Literature Analysis 4

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

Collaboration: Hikaru Kasai, Bailey Reasner, Jared Dube, Marcel Dube.

TOPIC(S) and/or EVENT(S): (Jared)

1. The essay I read was Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau. The essay focuses on the peoples right to overthrow an unfair government.  Basically if an unjust law is passed you don’t have to follow this law if you believe it isn’t right. Thoreau for example believes that America is an unjust government at the time he wrote the essay due to slavery and wars. The best way to overthrow a government is to play no part in it since no one is obligated to participate the evils of an unjust government. All in all, he believes most governments are all bad and their only job should be to meet the wants and needs of the people.
2. I believe David Thoreau chose to write this essay on his dislike for governments after protesting the government by not paying taxes. Another reason could be that he wanted to spread his form of protest to the masses in order to incite a change in government.
3. The reason I decided to read this essay is because I really think Thoreau’s view on government is very interesting and gives a lot of insight from the past. I also picked his essay to read due to the rational thought process he uses to back up his ideals.
4. I found this book very realistic due to the way it brings in current events from the time period. When Thoreau mentions how the people should protest unjust laws it is similar to us today in that people dislike some aspects of our government but do nothing about it.

PEOPLE: (Hikaru)

1. Since this piece of literature is more of an essay, Thoreau does not present characters, but rather his entire essay is a deeper reflection of his thought. His thought process is extremely rational and mindful of history. The author is very questioning and reflective of himself.
2. Henry David Thoreau  strongly believes in individualism and questioning of the government (or self aware in general). He is very subjective and critical towards the American government, and also the American citizens.  He argues that citizens are not using intellect, and their voting in general reflects their own interests. His argument goes back to the core of the American people. Overall, Thoreau is more of a liberal thinker.
3. Thoreau is interesting to write about because his arguments and thoughts are very constructive and well thought out. Much of his explanation is clear and practical, but some of it can be seen as too radical or liberal. He is very self aware of his surroundings and very keen of outside influence.

STYLE: [Marcel ]

1. Thoreau did not use any notable literary techniques from fiction, he used a more journalistic style with a persuasive tone. Multiple time in his essay he would give his opinion on most things as well as supporting his opinion with references in history and quotes from which he strongly believed in. An example of this would be how he describes on how to counter an unfair law.
2. Thoreau uses mainly dialogue and action to to promotes his argument and uses example of people and history to strengthen its bonds, overall making the entire essay stronger to the reader giving out thoreau’s style of rebellion to the audience.
3. He uses examples of injustices acted out by the government ,society  and the use of his own personal opinion in order to create a mood of defiance and a tone of accumulating frustration.
4. Thoreau was annoyed by the government and went to reach out to the reader to take action against slavery and the escalating war between mexico and The United States of America.
5. Thoreau doesn't offer many outside sources but he does have a very appealing opinion and way of using it to its full effects. However there are a few quotes he used to get his point across .

ENDURING MEMORY: (Bailey)

In this novel the individual is the final judge of right and wrong. More than this, because only individuals act, only individuals can act unjustly. When the government knocks on the door, it is an individual in the form of a postman or tax collector whose hand hits the wood. Before Thoreau is imprisoned when a confused taxman had wondered aloud about how to handle his refusal to pay, Thoreau had advised, “Resign.” If a man chose to be an agent of injustice, then Thoreau insisted on confronting him with the fact that he was making a choice. As Thoreau explained,

"is, after all, with men and not with parchment that I quarrel."

Also,  the domestic consequences of the conflict were very disturbing. Taxes rose and the country assumed a military air. Thoreau was horrified to learn that some of his neighbors actively supported the war. He was perplexed by those who did not support the war but who financed it through the taxes they paid. After all, he considered the war to be

 “the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool.”

Without cooperation from the people, “a few individuals” would not succeed in wielding that tool.