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’
Thoreau uses extended metaphors to convey his frustration and disapproval towards the government by comparing man and the government to thoughtless machines. He states that “the mass of men serve the states thus, not as men, but as machines….(Thoreau, 941)” He uses metaphors similar to this one to better get across the loss of individuality of the people and drastic change into uniform and thoughtless machines without a moral compass, for when people become machine-like they act unjust and without acknowledgment of the consequences their actions can have, such as soldiers participating in war (mentioned in paragraph two). This idea of a lack of human individuality and integrity goes against Thoreau’s views on the world at large. Thoreau again
Thoreau and Steinbeck’s Ideals for Government Since the beginning of early societies, people have evaluated the written rights in which the government provides its people, and the unwritten rules that keep many from living freely. Henry David Thoreau, in his essay, “Civil Disobedience”, discusses the importance of protecting one’s rights and using those rights to protest the government for its discrepancies. John Steinbeck, in his novel, Grapes of Wrath, presents a similar argument in Chapter 17, through the story of a community of families with a set system of governing.
Thoreau is suggesting that the government is not doing enough for it’s people and the government needs to improve. His proposal of two ideas that contrast each other draw attention to a solution he suggests. Rhetorical strategies in writing help readers better understand an intended message and allow acceptance in opinions by introducing ideas in a creative
Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson had two different views on how America should be ran and two different views on society. Thoreau didn’t like people acting against the government, but he also believed that the government shouldn’t be in other people’s business. Emerson believed that the government should have power, but not control people’s lives. They both believed that the government shouldn’t be able to interfere in people’s lives. “Government is best which governs not at all.”
By making people ponder on the unjust laws in society Thoreau hopes that it will draw more attention to the matter and convince people to help support the cause. Thoreau utilizes this strategy again to draw people’s attention towards the malfunctioning of the current government. He attended to make people question their attitude towards their government. Thoreau asks “how does it become a man to behave towards this American government today? [He answers], that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it.
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
Thoreau bases much of his argument around this idea, even his opening statement of Civil Disobedience is that he “heartily accepts the motto, ‘That government is best which governs least’ and [he] should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically” (Thoreau 1). Any government that is relatively uninvolved in the lives of its citizens and allows the people to have their own beliefs without any repercussions is one that Thoreau advocates for. Steinbeck describes the same type of government that migrants set up on their way west as he states that “there grew up government in the worlds, with leaders, with elders,… each member of the family grew into his proper place, grew into his duties,… and this was done without command” (Steinbeck 132). A group of people can establish their own type of rules and system of doing things without the need for a government. Steinbeck and Thoreau agree that this is a better way of governing a group of people because a large government often becomes oppressive and does not look out for the needs of every citizen.
The key to deconstructing Thoreau's argument is to understand his hierarchy of government and the individual. Thoreau's ideal communion between the individual and the state is manifest by the individual as a "higher and independent power". This relationship is entertained in Civil Disobedience in the analysis of Thoreau's 1846 imprisonment, in which Thoreau demonstrated freedom as an internal and subjective
Thoreau was rewording the aphorism of The United States Magazine and Democratic Review: "The best government is what administers least."[16 ] Thoreau extended it fundamentally: I generously acknowledge the saying,— "That legislature is best which oversees slightest;" and I ought to like to see it misbehaved to all the more quickly and efficiently. Did, it at last adds up to this, which I additionally trust,— "That administration is best which oversees not in any way;" and when men are readied for it, that will be the sort of government which they will have. Government is, best case scenario yet a practical; yet most governments are as a rule, and all administrations are once in a while, inexpedient. — Thoreau,
A government’s improvement revolves solely around recognizing the rights of men: “There will never be a really free and enlightened State until the State comes to recognize the individual as a higher and independent power, from which all its own power and authority are derived, and treats him accordingly” (Thoreau, 1847/1998, p. 146). The people form the government. A
Henry David Thoreau did not like a big government and he strongly believed with the idea of fighting for what he believed in. You can see this in his writing “Resistance to Civil Government” also you can see many more of his opinions/ ideas. He thought that the government
Thoreau begins his essay with the motto "That government is best which governs least." He expresses his distrust of government by explaining that he believes it to be "perverted and abused" before people can decide upon issues with it. He makes his point by referencing the Mexican war which was lead by a collection of wealthy individuals who manipulated the government's act of conduct to their liking. Thoreau claims that government is itself, a oppressive and corrupt tool that allows few men to will on the majority to become economically successful. Thoreau views government as an obstacle in the way of the people it's created to represent.
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.
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.
