Self-Reliance And Thoreau's Prison Comparison

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was placed in Birmingham Jail in the 1960’s. During his time there, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” after an open letter that was given to the public saying that the fellow clergymen were criticizing and saying that his present activities were “unwise and untimely.” King answers these charges in a careful crafted analysis by stating the opposing argument, and then contrasting it with his own argument. Henry David Thoreau wrote “Civil Disobedience” it exposes the mind to the idea of prioritizing laws. Refusing to obey the laws and demands of government, it criticizes the American institution of government at the time and is also defined as a text to live by.

When comparing Civil Disobedience and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail, it is clear that Thoreau’s ideas and thoughts were revolutionary at the time in which he lived. Both Civil Disobedience and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail are clear compositions of his views, however, The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail more effectively connects people to his ideas. Both Civil Disobedience and The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail assert Thoreau’s views on the freeing aspects of jail as well as his thoughts on the rest of America. While in Civil Disobedience Thoreau discusses the “wall of stone between [him] and [his] townsmen” and the even “more difficult [wall the townsmen must] to climb or break through, before they could get to be as free as [he] was”(Thoreau

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau Discusses Thoreau’s ideas on government and its effects on society. Thoreau’s

The Grapes of Wrath vs Civil Disobedience In the novel The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and the essay On the Duty of Civil Disobedience by Henry Thoreau, both authors explore the individual’s role in society, as well as the individual’s rights. One of the main similarities between Thoreau’s essay and Chapter 17 of Steinbeck’s novel, is the idea that the government should have minimal involvement in the lives of the people. Although Thoreau takes a more aggressive stance on challenging the government, Steinbeck’s ideas of self-governing do resonate with Thoreau’s. However, the authors do contradict each other in regards to how the people should go against the government. Both authors’ work are similar in that they highlight the ideality

Transcendentalism is commonly seen everywhere. It can be seen in pieces of literature, in plays like The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail, and even in speeches from famous leaders like “ A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan. Transcendentalism is a different way of thinking in which you focus on yourself rather than society. As a transcendentalist, you focus on simplifying your life, being confident in yourself, and not conforming or listening to society. You focus on the importance of nature and believe in a higher power.

Both Thoreau and King rely heavily on ethos to get their points across. The intended audience of both is similar; a group of people with similar morals as the writers, but who have neglected action for various reasons. King also appeals to pathos, describing the plight of the colored man vividly. King’s audience is largely aware of this situation already, but he uses it to drive them to action rather than simple awareness. On the other hand, Thoreau appeals little to pathos, focusing instead on logic and ethics.

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s essay, “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and Henry David Thoreau essay “Civil Disobedience,” both share their opinions on social injustice and civil disobedience. They both believe that people can protest unfair and unjust laws imposed on them in a civil way. In addition, King and Thoreau are challenging the government with their essays, which they wrote after they got sent to jail. For protesting the treatment of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama, King spent eleven days in jail; Thoreau spent a night in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. Both King and Thoreau’s essays present similar plans for a resolution.

Throughout history there have been many political changes that are either supported, or not, by citizens. In the given passage from, "Civil Disobedience," by Thoreau, a perspective of disagreeing with the government ways, is provided. Thoreau explains how a government should be in comparison to how it really is by utilizing his words to set the tone and mode, imagery to achieve his audience's understanding, and diction to make his writing scholarly. Although tone and mode are not directly stated, you can infer that Thoreau meant for his writing to be taken as serious and powerful. His implementation of words such as, "inexpedient," "execute," " integrity," and "command," makes one think about their lawful rights and reflect on what rights are supported or

In Self Reliance, Emerson writes “It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs,” explaining that through his eyes, society cares not about an individual’s ego and prosperity but instead the individual himself. Society is focused on names and customs alike as they are all unique to each person. The similarities are evident in Thoreau’s Walden as well. Thoreau views liberty as all animals roaming the forest and while all the animals are different, they are all treated the same in the eyes of nature. Ideals of liberty are closely compared between the two authors - their common viewpoint on the matter is that you are your own individual and you are free to do whatever you would like as society/natures view of you will never change.

Thoreau 's “On Civil Disobedience”, published in 1849, promotes the idea that people have an obligation towards their moral values, and thus they must stand up for those values, even if those are opposed to the government. Thoreau emphasizes the significant roles that authenticity and activism play in one’s life, which encourage action and renounce determinism. By presenting the central ideas that arise from this essay, I will argue that Thoreau, supported by Locke’s Treatise of Government, exhibits ideas affiliated with Libertarianism. In contrast to the hypothesis that a priori knowledge is the only kind of knowledge that expresses certainty about ontological truths, independent of external experience, Transcendentalism advances the idea that there is also an internal a priori kind of knowledge which is reliable and expresses each individual’s truth.

Thoreau also related to the world, imprisoning him when he said: “I found myself suddenly neighbor to the birds; not by having imprisoned one but having caged myself near them”. That makes me think about how Thoreau was given a life to be free or to be caged, just as well as any person does too. You can be the puppet of society and live, how the government tells you to live as or not be the puppet and defy what society has to tell you about life and live as you would want to. A rhetorical device Thoreau used to be logos mixed with pathos to convey the reader to see as he sees such as “live free and uncommitted” that would move a person to think living free is what I want and if it 's uncommitted then I’ll take it in my opinion.

Thoreau’s view on the society as he states, “In most cases there is no free exercise whatever of the judgment or of the moral sense; but they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well” go to show that it was harder to have individuality and to refuse the governments ways. Now-a-days the practice of civil disobedience has allowed citizens to practice non-conformity with the protection of amendments but back then while the nation was just growing they had to have more power and that, “so long as the interest of the whole society requires it, that is, so long as the established government cannot be resisted or changed without public inconveniency, it is the will of God that the established government be obeyed, and no longer" as quoted by Paley. The society was most likely pushed towards acceptance of the government and weren’t as self-reliant to make change in their

The individual's relationship to the state is a concept often entertained abstractly; at variance with this is Civil Disobedience, which analyzes Thoreau's first direct experience with state power in his brief 1846 imprisonment. Thoreau metaphorically detailed his search for virtue in the quote, "The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling. Yet we do not treat ourselves nor one another thus tenderly." (Thoreau 8) In Civil Disobedience Thoreau as earnest seeker and flawed captive of the conscience concertedly attempts to correct this shortcoming within the context of slavery and the Mexican-American War.

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

Ralph Emerson’s theme is that when people take times to reflect on themselves, then they find out their purpose in life. In his short essay “Self-Reliance”, he voices his opinions on how individuals need to pursue their dreams even if it means breaking the law. Henry Thoreau’s theme is that when people stand for what they want peacefully, then forced reflection happens. In his short essay “Civil Disobedience”, he says that its is the right of the people not to support the government if they are not doing their job, which is to serve and protect the majority of