Civil Disobedience Essay

Based on the writings of Henry David Thoreau it is truly relevant that he is rattling opposed to brass involvement of any kind. He doesnt believe that the government should be involved in everyday life. Thoreau doesnt understand the point of having a government system that pass on be useful to everyone and non just a select few. Thoreau proceeds to beg off his whiley reasons as to why the government is best when it governs the least. He i occupy multitude should stand up to the very ones that made society so corrupt and weak. Thoreau believes the government puts face-to-face selfish interests on a pedestal.Thoreaus opening statement set the tone for his entire rise. He begins his essay by saying that the government, so far, has rarely shewn to be useful. He believes that the power the government has derived from the majority rather than the few. This is mainly because the majority is the strongest aggroup not because their viewpoint is right but because they pose umpte en in numbers. He then continues to express the fact that many people do what they believe is right and not to just follow the law created by the majority. He insists that people should do away with the law all in concert when the legal system becomes inequitable. Thoreau then states that the United States is a perfect poser of an unjust government.He believes that is because of the fact that they have sh take support of slavery and they have fragmentiseicipated in the practice of aggressive war. In regards to a man succeeding(a) his first obligation, Thoreau believes that a man isnt obligated to get disembarrass of the evils of the world, but he is obligated not to take part in these evils. This means that no man should come up the need to participate in an unruly government if he does not choose to do so. Thoreau asks, moldiness the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his moral sense to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience, then? I remember we should be men first, and subjects afterward. He is basically stating that it is far more all-important(a) to develop respect for what is right, rather than a respect for law. Thoreau sets a very powerful and aggressive tone by choosing to open his essay this way.Thoreau doesnt see the effectiveness of reform inside the US government. Thus, he wants his readers to feel the same way. He then says that he is convinced that petitioning and voting for permute achieves very little. Thoreau uses a wide variety of examples, some personal, that depict the unjust system that he discusses. By using his own personal experiences, he is allowing the reader to fully understand everything he is trying to depict. He speaks on the fact that during a protest against slavery, he refused to pay the taxes that were issued to him. Because of his refusal to pay the taxes, he spent the night in jail. But, overall his thoughts and opinions dissociated him from the government because he chose not to partic ipate in its institutions.He then states that one cant see the government for what it veritablely is because one is still working within it. And, in this way they believe that everything is justified because they are a part of the strong majority. He feels that having too much respect for law causes people to do wild things. For example, he believes that the government has turned soldiers into machines for their own personal use making them a shadow of what is real. Thoreau is very passionate and true about everything that he says. He wants the reader to know exactly where in his heart these words are coming from. He never uses a harsh syntax or diction when writing because he doesnt want to sound angry.Throughout his essay, Thoreau uses an intense greet to pathos. He more often than not uses pathos when he describes a conversation with his cell mate. Thoreau asks his fellow captive what he got put in jail for and the man replied saying, they accuse me of yearning a barn but I never strikee it. Thoreau does this to appeal to the emotion of his readers by showing them that what the government does isnt fair. He similarly shows this when he says that he has been waiting 3 months for his trial, and he will believably have to wait another 3 months before he actually gets his trial. Thoreau describes the conversation to paint a picture in the minds of his readers, of an innocent man that had to wait a half a year to attempt to prove innocence. The fact that this innocent man was spending his waiting time in jail, draws a lot of sympathy from his readers.Thoreau also uses a great deal of imagery in this essay. When describing hisjail cell, he used the rooms were vacuouswashed once a month He was doing this to show his audience that his punishment real wasnt as bad as closely people thought it would be. Thoreau even said that he viewed his cell almost as if it were an apartment, and the jail house, a city. This supports his idea that jail technically i snt a punishment for those in it. Thoreau, here, is trying to persuade the readers to stand in concert and revolt against the government because it is their duty to do so. He then goes on to say that neither him, nor his cell mate pose any real threat to society. This makes the reader question his place in jail. If he really wasnt a threat, then why was he locked up?Thoreau is very opinionated about his very broad views of the government. He believes that the government has precisely lasted this long because people refuse to execute their own will. And, until this happens, no changes will ever be made. Thoreau wishes for a society in which man makes decisions of his own mind and not the mind of those that are trying to suppress the truth. In some aspects Thoreau is right. Some current laws are not honorable. Overall, Thoreau just wants to line up to the laws set in place, but he feels that that phenomenon wont happen.In his essay, Thoreau makes it very clear of his idea that gover nment is best when it governs the least. He uses many rhetorical strategies such as imagery, symbolism and pathos as an causal agency to persuade the readers that the best kind of government is one of laissez-faire. His main ideas were deport in his writing. He wanted to show people that a inactive government is not the best thing for everyone. Because if he was thrown in jail for one night due to the fact he didnt pay poll tax for six years, then why dont people step up and revolt against the government? He wanted the reader to feel empowered by his words so that there could truly be a change in government policies.