Showing how humans interact with nature by examining three stories.
This paper introduces, discuss and analyzes three stories, Native American trickster tales “Coyote, Skunk and the Prairie Dogs,” and “Owl-woman and Coyote” and “Walden,” by Henry David Thoreau. Specifically it looks at the depiction of the interactions of humans and nature, their similarities and differences, and what relevance the depictions have for Americans today.
“His time there was serene, and he said, “Both place and time were changed, and I dwelt nearer to those parts of the universe and to those eras in history which had most attracted me. Where I lived was as far off as many a region viewed nightly by astronomers. We are wont to imagine rare and delectable places in some remote and more celestial corner of the system, behind the constellation of Cassiopeia’s Chair, far from noise and disturbance. I discovered that my house actually had its site in such a withdrawn, but forever new and unprofaned, part of the universe (Thoreau 79). He spent his time listening to the natural sounds, gazing on their wonders, and thinking about the lifestyle that allowed him such peace and pleasure, literally living as one with nature.