As stated in his book "Walden," the cabin next to Walden Pond was actually on the outskirts of town rather than in the forest.

Thoreau did not completely embrace the wilderness or shun society. Instead, he looked for a middle ground—the pastoral setting, which combines nature and society. The night he spent in jail for not paying poll taxes is the most well-known incident from his time at Walden Pond. He believed that endorsing the government would imply that he approved of all of its policies, especially the Mexican American War, which would have resulted in the expansion of slavery westward. The concepts in the essay Resistance to Civil Government, often known as Civil Disobedience, were largely influenced by this experience.

According to Ward, "Thoreau is living alone metaphorically because he is morally alone and is dependent entirely on his own conscience." Which is the point of civil disobedience—that one guy may overthrow a corrupt government by himself by making a statement of conscience. Following a simple life at Walden Pond, Thoreau traveled extensively as an amateur naturalist and wrote a lot. There aren't many pictures of him left, but the Portrait Gallery has one small daguerreotype from 1956. It was created in a thrifty, Thoreau-esque manner. According to Ward, "a reader sent him a $5 cash and requested a picture to go with the book because he appreciated his work so much. “Thoreau went into town, went to the daguerreotype, and had this small daguerreotype taken, probably the cheapest variety you could have made. He sent it and the change back to this man in Ohio.”