ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -“If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned, or one vessel wrecked, or one steamboat blown up, or one cow run over on the Western Railroad, or one mad dog killed, or one lot of grasshoppers in the winter-we never need read of another.”

Detailed explanation-2: -Thoreau talks about how he believes communications technology such as the post office and newspaper are unimportant and unmemorable. He believes that if we read of one bad thing in a newspaper or letter than we do not ever have to read another ever, that news is just boring gossip.

Detailed explanation-3: -He believed that sensationalist newspaper articles–the mid-19th century equivalent of local television news–were a distraction. ‘’If we read of one man robbed, or murdered, or killed by accident, or one house burned we never need read of another, ” he writes.

Detailed explanation-4: -Thoreau believes that correspondence and the daily news are useless and wasteful. He claims that he has never received an important letter through the post.