Essays · Chapter
The Crab explained
Thoreau reflects on the wild crab-apple (Malus coronaria), a native American tree whose nature has not been modified by cultivation.
What happens
Thoreau reflects on the wild crab-apple (Malus coronaria), a native American tree whose nature has not been modified by cultivation. He describes its appearance, fragrance, and uses, recounts his long-standing curiosity about it, and narrates his eventual encounter with it in Minnesota in 1861, where he finally touches and smells the tree.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and Simplicity
Thoreau celebrates the wild, uncultivated crab-apple as a symbol of native nature and simplicity.
Characters to notice
- Henry David Thoreau
Narrator and observer, recounts his personal quest to find the wild crab-apple.
- Michaux
Botanist whose description of the crab-apple inspired Thoreau's interest.
Key passages
“Nevertheless, our wild apple is wild only like myself, perchance, who belong not to the aboriginal race here, but have strayed into the woods from the cultivated stock.”
Thoreau compares himself to the wild apple, suggesting he is not native but has wandered into the wilderness from a cultivated background.
Thoreau draws a parallel between his own identity and the wild apple's untamed nature.
“At last I had occasion to go to Minnesota, and on entering Michigan I began to notice from the cars a tree with handsome rose-colored flowers. At first I thought it some variety of thorn; but it was not long before the truth flashed on me, that this was my long-sought crab-apple.”
While traveling to Minnesota by train, Thoreau spots a tree with rose-colored flowers and realizes it is the crab-apple he had been seeking.
Thoreau describes the moment of recognition during his journey.