In <em>Walden</em>, Thoreau explains the difficulties he faced when trying to live in the wild. He believed that it was important for a man to live on his own, and to isolate himself from society and its pressures occasionally. He did this by moving into a cabin in the woods for two years, and recording his experience in <em>Walden</em>. One of the things that Thoreau struggled with was lumber, and he bought a cabin to break down for this purpose.