Question

henry d. thoreau walden
*still we live meanly, like ants; though the fable tells us that we were long ago changed into men; like pygmies we fight with cranes; it is error upon error, and clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. our life is frittered away by detail.
an honest man has hardly need to count more than his ten fingers, or in extreme cases he may add his ten toes, and lump the rest. simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! i say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb - nail.
in the midst of this chopping sea of civilized life, such are the clouds and storms and quicksands and thousand - and - one items to be allowed for, that a man has to live, if he would not founder and go to the bottom and not make his port at all, by dead reckoning, and he must be a great calculator indeed who succeeds. simplify, simplify.*
thoreau, henry david. \walden. 1854.\ ed. j. lyndon shanley. princeton: princeton up (1971).
the views expressed in the excerpt are best seen as evidence of which of the following beliefs among transcendentalists?
elimination tool
select one answer
a the united states needed to de - industrialize and preserve nature.
b people needed self - reliance and to simplify their lives.
c americans should adopt a native american lifestyle and belief system.
d government was unnecessary as it inhibited freedom.

Explanation:

Transcendentalists emphasized self - reliance and simplicity. In the excerpt, Thoreau criticizes the complex and cluttered life ("Our life is frittered away by detail") and advocates for simplicity ("Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!"). There is no mention of de - industrialization (A) as the focus is on individual life simplicity rather than large - scale industrial change. There is no call to adopt a Native American lifestyle (C). Also, the text does not discuss the role of government (D) in inhibiting freedom. The main themes are about simplifying one's life and the self - reliance implied in being able to manage with simplicity (like an "honest man" not needing complex counting).

Answer:

B. People needed self - reliance and to simplify their lives.