Enhancing an environmental mindset: The role of living nature metaphors in H. D. Thoreau’s Walden, or life in the woods

This paper examines the use of living metaphors in two chapters of Walden, Life in the Woods (1854)—namely, “Solitude” and “The Ponds”—by H. D. Thoreau. In these chapters, the rhetorical figure makes a decisive contribution to defining fundamental conceptual structures for the perspective of life and of thought that Thoreau wants to present, producing creative frames that define the metaphorical value of the whole experience at Walden Pond. He uses metaphorical concepts associated with the environment to create nature metaphors with a specific purpose: to bring man closer to nature, and nature closer to man. The analysis refers to Prandi’s (2017) theory on conceptual living metaphors; Prandi denies that living metaphorical expressions are extensions of conventional metaphorical structures, arguing instead that living metaphors are the result of conceptual conflict, as they are not supported by shared metaphorical concepts, but derive from complex and conflicting meanings. If living metaphors turn out to be a specific type of conceptual structure, their relationship to conventional metaphors needs to be reconsidered. This view enables an investigation into the use of living metaphor in Walden, where it is configured as a conceptual tool placed in service of the message Thoreau wishes to convey. Many creative metaphors in Walden are more than mere embellishment. They are conceptual structures that highlight conflictual meanings, bringing together conflicting concepts.