Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience”
Responsible Citizen
"Let your life be a counter friction
to stop the machine." Henry David Thoreau said when the eighteenth century
was over and the United States of America had achieved its independence. The
horse of Nationalism goes fast; David Thoreau is the writer of the article “Civil
Disobedience” who believes in
nationalism with a commitment to moral and human beliefs. He tried to control
this horse. “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute freedom and
wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and culture merely civil,—to regard man
as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of
society.” While Thoreau wrote this article, the word ‘nationalism’ was not
common which is why we cannot see the word of nationalism in his article, but
David Thoreau mentions it in his article as government and states. He believes that a person’s conscience is
worthier than collective wisdom; this idea seems selfish and illogical,
because everyone can have their own sensation, and government cannot govern
based on the views and feelings of a person. Without concealment, Thoreau
believes that ethics and human is more valuable than nationalism, and
emphasizes on the fact that many people who work for the government, work like
machines without thinking about the outcomes of their service while a
responsible citizen usually thinks about their tasks. He mentions that in this process of government, the people’s characters
get destroyed, and argues about the dangerous shape of nationalism by using
emotional contrasts. He says, “This kind of serving for government is actually
the serving of Satan instead of serving of God.” (44) It seems Thoreau’s fear
of nationalism has led him to say that any employee that follows the government
is like an animal. Many philosophers like Jean Rousseau believe that the
government that is developed from democracy and elections considers its
decision a more valuable factor than the personal ideas of people. In addition,
many religions emphasize on the fact that people follow acts based on
conscientious beliefs; Thoreau underscores this point as well, and prefers the
person’s beliefs rather than the instructions and regulations of the elected
government. He believes that if a subject is in contradiction with a human
belief, people should not obey the government. Thoreau’s actions and beliefs
are understandable and admirable because the duty of every human is to
contribute to the realization of justice and equality, but it seems to be a
conflict with the laws of the elected state. I think the consequences of this
contradiction caused the establishment of a Judicature. This is the one of ways,
which can solve the paradox between logical and emotional beliefs. Thoreau uses
the Aristotle's appeals which are logos, ethos, and pathos to convince the reader
to accept his beliefs about nationalism.
One of the rhetorical
devices that Thoreau uses to convince his readers about his beliefs is Logos. While Thoreau explains his idea, people
and the government ignored many basic human rights, like the times when slavery
and attacking Mexico and Native Americans happened. In this condition, Thoreau
wants to stop this behavior, and then he decides to object these behaviors by
refusing to pay taxes. He wants to raise people for the next generation to have
a good relationship between the government and the people. He believes to
support government if it is loyal to conscience action; by this kind of
statement, Thoreau uses the logos appeal meaning that he tries to be logical
and not exaggerate. Sometimes, some people pretend to be human subjects to
avoid paying their general duty. However, someone like Thoreau accepts to go to
prison but does not accept unjust rules and governmental regulations. He
clearly tells people if you see the government oppress people, stand up against
it. Although you have to pay it, this is a civil disobedience that you to be
the tools of injustice to other people “Under a government which imprisons
unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison” (166). In order to
prove that he is makes logical claims, he accepts the sequels of his behavior,
but does not accept the governmental immoral behavior. By using logos appeal, Thoreau’
logically urges people to take action to maintain and reinforce their
consciousness.
However,
many philosophers and legislators like John Rousseau, and actually a majority
of people disagreed with Thoreau, and thought the governmental rules and
regulations overcome personal beliefs. Logically, it is not acceptable to
emphasize on anyone’s ideas and deny governmental rules. By using logos, Thoreau
references that his claim is righteous. With a forceful opening, he tries to
prove that the government machine, nationalism, is dangerous for human beings.
He says in fact this is not the decision of the majority of people, this is the
decision of the governor; and he believes governing for a short time, like for
two years, is better than long-term governments. He rejects the idea of
always supporting the government’s obedience
under any circumstances. Thoreau
did this masterwork of ineffaceability to change the current nationalistic view
of the United States. Throughout entire Thoreau’s article, his point of
view is considerable; he urges his readers to protest their government if
they sense or observe unfair acts in the nation. He believes that not stopping the
state's actions can lead to unjust acts happening endlessly in the future at any
place. Thus certainly small
steps can be deeper and long-lasting effects. All of these claims and
recommendations from Thoreau were his logical statements to prove is
righteousness, and get the trust of the people who read his article.
Thoreau shows ethos during his essay, and
why he doesn’t like nationalism. The rules must be based on logic and human
rights. Any citizen should follow his or her conscience about the rules. If
regulations are not based on human rights, or not based on ethics, they
certainly should be avoided. People's duty is not just to vote for the
government, their main jobs are to compare rules with their consciousness and
to control the state so that they
go through the path of truth and fairness. Nationalism should not mean
forgetting individual consciousness; therefore, his reasoning is “After all,
the practical reason why, when the power is once in the hands of the people, a
majority are permitted, and for a long period continue, to rule is not because
they are most likely to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the
minority, but because they are physically the strongest.”(24) He says the
government does not pay attention to freedom which is not fair; therefore, in
this condition, duty men should follow the truth even if it leads them to go to
jail. Having the willingness to accept the consequences of civil disobedience is
an important step to change unfair rules. By using ethos that consists of simple
reasons based on choosing the right and ethical path, Thoreau seeks to attract
more people to the community. So he criticizes those who take government
salaries and blindly obeys the government. When Thoreau talks about slavery and
says that he is against slavery, he was not the only person who disagrees with
slavery but he was the only one who rebelled against the wrong desertion to
follow the ethics. He proudly says people are never proud of their nation when
they witness unjust rules and acts in it. Even if the nation develops from the majority
of people’s vote, no one can guarantee its governmental rules to be fair. A man must obey his consciousness instead of the rules of
his nation. By using ethos, Thoreau says while the people can be proud of their
nation, they should follow the right ethics to have ethical rules in the
government.
Thoreau uses pathos to trigger humans’
emotions to prove his idea. Thoreau is like many philosophers and missionaries
who try to provoke human emotions, and pursue their goals emotionally; Thoreau claims,
“I think that it is enough if they have God on their side, without waiting for
that other one. Moreover, any man more right than his neighbors constitutes a
majority of one already” (150). Thoreau refers to human rights which is
strongly related to people’s emotions, and reading about not following these rights
brings up sadness and anger for the reader. The reason why some of the twenty-seven
amendments in the constitution have changed is that they were based on inhumane
behaviors which are emotionally collapsing for human beings; currently, there
are amendments like the 13th amendment, which is about the abolition of slavery,
and the 17th amendment that mentions equality and women’s right to vote. However,
with all these points, the author strongly considers protesting without
violation “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.” (2) To make the reader emotionally connected to himself, Thoreau
states that achieving human rights should be done by humanitarian principles to
not make any harm for anybody. He recommends spending life for the
realization of equality and freedom and standing up to stop nationalism in
case the government stands in the face of justice. Triggering the readers’
emotions is the pathos appeal that Thoreau could perfectly use to make
connections with the readers and convince them about his thoughts.
Briefly, Henry David Thoreau skillfully indicated his
thoughts by using various rhetorical devices including logos, ethos, and pathos;
he provokes people and their readers to resist nationalism by using religious
texts and quotes. Also sometimes, he shows his righteousness by using logic,
ethics, and emotions in his article. He writes “the government is best which
governs not at all," however, without a government, there will be no order
and safety in the society. Thoreau has an attitude toward the government, which
simply claims the shorter the life of a government, the better for the society.
Works Cited
Thoreau, Henry
David. “Civil Disobedience”
