Quotes from significant and famous personalities and authorities are not just merely uttered strings of words. They are important and enlightening. Often they point at the aspects in the socio-cultural and political environment that they seek to redress, appraise or commend. Quotes are often meant to bring an insight on a specific issue. They may be inspirational at most times. This paper will analyze specific examples of quotes in terms of their significance and relationship to American Literature Tradition. Emerson on Self Reliance “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates into that iron string. Accept the place the divine providence has found for you. These are the voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter …show more content…
Thus the state 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. I was not born to be forced.” This particular quote explores an undemocratic government. The author explicitly strips the judicial system by portraying their mediocre way of handling justice. There have been tendencies where governments send people to prison without any justice. Thoreau was sent to prison for not paying taxes, he believed that he was innocent because paying taxes meant supporting and funding slavery and the Mexican- American war. The quote reveals an unfair system of justice that follows immoral procedures and portrays the systems tactic as a bully. The significance of this quote is that it attempts to realign the way the judicial system should operate by proposing that the system must not delve on the physical appearance but the character (Giles, p 134). Thoreau’s wise words reveal a human rights activist and a liberal person. American Literature is thus revealed as being a custodian of the law and an advocate of justice. The quote also portrays a picture of America as from late 1800s to 1960s when it was marred with racism and the black were often subjected to injustices and unfair …show more content…
. . Heer nature and liberty affords us that freely, which in England we want, or it costeth us dearly. What pleasure can be more, then (being tired with any occasion a-shore, in planting Vines, Fruits or Hearbs in contriving their owne Grounds, to the pleasure of their owne minds, their Fields, Gradens, Orchards, Buildings, and other works to recreate themselves before their owne doors, in their owne boates upon the sea; where man, woman an childe, with a small hook and line, by angling, may take diverse sorts of excellent fish, at their pleasure.” In this quote Smith is referring to the heavenly pleasures which “nature and liberty” afford freely in the Commonwealth, but come at a great cost in England. The significance of this quote comes out from an author who sees the Commonwealth as an abundant, beautiful paradise. John smith was a leader who believed in hard work and saw the commonwealth vast and rich land with lots of
Thoreau wrote that people must be willing to go to jail if they want to change a law by disobeying the law. Thoreau went to jail instead of paying for his taxes because he believed the government used the money for unjust things. This is how Henry Thoreau thinks people can change unjust laws. He thought that if people willingly would to go to jail and quit their jobs, then the revolution will take a place and reform will come. Thoreau was willing to go to jail to change unjust laws because of his conscience.
11.) Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” is similar to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” because both pieces address the definition of a just
“…this government never of itself furthered any enterprise…” (Thoreau, 1). Thoreau states his belief that the government never has its people in mind and only takes action when it will benefit the few rather than the majority. In this elaborate rant, Thoreau criticizes the government and the people who fail to make change in the country. Thoreau heavily relies on ethical and logical appeals to convey his clear message. “This is the whole history of ‘My Prisons’” (Thoreau, 10). Although Thoreau talks about how it is unethical for the country to go to war and promote slavery, to get people to sympathize with him, Thoreau summarizes his experience in jail for partaking in civil disobedience and not paying a tax. This anecdote depicted the country in a terrible light due to Thoreau’s description of the hateful jail experience. Although this strategy does emotionally appeal greatly to the audience, the full essay isn’t effective. Thoreau discusses many topics ranging from his personal experiences to flaws in the government, people, and legislature. In the eighteen pages of “Civil Disobedience”, Thoreau does not use transitional phrases when he switches between topics. Rhetorical questions’ abundance distracted the readers and it more than likely made them forget about the central theme. “Now what are they? Men at all? Or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?” (Thoreau, 2). Rhetorical questions are used to evoke thought, but the use of some of them when they are not even related to the main message can distract the audience and make them think about something completely different. Thoreau also alluded to different events and people of the time. He also tended to allude to specific excerpts in literature in which he felt were related to what he was discussing. “Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note, as his corse to the rampart we hurried; not a
Thoreau pleads to his reader’s feelings by talking about what he regards as demeaning to the American people, especially the Government’s prisoners. Thoreau then talks about the men who work for the government, which he describes the men as being
Brown was sentenced to death and called ridiculous for his actions by the community; Thoreau took the opportunity to deliver a speech address to Brown called A Plea for Captain John Brown. He praised Brown’s decision to take action and drew a representation of a fearless man willing to take a stand for others “A man of rare common-sense and directness of speech, as of action; a transcendentalist above all, a man of ideas and principles, --that was what distinguished him. Not yielding to a whim or transient impulse, but carrying out the purpose of a life…I do not believe in erecting statues to those who still live in our hearts, whose bones have not yet crumbled in the earth around us, but I would rather see the statue of Captain Brown in the Massachusetts State-House yard, than that of any other man whom I know. I rejoice that I live in this age, that I am his contemporary.” (“Avalon Project- A Plea For Captain John Brown By Henry David Thoreau; October 30,1959”). This is the example of the moral system Thoreau wanted others to adopt; here, one man’s decision to take a step and make a change for those who couldn’t do it for themselves, would make a difference in the current society.
Thoreau believed that individual integrity had the ability to triumph the government. Thoreau went to jail because he refused to pay his poll taxes for the past six years. Also, he protested against the Mexican war, and slavery, which also contributed to him going to jail and his views on the government. During his short period in jail he clarified that he did not dread it, and portrayed it as “Traveling into a far country” (964).
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two of the most distinguished and fervent Puritan poets. Yet this similarity has proven to be one of the few, if not only between these two. One cannot help but find it intriguing that poets who belong to the same religious group and style would write so differently. Many of these differences are not even subtle or hidden beneath the text itself. The differences themselves hold implications and ideas that differ between each poet.
Thoreau painstakingly reminds the individual of the universal principle that is all people, regardless of race, color or beliefs, deserve to live lives free from the tyranny of oppression and he who does not help grant this freedom to those oppressed, is equally as damned as he who enforced it. Thoreau expanded on this idea, “There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them…they hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest, and with effect.” Clearly, Thoreau’s insistence is that rebuking evil is a much a moral obligation as is praising the good. In fact, he insisted, “If one honest man, ceasing to hold slaves, were actually to withdraw from this copartnership, and be locked up in the country jail therefore, it would be the abolition of slavery in America.” Such a drastic and frank statement from Thoreau only proves how steadfast he was in his beliefs that the individual could bring forth great change. Every functioning member of society deserves the chance to make a compelling difference in the lives of those around them, regardless of factors such as race. For it is those who do not protest who aid in the condemnation.
In paragraph 26 of “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau claims the state punishes people who aren’t deserving, therefore all people deserve to be punished. In fact, Thoreau writes, the only place to be true to who you are is in jail. Thoreau thinks that jail is the only place that your opinion matters, as you’re in jail because of an action, and once in jail those same actions are better accepted by your peers. Thoreau adds that it is difficult to fight for what is right if you don’t know what is
One example of the government’s injustice that Thoreau depicts is the way that the government manipulates the members of the standing army. Thoreau claims that, soldiers are prompted by an undue respect for the law and will blindly follow orders from a higher-ranking individual, even at the expense of their conscience and their own common sense. In Thoreau’s opinion, the government has taken away all moral judgment and awareness of the men who are in the military. By using these men to fight in a supposed unjust war, the government has taken away all semblance of intelligent thought and has reduced the members of its army to men created out of clay or wood. In turn, these men become merely a vessel through which the government is able to accomplish its own purpose. Instead of individuals working in harmony to accomplish a greater goal, Thoreau eludes to the idea that the army has as much worth as a herd of horses or a group of dogs; something that is used simply as a tool and not recognized for the individual ideas or perspectives. As a conclusion of sorts to his section about the standing army, Thoreau contemplates on the fine line between being a slave to the government, and refusing to follow government mandates and restrictions.
Thoreau questions society and essentially the core of its practicality, posing the question: Is the idea of a civil citizen possible without loosing ones’ principles? In his essay he articulates, “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content
After spending a night in jail, after nonpayment of Massachusetts poll tax, Thoreau wrote his essay “Civil Disobedience”. He states that governments are mostly “inexpedient” (1577), or not practical. At best, Thoreau pushed the idea that the government isn’t useful because it is not our own. He writes “What makes this duty the more urgent is the fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army” (1580). Americans listen to the rules established by the government, but it is not necessary, because the government is just the majority of people with whom are living off a different countries rules. The reason the government is even there, is because it gives the citizens some type of stable structure to live by. Thoreau feels that the government is unjust and the citizens of America should not follow rules. He feels like a reform is in need; “It is not a man’s duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous, wrong” and “not to give it practically his support” (1582). Thoreau and Emerson both push for social reform of the individual. Emerson wants the individual to be reliant on themselves, and not fall into the conformity of the American society. Thoreau, also teaches the individual to think different then the governmental established rules. Both authors want the readers to trust themselves, before they trust the
(Thoreau 6). Again, he emphasizes that if the government and the rules put out by the government forces an individual to commit any kind of injustice, then that individual should no longer partake in the
Henry David Thoreau was an American writer and protester, who wrote the influential essay “Civil Disobedience”. In his essay, he advocates for citizens to protest against government actions that they deem unjust and to stand up for one’s rights, putting morals before law,