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Thoreau, Tim O Brien, And Frederick Douglass: Literary Analysis

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People often look to government and society to guide the way a person lives, but authors Henry David Thoreau, Tim O'Brien, and Frederick Douglass think otherwise. These authors share the idea of sticking to what they believe in without falling victim to societal norms or laws. Thoreau rejected the ideas of government and thought ways he could hold true to himself. O'Brien strongly opposes war and does not believe in the glorification of it, in fact he sees not good in war. Douglass creates a character named Madison Washington who rejects the social label of a slave and is determined to become the free man he knows he should be.
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau Discusses Thoreau’s ideas on government and its effects on society. Thoreau’s …show more content…

O’Brian list some of the items they carried to give them a sense of security, feeling luck, and reminder of love they have waiting at home. The reality of the horror of war hit them when an American soldier by the name of Ted Lavender was shot in front of everyone while he was urinating. Everyone was stunned when realizing all the things they carried do not even matter. The thing they were most afraid of, death, had come, and it had come while doing such a basic function. The war showed that there was no exception on when the soldiers could face death. After the death of Ted lavender the soldiers fight out of rage and revenge of a friend in a war that had no previous meaning. O’Brian does not leave out any of the gory horrifying details of soldiers deaths and the conditions of war .The war was pointless in the eyes of the soldiers, which is why O’Brian never mentions a reason for the war. In this story O'Brien refuses to make war look in anyway positive, nor does he justify the killing of people. Instead he shows war in a bad light, bringing only sorrow and death because he does not believe in the glorification of war. Frederick Douglass’s The Heroic Slave Focuses on a Slave named Madison Washington and his struggle for freedom. Madison was in the woods reflecting on his thoughts after being whipped by his master. He believes he his alone as he discusses

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