Walden, Brute Neighbors summary

What happens

1. The Hermit interrupts his meditation to accept the Poet’s fishing invitation after the Poet gathers worms.
2. The narrator describes a trusting mouse and birds whose young hide or escape under their mothers’ direction.
3. He watches red and black ants fight, examines three under glass, and compares their violence with human warfare.
4. He describes roaming dogs, wild cats, and reports about a cat whose seasonal fur resembles wings.
5. A loon repeatedly outmaneuvers his boat until wind and rain end the pursuit.
6. He watches ducks avoid hunters by keeping their distance and returning to undisturbed water.

In this chapter

What to notice

The narrator questions the distance between animal and human warfare. His account gives the ants the courage, injuries, and terrible losses associated with human soldiers.

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