Chapter 9 Summary

In the ninth chapter, Thoreau begins to develop one of the structures of the work that reflects one of the central themes of the text. Although Thoreau resided at Walden Pond for two years, two weeks, and two days, Walden only seems to consider the cycle of one year; beginning and ending in spring. "The Village," "The Bean-Field," and "Visitors" are set in the winter season. "The Ponds" begins to shift away from the winter season. The focus of the chapter is the life of Walden Pond, with scattered references to two other ponds in the area that Thoreau visited: Flints' Pond and White Pond.

Thoreau argues in the opening that nature does not yield to society. Then, he shifts his subject to Walden Pond by describing his fishing expeditions, writing of his spending his evenings sitting in a boat playing the flute...