Transcendentalism In 'The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail'

Henry David Thoreau’s words that “disobedience is the true foundation of liberty” and that “the obedient must be slaves” is a political statement that never lost its topicality during the Romantic era. Thoreau served as an important contributor to the philosophical and American literary movement known as New England Transcendentalism. Nature and the conduct of life are two central themes that are often weaved together in his essays and books that were published in the Romantic era of literature. Thoreau brought these two themes together to write on how people ought to live a simplistic life through embracing nature. His naturalistic writing intertwined cataloging and observation with Transcendentalist views of nature. Through his life and

Henry David Thoreau’s words that “disobedience is the true foundation of liberty” and that “the obedient must be slaves” is a political statement that never lost its topicality during the Romantic era. Thoreau is an important contributor to the philosophical and American literary movement known as New England Transcendentalism. Nature and the conduct of life are two central themes that are often weaved together in his essays and books that were published in the Romantic era of literature. Thoreau brought these two themes together to write on how people ought to live a simplistic life. His naturalistic writing intertwined cataloging and observation with Transcendentalist views of nature. Through his life and his work, Henry David Thoreau has contributed to American Literature since the Romantic era.

Why is solitude looked down on society? It should be advised by people to start engaging in the concept of solitude. Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless were both transcendentalism that believes in the key fundamental idea that the human body should partake in such as solitude. Henry Thoreau was a transcendentalist that practiced the form of solitude throughout his life. He left society and moved into the woods to be removed from the confines of society. Along with Thoreau, a more modern-day transcendentalist was known as Chris McCandless. McCandless journeyed to the wilderness in Alaska to be able to experience a minimal amount of human interaction along with the solitude that comes with it. The concept of solitude should be

Followers of the Transcendentalist movement stressed the religious, philosophical and ideological importance of life. Henry David Thoreau was a staunch supporter of the movement. Thoreau felt that a person lived a good life by following his conscience and instincts. He also felt that materialism was a sure way to distract a person from leading a good and moral life. Thoreau proposed for the government to be involved in as little of a citizen's life as possible; he felt too much government control just complicated a person's life. Like most Transcendentalists, Thoreau believed there was a direct connection to God through nature. If a person appreciated nature he would gain a higher understanding of God. Finally, Thoreau encouraged

Transcendentalism, or the belief that there is a direct connection between a man’s individual soul and nature, was a very avant-garde movement throughout its peak; although now, American society continues to grow increasingly distant from it. These ideals are reflected in the works of Henry David Thoreau and Jon Krakauer, as well as the life of Chris McCandless. Throughout Thoreau’s novel Walden he distinctly preaches the belief that in society, men have become more focused on work and material possessions than life’s simple pleasures and freedoms. In the same manner, Krakauer and McCandless both draw inspiration from Thoreau, and ultimately share spiritual experiences throughout their adventures, both seeking to find life’s true purpose. Although many will argue that transcendental ideas and culture are outdated and have no place in today’s humanity, transcendentalism itself, and the ideals possessed by Henry David Thoreau and Chris McCandless have played a major role in American society, in that they appeal to the spiritual side of every man, which accredits to the belief that only life’s bare necessities are required in order to live a fulfilled life. However, it is unfeasible to live a transcendental lifestyle in today’s insatiable, consumerist society.

Along with McCandless’s view, we see another interpretation of transcendentalism in HDT’s “Civil Disobedience.” Thoreau believed that society has become too dependent on government and it should be less involved. Thoreau states his motto as “that government is best which governs the least”(1). This shows his strong belief that government

Henry uses many devices to get his point across to the president and others. In the beginning he uses formal diction to establish rapport- to persuade those who disagree with his stance to agree. He says “worthy gentlemen” to the men who have went before him and gave their account. Also says “I hope it will not be thought disrespectful to those” to them also because something he says later on might be thought towards a certain person. In the second paragraph he uses allusion to Greek mythology and allusion to hope. It states “...it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope” “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience”. Also gives allusion to Greek myths saying “we are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till

Although Thoreau expresses his opinions deliberately in his essay Civil Disobedience, Lawrence and Lee illuminate Thoreau’s opposition to the government more vigorously by implementing potent assertions into Thoreau’s dialogue in The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail. Thoreau’s essay alludes to men’s materialistic desires and their sole concern for wealth. Lawrence and Lee cogently convey his idea by describing “every man shackled to a

Addressing the Virginia Convention and President Peyton Randolph of the Continental Congress, Patrick Henry gives a speech affecting the audience’s minds and causing them to question their beliefs. In this passionate and interrogative discourse, Henry, former governor of Virginia, respectfully introduces his opinions on what action to take in regards to the conflict with Britain. The other members of the convention desire to peacefully approach the situation, but Patrick Henry differs as he wants to assemble preparations for war under the circumstance that Britain does not succeed the colonists’ demands. He accomplishes his desired effect on the audience due to his rhetorical use of allusions, pathos, and syntax.

Thoreau takes great pains to describe each character, even down to the farmer’s “wrinkled, sibyl-like, cone-headed”[3] infant in chapter 10, “Baker Farm”. He makes sure his readers understand the unique attributes of each individual in his experiences. As Thoreau once said, “It is what a man thinks of himself that really determines his fate.”

In the second paragraph he addresses the situations that faces them as Americans. Henry questions the idea of people during this time and states “Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love?” He then states the only way to not lose this freedom that they worked so hard for is to fight “if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must

This evidence conveys his inability to foster any other comparable ideas for black requisitions. Based on the induction of the evidence, Henry makes black lives appear poor and miserable. Almost as if there are no other options but submission and

Transcendentalist has a handful of principals from self-reliance to the thought of technology is harmful.The main tenet throughout the paper will focus on the importance of nature. Transcendentalist views nature as a gateway to the spiritual world, a way to the Omnipower. Henry David Thoreau immersed himself into nature fully “The morning wind forever blows, the poem of creation is uninterrupted; but few are the ears that hear it”(Thoreau II). Thoreau reveals how he has taken the time to observe nature to its fullest extent. He saw nature as a neighbor who was to be respected just as a man would treat another. Ralph Waldo Emerson a great transcendentalist, a mentor to Thoreau. Emerson’s point of view of nature showed how men and nature can become one to uplift themselves from the worldly shackles. Thoreau and Emerson both had a concept that nature was essentials to mankind, one sought out to respect it and the other viewed as a form of release.Nature is important to transcendentalism because it leads to spiritual connection and harmonization.