When one approaches Walden this appraisal is readily met with approbation. To me it appears that Thoreau wants to place himself in the position of an outsider, as one who is objective and free of bias. He does not fit in to the community around him. The concept of individuality is pervasive throughout the first two chapters of Walden . Everything superfluous is discarded.
Simplicity is the rooster's responsive cry to the dawn of mass consumerism.
In chapter 1 Thoreau lays out the experiment and describes the process, offering some commentary, but in chapter 2 he states his ideas most succinctly. Possessions burn the fingers that possess them. But simplicity liberates. The challenge to American consumerism is unmistakable, even 150 years after its initial utterance. And the neighbors continue to wake up, some with joy and some with irritation.