With the United States of America wiping out their indigenous population and turning into a modern power, Henry David Thoreau turns into a critical thinker who not only writes cynically about this rise but also makes sure not to be part of it. But even after isolating himself in a cabin, Thoreau witnesses the absurdity of modern technology taking the upper hand not only on the wilderness but also on the lives of human beings.

In essence Thoreau asks what is all the fuss about modern technologies such as the telegraph that connects the new continent to the old only to get informed about banal things such as that the queen of England has the flu. On top of criticizing the birth of industrial society, Thoreau also criticizes the agricultural society especially of New England where young people have to take up the burden of their family farms.