When do you type “walden-genre?” in a search engine, the calculated guess reveals wonders; “The best guess for the Walden genre is Autobiography, Philosophy, Fiction, Nature.” Walden is less a novel and more an account of an unusual academic life with flourishes. Above all, its didactic tone conveys Thoureau's point better than any straightforward manifesto ever could. The transcendental vision most emphasized in the book is the harmony of nature with human worldviews. Walden emphasizes nature's ability to transform and impart wisdom and spirituality, just like its writer. Walden believes nature is divine and states that man can more easily see true divinity through nature itself. “Talk about heaven! Disgrace earth” (Thoureau 207). Thoureau treats nature as if it were a religion and subtly implies its importance over conventional religious practices that do not have the same effect on the immediate world. Although he often used Christian symbolism, the religion he creates is closer to Asian religions, mentioning Brahman early on in "Economy". He often refers to Confucius and Mencius as a reference as opposed to any Western wisdom figures from his Harvard education. Like other Asian religions, nature abandons materialistic attitudes. This is clearly seen when the Irish icemen from Cambridge come to collect ice from Walden Pond in the winter (Thoreau 331). To the villagers, ice is the most tangible and material resource available in the pond, but to Thoreau it is nowhere near the most important. Society is not only destroying nature, but is also attempting to eliminate the benefits of divinity. This suggests Thoreau's view that most people's relationship with the Church is for social benefits, which are tangible, rather than... !” (Thoreau 117). His unequal reverence for humans and animals is indicative of a religion that still needs to be reworked and adapted to the central characters: for an individual it may work, but for a society it is a religion that cannot account for people with consideration he gives to them. other animals will almost certainly fail. Walden represents a nature religion not yet fully formed. Although Thoreau tries to immerse himself in poverty, he becomes ineffective when he is hypocritical. By excluding contradictions, Thoreau emphasizes the beauty of nature that escapes the less attentive. With observant eyes, Thoreau captures the parallels between man and beast that can inspire, if not divinity, then more humanity in the view of nature. Works Cited Thoreau, Henry David and Henry David Thoreau. Walden; And civil disobedience. New York: Penguin, 1983. Print.