Being Henry David

Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden symbolizes guidance and enlightenment, guiding Danny Henderson’s personal growth throughout Being Henry David. Danny feels an immediate connection with the book when he wakes up in Penn Station in Chapter 1 and finds it beside him. Soon he realizes that the book’s “words [are also] stamped on the inside of [his] eyelids” (8). His innate attachment to the text at the novel’s start foreshadows its influence on Danny throughout the chapters to come. Indeed, when he delves into the book on his train ride from New York City to Concord, Massachusetts, he is moved by Thoreau’s ideas and the place about which he’s writing. Furthermore, because Danny has “so little information stored in [his] stupid brain” given his amnesia, he “can retain entire pages of the [...] book” (64). His memory loss therefore intensifies his connection to Thoreau’s writings. Thoreau’s Transcendentalist philosophies quickly imprint themselves onto Danny’s brain and work their way into his heart, too.

Danny relies on the text more in moments when he is most confused, alone, and afraid. He repeatedly turns to Walden to distract himself from his intrusive thoughts or to dull his anxieties, as Thoreau’s words grants him a sense of peace and balance. Furthermore, the book challenges Danny to think about himself and his life in new ways and gives him an organic point of connection with a character like Thomas. In time, Walden leads Danny to Mount Katahdin and helps him to face his trauma, forgive himself for his mistakes, make amends with his family, and embrace his life anew. In these ways, the novel uses Walden as a narrative device by which to explore the Influence of Literature on Personal Growth.