Night Thoreau Spent In Jail Analysis

Thoreau starts his essay by condemning his fellow countrymen’s actions, or rather, inaction. They and Thoreau share similar moral beliefs, but they refuse to take any action towards them.

Thoreau explains that the state and societies prison “never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty, but with superior physical strength” and furthermore that he “was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion” (1990). Therefore, Resistance to Civil Government is validating that prison is confinement and conformity, however, Thoreau will not be conforming to any such conformist state and neither should the reader. Thoreau finally reinforces that he is “not responsible for the successful working of the machinery of society” and that “if a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so man” (1990), Thoreau is explicating that society needs to be responsible for its self and become self-reliant, just as an individual should be, because it is the nature of the world and society and if it cannot live as such then it will not continue to

Topic Sentence (Take Straight From Your Reason 1): Thoreau was extremely against the government being too involved in a person's life.

Henry David Thoreau 1817-1862 born and raised in Concord, was a popular student in Harvard. Despite his financial and health deformities he was able to graduate from the university. By 1837 America was facing an economic depression and jobs were not easily available. Thoreau began to write poems and essays of transcendentalism to escape from the development and also to emphasize on nature. Therefore, he spent two years in Walden Pond (Schneider, 2013).

In Walden and Resistance to Civil Government, Henry David Thoreau the author, uses the rhetorical strategies of personification, metaphor, and allusion/symbolism in the chapter “Conclusion” to describe what he learned from his experiment of living in Walden Pond. Thoreau’s main message of what he learned is to be undefined by what’s in front. Without the limits of conformity, humans have the capacity to achieve much greater and beautiful dreams and goals. Conformity is the boundary that doesn’t let individuals reach their great potential.

individualism and nature. “ Thoreau expressed his belief in the power and, indeed, the obligation

Thoreau was a prominent and influential transcendentalist which meant that he believed modern society’s institutions, organizations, religions, and politics are all corrupt. He believes that people should go back to their roots in nature and be more simple-minded like our ancient ancestors who lived in nature. To think about it in more modern terms, he was practically a minimalist who believed people should only live with things essential for life, basic life necessities like food, water, and shelter. He quotes, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” (Thoreau 66). From the quote, we can tell that he believes that a life without living with nature and essentials only is a life wasted.

In “Civil Disobedience”, Thoreau discusses his experience in jail and how he felt after he got out of there. Thoreau begins by discussing about when arriving at the jail he was taken to the cell by prison guards. The guards described Thoreau’s prison cell mate as “a first-rate fellow and a clever man” (Thoreau 317). He then goes on to talk about how they get to each other, like where they are from and how they got in this situation. After their discussion, Thoreau begins to examine the cell to witness the past marks of where “prisoners had broken out and where a grate had been sawed off” (318); he also “heard the history of the various occupants of that room” (318) by draining all the information from his cell mate. He ends with describing his night sleeping there thinking about his village and his breakfast the next day. Chronological narrative helps the essay by allowing the audience to comprehend what Thoreau went through and the exact order it happened it; it helps the reader flow better with the story.

An aphorism, by definition, is an observation that contains a general truth, or a concise statement of a scientific principle. In simpler terms, it is something a person can use to guide their own path in life. Everyone has their own path to follow, and any one person can create their own. Some aphorisms are easier to comprehend, like Benjamin Franklin’s, “Honesty is the best policy”, which is one that most people know and understand. Others, however, are not so easy to understand. These aphorisms, which tend to give the mind a little more work, are usually the most reliable.

“...if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours,”( Thoreau 625). Henry David Thoreau shares his journey and experiences throughout Walden. Thoreau speaks greatly about the elements of self reliance and achieving goals. Several of Thoreau's lessons are still relevant in today's society, two of his fundamental ideas are that wisdom does not come from education and that loneliness is not the same thing as being alone.

Values are a set of principles that define a person at the essence and reflect what they hold to be truly important. They act as like a compass, providing a sense of correctness when on the right track, or internal nudge to correct one's path when drifting off course. In Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, Henry David Thoreau is a unique character who strives to live a life in alignment with his values, even if it means going to extreme lengths. The belief that spiritual welfare is of greater importance over financial prosperity and the emphasis on the power of the individual are two out of seven Transcendental values that have the greatest influence on Henry David Thoreau’s actions. Throughout the play, the

In modern society it is important to be unique and have originality in order to be an individual. Emerson says that if we copy another person's work we are not reflecting on ourselves but just the experiences of another person. He teaches us that we should be unique, think for ourselves, be independent, and to be proud of ourselves. Also that if people are not original then they will just be repeating another person’s legacy and they will just be in their shadow and will not be ahead of them. There are many things in modern culture that is not original and are just copies of something from the old. In modern society there are many dangers conforming to society because it would stifle people's originality, causes imitation,

Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, poet, and a very outspoken person about society. He discusses his opinions on how people should live in his essay “Where I Lived and What I Lived For.” Thoreau's philosophy of simplicity and individualism and self-sufficiency poses many dangers for communities as a whole. Although there are many setbacks, his philosophy is, however, still viable today.

Throughout the writing of “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau often referred back to his idea that he supported which was “That government is best which governs not at all.” (Thoreau) In the passage, Thoreau believed that the government does not have a conscience. He talked about not wanting to pay the government poll tax, which in result, caused him to be thrown into jail. A poll tax is just a tax on a person for existing, therefore, everyone had to pay the same amount regardless of the value of their possessions. This poll tax was for prosecuting war on Mexico, which Thoreau disagreed with, therefore, he did not pay it.

Resistance to Civil Government (Civil Disobedience) is a dissertation written by American abolitionist, author and philosopher Henry David Thoreau published by Elizabeth Peabody in the Aesthetic Papers in 1849. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was born and lived almost his life in Concord, Massachusetts. After finishing public and private school in Concord he attended the prestige Harvard University. He excelled at Harvard despite leaving school for several months due to health and financial setbacks. Mr. Thoreau graduated in the top half of his class in 1837. Mr. Thoreau argues that people should not allow any government to control or atrophy their thoughts or beliefs. Mr. Thoreau was an also remained a devoted abolitionist and has written