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Henry David Thoreau And Emerson Comparison

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Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau both fond nature to be essential to being a whole person: spiritually and emotionally. Emerson saw nature’s effect on people and their thoughts, whereas Thoreau saw the deliberateness of nature and thought that if people could seize the same decisiveness that they would have more to enjoy in life. Both authors believed that humans needed to enjoy nature to be one with the universal being that is the basis of Transcendentalism.
Emerson wrote “When we speak of nature in this manner, we have a distinct but most poetical sense in the mind.” (Nature 693) Emerson was saying that nature is similar to poetry for the mind, in that it is relaxing and wholesome. Poetry is something that should be indulged in …show more content…

You can’t walk in the woods and see a leaf that doesn’t quite know if it wants to fall to the ground or stay on the tree. Thoreau noticed this, and thought that if people could be decisive in the same way that nature was, then they could “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life… live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put as to put to rout all that was not life… cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner…” (Walden 771) This is something that Thoreau highly valued. He wanted to live as his own person, which was, in his mind, best accomplished by living in nature and not being involved with the government. He wrote “The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies. They are the standing army, and the militia, jailers, constables, posse comitatus, &c.” (Resistance 753). This comes from Thoreau’s thoughts about the government. He feels that one cannot live deliberately while still serving the government, and that those who do serve the government are machines. They don’t make their own decisions because the government makes their choices for them. This is why Thoreau lives in the middle of nature and doesn’t pay his

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Thoreau believes that government should be lenient with their people and work with them for their common good, Gale actions as an individual shows that he agrees. In “Civil Disobedience” Thoreau explains his belief that the government should be tolerant. He explains, “[He] heartily accepts the motto, ‘That government is best which governs least’

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In the society Steinbeck describes, if one were to disobey the rules, he “had no place in any world, no matter where created” (Steinbeck 266). Even though the families had rights, they seemingly did not have the right to protest if they believed a law was unjust. Because of this, the rulers of this society have all of the power. Individuals have to keep their own beliefs private and must adhere to society’s rules, not matter if they were right or wrong, in fear of being shamed. Comparatively, the very foundation of Thoreau’s beliefs is that humans have the right to rebel against a corrupt state.

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This shows that the State in Thoreau’s eyes is foolish and ignorant. Not only that, it is stated in part 3 paragraph 9 that the reason he was incarcerated is due to his refusal to pay allegiance to the State. By doing so, Thoreau wants to be a role model for the people around him by quietly declaring “war” with the State. The term war used does not refer to an actual war, but an indirect, non-violent conflict with the State in hopes of changing it. This is also evident in paragraph 13 of the same part when he states that he does not “wish to quarrel with any man or nation...

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(389) Immediately, any American citizen is directly touched by this statement, and it gives a sense of truth and realization. Thoreau is aiming to challenge the status quo; the understanding that the government is responsible for any success of the country. For several people, he actually seemed to draw a sense of anger and resentment toward the government, which was exactly his goal. Emotional appeal is a major factor in making Civil Disobedience a timeless literary

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2124 Words | 9 Pages

Thoreau 's views on the government by comparing the government to a machine. He states, ”When the machine was producing injustice, it was the duty of conscientious citizens to be ‘a counter friction’ (i.e., a resistance) "to stop the machine.” The two major issues being debated in the United States during his life was slavery and the Mexican-American War in which were major reasons he wrote his essays. In the mid to late 1840’s slavery has been indoctrinated into American society in which caused rifts between Americans.

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Thoreau points out that, “but, if I deny the authority of the State when it presents its 17 tax-bill, it will soon take and waste all my property, and so harass me and my children without

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Henry David Thoreau: Biography and Rhetorical Analysis of His Works Henry David Thoreau and the transcendentalist movement can’t be summarized merely in a single sentence or even essay, though this quote comes close, “Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.” Transcendentalism is the belief that material things, the “comforts” and “luxuries” of which Thoreau speaks, are inferior to knowledge and spirituality. Thoreau was a major leader in this movement. Thoreau’s works, “Walden” “Main Woods”, and various poems of his helped to lay the foundations for Transcendentalism. Some 140 years after his death Thoreau is still being published, and written about.

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He objected the injustices of war and slavery, and practiced civil disobedience in his daily life. In the time of Thoreau writing Civil Disobedience, many people believed revolution against the government had not been necessary since the time of the American Revolution. However, Thoreau believes that resisting an abusive government is especially important at this point in time considering that, "a sixth of the population of a nation which has undertaken to be the refuge of liberty are slaves, and a whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law." According to Thoreau, it is the duty of American citizens to promptly revolutionize against slavery and the Mexican-American War, which have both been supported by the corrupted American

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Thoreau believes “that government is best which governs least” and “that government is best which governs not at all” (Thoreau 1). Thoreau has exceptionally low expectations toward the government, he does not believe in the government because “they have persuaded the majority to alter them” ( Thoreau 1).Just like the armies also viewed as machines are programmed to function, the government has also managed to have their citizens alter them. Thoreau criticizes they way the government manages their issues because the government's remedy to issues is worst than the evil, they claim to take care of an issue but in reality they make it worst which expands to the issue that government is not capable of being equitable because it is filled with unjust individual who are brainwashed to do the task they are programmed to do. Individuals usually pursue the crowd, but Thoreau desires that one individual will wrangle to bring change to society.

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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

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923 Words | 4 Pages

He wrote about how technology and new lifestyles were continuously replacing what nature had established. He pointed out how nature was the window for people to find their own identity, which was fogged by the changes in society the industrial revolution had caused. Then, he continued to elaborate on how pure nature truly was by stating that all living things survive and live because of nature. Thoreau believes that society had lost itself in the tangles of its discoveries, and points to the solution of going back to

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470 Words | 2 Pages

Henry David Thoreau especially supported the interaction between man and nature. With his experiment at Walden, he addresses a modern concept known as minimalism, focusing on the way one must supply for himself with his basic necessities. His intentions were not to isolate himself, but moreso to separate himself from a life dependent upon others. Through his actions, he is able to criticise society and many of their needs.

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Consequently, what Thoreau proposed was simplicity rejecting modern civilization to return to nature and let the individual to develop his/her highest possibilities. Thoreau not only made a critique of the modern society as Emerson did, but also he practiced his ideology: he experienced that life is better without crowd, luxuries and complexity. The transcendentalist poet spent two year close to nature. He lived at Walden Pond where he wrote entire journals recounting his experience. Thoreau is well known for his book “Walden” (1854).

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535 Words | 3 Pages

Thoreau highlights the simplicity of life as exemplified by his deliberate move to live in the woods underlining the required resilience when confronted with challenges in the environment where one can identify positive elements.

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This citation shows that Thoreau did not want to follow the laws. Thoreau also believed in living life by following moral law and not law stated in the constitution. Thoreau also believed that the government does best if it does not rule over the people. In the essay Civil Disobedience it says “That government is best which governs least”. This shows what Thoreau felt the government should not do.

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