:


  1. gbeatty Teacher
    College - Freshman

    eNotes Editor


    The chart of which Thoreau speaks is a map, a sailor's chart. The white spaces are the blank spaces: they are the unknown or uncharted waters. The interior he mentions is the human soul or psyche. Therefore, the two things compared are uncharted waters and the human mind/spirit. You might think of him as linking inner space and outer space.

    Sources:
    http://www.kenkifer.com/Thoreau/conclus.htm

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    Posted by gbeatty on Monday November 24, 2008 at 5:20 PM