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User Review - Flag as inappropriateCape Cod is the account of Henry David Thoreau’s experiences in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Through three visits to the cape, around 1850, Thoreau describes lands which “may seem strange and remote to my townsmen” (Chapter X). Starting at the beginning of his adventures, Thoreau conveys his impressions of the cape by describing its inhabitants and its natural surroundings and by using quotations.
In describing the inhabitants of Cape Cod, Thoreau explains how they acted around and towards him. One man asked him and his companion “at first, suspiciously, where we were from, and what our business was,” but let them spend the night and learn that the man “was an old Wellfleet oysterman who had acquired a competency in that business, and had sons still engaged in it” (Chapter V). In fact, the chapter entitled “The Wellfleet Oysterman” is about this man. Thoreau also quotes other authors to generalize about towns and their populations. His incorporation of this subject matter enriches the story and helps depict the times.
Thoreau uses numerous details about the landscape of Cape Cod to illustrate it for his readers. Combining his knowledge of English, Latin, and other languages, he describes the wildlife by their scientific names. When on a walk on the beach, Thoreau “found one stone on the top the bank, of a dark gray color, shaped exactly like a giant clam (Mactra solidissima), and of the same size,” and “on the shore, a small clam (Mesodesma arctata)” (Chapter VI). His extensive vocabulary when depicting the cape brings the narrative to a new level. This part of the book is vital to its being the classic it is.
To enlarge the story of the cape, Thoreau inserts many quotations from other authors. He feels that “there was no better way to make the reader realize how wide and peculiar that plain [the plain of Nauset] was, and how long it took to traverse it, than by inserting these extracts in the midst of my narrative” (Chapter IV). These quotations range from information about population of towns to comments about ministers and their reputations. Thoreau writes, “In an account of Eastham, in the ‘Historical Collections,’ it is said that, ‘more corn is produced than the inhabitants consume, and about a thousand bushels are annually sent to market’” (Chapter VI). He later comments, “The next minister settled here was the ‘Rev. Samuel Osborn, who was born in Ireland, and educated at the University of Dublin.’ He is said to be ‘A man of wisdom and virtue’” (Chapter III). Quotations like these also give the reader a glimpse into the times.
Henry David Thoreau gives us the experience of three trips woven into one through his book, Cape Cod, describing its inhabitants and its natural surroundings and including apt quotations. This narrative is pleasureful and captivating. Having vacationed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, I found the book to be like a visit there and a trip back in time. I will end as Thoreau does so well in Chapter X: “A man may stand there and put all America behind him.”
