Thoreau represented the prison, a place where criminals go to pay their dues, as a place that is positive in the most nonchalant manner. I don’t imagine his representation of prison being real since the public and the media show the jagged lines of the prison, while Thoreau brings light on the prisoners, even describing a chat the prisoners were enjoying. Although it may not be convincing to me, I have no way of knowing if his depictions are real in any sense, until I spend the night there myself. In this case, he shows how wrong the government is in their interference in people's lives, he describes the prisoners as down to Earth people who have a rich history of their own. His optimistic views on prison may be due to his optimistic nature and the way he views the people as well as the government. …show more content…
His argument in the essay may have to do with the relationship between the government and the people, addressing his theory about the current nature of democracy. He states in his essay of Civil Disobedience that he “simply wish[es] to refuse allegiance to the State, to withdraw and stand aloof from it effectually.” His optimistic persona then accomplishes the need to “withdraw and stand aloof” from the government by portraying the government as a system that is incorrect at
Throughout a series of books, and now movies known as Divergent they hit a lot of points as to what is believed as a “good society”. In the series, Divergent all must conform and fall into a certain category Dauntless, Abnegation, Erudite, Candor, or Amity . If one fails to do so, and falls into all of the categories they are known as “Divergent," and must be killed for failing to conform to traditional society standards and rules. This relates to Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, because he talks about humans not needing a form of structure set by a hierarchy, such as a government. A good society according to Thoreau, is one with little to no government involvement, one that respects laws to a certain extent, and one that follows
Comparing Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience and Martin Luther King's Letter From a Birmingham Jail. The two essays, "Civil Disobedience," by Henry David Thoreau, and "Letter From a Birmingham Jail," by Martin Luther King, Jr., effectively illustrate the authors' opinions of justice. Each author has his main point; Thoreau, in dealing with justice as it relates to government, asks for "not at once no government, but at once a better government. King contends that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
He symbolizes humanity's suppressed need for expression, competitiveness and romance, and takes active steps to go against the norm and overthrow the government. Officially, he was taken into custody for being too above average. But, having an unconforming and opposing attitude probably scared the government. This is similar to the red scare of the 1950’s that prompted investigations of people’s personal involvement with a threat to the country, communism, which was seen by some as an unnecessary invasion of American rights. This could be the author’s way of criticizing the anti-communist scare while defending the right for individual freedom of belief and expression.
In the great era of foundational philosophers, two stand out, Plato and Thoreau. Each had their own opinion on various topics, especially on civil disobedience. Plato’s life span was approximately 428-348 BC. Plato wrote numerous works throughout his lifetime, however we will be focusing on one, the Crito. Thoreau’s life span was 1817-1862. To help us determine what civil disobedience means to both of these philosophers we will first look at a general definition. According to Merriam-Webster civil disobedience is defined as “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” This definition will act as a springboard to compare and contrast both of their thoughts on the topic. We will determine, according to Plato and Thoreau, when we are called to engage in civil disobedience and when the moral parameters of civil disobedience are pushed too far.
In Thoreau’s view, he felt that the government was insufficient. He didn’t need the laws to be just, he used his conscious and morality. He was compelled to do what morally was right, rather than it being based on government issued laws such as the complacent society there is today. People seem to care about justice, yet are immoral. This was the message Thoreau was trying to get across.
Thoreau wasn 't one to take advantage of what the world had to offer and just took life what it was, all while following his motto of doing what was right. Thoreau sees the miracles of the world similarly to the Whitman poem because there isn 't a limit to what can be appreciated. There are quite a few modern views that compare well to Thoreau as they take that step away from society defined by technology and progression and just take a look at the bigger picture, one of these approaches is the recent Occupy Wall Street movement.
First, the problem needs to be defined as Thoreau sees it. And he sees this problem in Concord, the city in which he lives, as such a threat to his very survival and mental well being that he actually leaves this town to go live in semi-seclusion. The problems he observes within the town and people around him are actually numerous and yet all-encompassing. He observes some character traits inherent in the people of Concord as flawed and leading to the deconstruction of their humanity. These traits include desperation, materialism, commercialism, industriousness, and insincerity.
Thoreau was once sent to jail for refusing to pay his taxes and I support this episode of civil disobedience as justified. Thoreau did not pay his taxes because he objected the use of the revenue to finance the Mexican War and enforcement of slavery laws. He did not request for his money to be used for the enforcement of slavery laws, therefore felt he had the right to protest and act out civil disobedience. Paul Harris defines civil disobedience as "an illegal, public, nonviolent, conscientiously motivated act of protest, done by someone who accepts the legitimacy of the legal and political systems and who submits to arrest and punishment" (2). Before I supported his civil disobedience, I opted to see if it was justified.
Civil Disobedience occurs when an individual or group of people are in violation of the law rather than a refusal of the system as a whole. There is evidence of civil disobedience dating back to the era after Jesus was born. Jesus followers broke the laws that went against their faith. An example of this is in Acts 4:19-20,”God told the church to preach the gospel, so they defied orders to keep quiet about Jesus,” In my opinion civil disobedience will always be needed in the world. The ability to identify with yourself and knowing right from wrong helps to explain my opinion. Often in society when civil
In his essay, “Resistance to Civil Government,” Henry David Thoreau expresses his disdain and discontentment with the American government for its involvement with the Mexican War and for its legal upholding of slavery. Thoreau begins his essay with saying, “That government is best which governs least,” but goes on to add that he does not necessarily support an anarchic “no-government” state, but rather a “better” state, a state in which shows respect to its citizens and “recognizes the rights of man.” A state that does not meet these simple demands, according to Thoreau, is a state worth standing up against, rebelling against, and even worth breaking the law for. However, despite his resentful tone and call for change, Thoreau acknowledges
In Henry Thoreau’s essay, Resistance to Civil Government, the harmless actions he takes to rebel against the government are considered acts of civil disobedience. He talks about how the government acts wrongful such as, slavery and the Mexican-American war. This writing persuades Nathaniel Heatwole, a twenty-year-old college student studying at Guildford College in Greensboro, North Carolina, to take matters into his own hands, by smuggling illegal items on multiple Southwest airplanes. The reason in that being, is to show the people that our nation is unsafe and dangerous. In doing this, he takes his rebellion one step too far, by not only jeopardizing his life, but as well as many other innocent lives.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was a philosopher and writer who is well known for his criticism of the American government during the time. During Thoreau’s life, there were two major issues being debated in the United States: slavery and the Mexican-American War. Both issues greatly influenced his essay, as he actually practiced civil disobedience in his own life by refusing to pay taxes in protest of the Mexican War. He states that the government should be based on conscience and that citizens should refuse to follow the law and has the duty not to participate and stay as a member of an unjust institution like the government. I argue that the notion of individualism and skepticism toward government is essential in the basis of many important reform movements in the modern society.
During his jail time, he contemplated to reconsolidate the power of an individual’s conscience in assertion toward the government’s exploitation of one’s life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Thus, Thoreau wrote the Civil Disobedience, saying “that government is best which governs least” (Thoreau). Thoreau’s purpose for this essay was to advise the idea that the government was arranged by principle of injustice; therefore, it was the citizen’s duty to rebel and adjust the unfair laws that oppose the substantial moral principles of human life and social order. Like Jefferson, Thoreau emphasized individual right to advocate a rebellion against the injustice of the government so that eventually others would ask themselves: “shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once” (Thoreau). In other words, Thoreau believed that laws should be imposed by the citizens in a democracy rather than the
Throughout the essay, Thoreau places a lot of focus on the individual man often stating that men who obey the unjust laws of the government have very little worth. His belief is that under the government’s rule, a man is robbed of his conscience and should therefore disassociate himself with the government were he to ever live out his
Civil disobedience has reaped positive change on the justice being sown for citizens at a particular time in our history. From Homer Plessy in 1880, to Rosa Parks in 1955 and continuing in 2016 throughout the ‘Right to Rest’ movement of the homeless population in Sacramento, California, American citizens have utilized the act of civil disobedience as the catalyst to create a change that ultimately improved upon their current state of ‘liberty and justice for all’. Our great forefathers crafted the Constitution and supported its ideals with the judicial, legislative and executive branches of our government, securing our continued opportunity to engage in a dialogue that will enable us all to pursue freedom. Civil disobedience permits all citizens to build upon these structures that allow for the pursuit of freedom.