Comparing Henry David Thoreau And Gandhi

In order to be an effective and powerful speaker and to be able to influence your audience, you must be able to think in a more abstract manner. Both Henry David Thoreau and Mahatma Gandhi have mastered this ability to sway their followers and become elite leaders with the use of different grammatical strategies. Mahatma was born in Porbandar, India, which is a coastal town in eastern India. In a different region of the hemisphere, Thoreau was born in Concord Massachusetts. While being born on opposite sides of the world, both of these men had the same goal in mind. Although it required some effort, the men concerted to trade ideas, tactics, and strategies that they had found useful. Both men were very powerful speakers, and being that they

When Thoreau states, “If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth - certainly the machine will wear out.” he speaks of the government as if it was a machine. Thus meaning that perhaps the government is a machine that runs on the people for instance. Furthermore, the friction he refers to could reference the people to act out of the norm, such as to quit paying taxes and other normally unlawful acts that would hinder this “machine” useless. Although Gandhi writes with less complex verbiage, he still uses strategies such as metaphors to acquire his audience's attention. In one such metaphor where Gandhi states, “One way is to smash the head of the man who perpetrates injustice and to get your own head smashed in the process.” he states that the ultimate end is to have one's head smashed. This is not to be taken in a literal sense, but it is meant to be viewed as a means to an end. Rebellion would lead to death or being arrested instead of an actual head smashing, but the metaphor is used to communicate the amount of severity that injustice would cause. These men both have very similar goals, and they wish to make the people realize the truth and take a stand for their wellbeing. Although they came from opposite sides of the world, they are both connected with the interest to put an end to unjust