"I heartily accept the motto - That government is best which governs least" (Thoreau). These are the very first words that Henry David Thoreau writes in his essay, "Civil Disobedience". In this essay, Thoreau talks a lot about how he feels about our government. In this quote, he is basically saying that one day we may not have a need for a government some day. He then starts saying things like, "It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have" (Thoreau). I think in this section he is talking about how in reality even though the government tells you what to do, when its all said and done, you are the one who actually does it. That government really, is just to guide you in the right direction. I guess that is why he thinks that eventually we may not need it because we will be fine by ourselves. However, even though Thoreau says that he does not want a government, it doesn't mean that he is totally against one either. "But, to speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men,(4) I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it" (Thoreau).Right here he is talking about how he is not one of those people that is not for government at all, but just wants a better one and that every man should say what government they would respect and that would be the first step to getting it.
This essay definitely falls under the Transcendentalism/ Romanticism period. Like we talked about in class the other day, Transcendentalism is based on the individual intuition. There was belief in a God, but it only through nature that we are able to connect with Him (Quinn). Those are just some characteristics of the Transcendentalism period. Romanticism, as we have covered before, deals also with nature, but does not focus as much on the individual aspects. Like the journal we wrote about last class, Thoreau brings up some interesting points when it comes to the law and the government. "They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs. Yet such as these even are commonly esteemed good citizens. Others, as most legislators, politicians, lawyers, ministers, and office-holders, serve the state chiefly with their heads; and, as they rarely make any moral distinctions, they are as likely to serve the devil, without intending it, as God. A very few, as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men, serve the state with their consciences also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it. A wise man will only be useful as a man, and will not submit to be "clay," and "stop a hole to keep the wind away,"(8) but leave that office to his dust at least" (Thoreau). Here I think he is kind of talking about how people in government do not always make moral decisions or use their consciences all the time.
I really liked ready this actually. It was very interesting and I liked hearing what he had to say.
Quinn, Edward. "Transcendentalism." A Dictionary of Literary and Thematic Terms, Second Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006.Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.
Thoreau, Henry David. "Thoreau's Civil Disobedience - 1." The Thoreau Reader. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.
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