Citizenship and Government in Henry Thoreaus Civil...

Citizenship and Government in Henry Thoreaus Civil Disobedience Philosophers, historians, authors, and politicians have spent centuries pondering the relationship between citizens and their government. It is a question that has as many considerations as there are forms of government and it is rarely answered satisfactorily. A relatively modern theorist, author Henry Thoreau, introduced an idea of man as an individual, rather than a subject, by thoroughly describing the way a citizen should live many of his works. He indirectly supplements the arguments he presents in his essay Civil Disobedience through a comprehensive selection of adages found in his other works. In particular, the phrases A simple and independent mind does not†¦show more content†¦The only real power the State holds over any individual is the promise of brute force; it never intentionally confronts a man’s sense, intellectual or moral, but only his body, his senses (687). Therefore, many acts the State requires will be unjust—they can and will force a man to slave for the sake of an ordeal he does not believe in. As Thoreau notes in Civil Disobedience, a wise man will only be useful as a man (678). In essence, Thoreau believes that a man who toils at any ruling institution’s bidding simply because it bid him to do so sacrifices his own facilities as a human being. He then becomes nothing more than a man put on a level with wood and earth and stones... Command[ing] no more respect than men of straw, or a lump of dirt (678). Another quotation that helps to explicate Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience is To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. In this phrase, Thoreau uses the term awake as an euphemism for being fully aware of one’s concept of right and fully in control of one’s moral and physical existence. Understandably, people who are consistently awake, in this sense of the word, are hard to find: There are nine hundred and ninety-nine patrons of virtue to one virtuous man (680). Also, the fact that Thoreau has never met a man who was quite awake implies that fully conscious individuals have difficulty existing in modernShow MoreRelatedBeing a Good Citizen Essay960 Words   |  4 PagesDoes good citizenship necessitate following the laws despite some kind of injustice within them? Are good citizens obliged to blindly follow the government policies? It follows then, what is good citizenship? Henry David Thoreau provides an adequate definition of good citizenship within his essay, Civil Disobedience; Thoreau discusses certain characteristics of a good citizen. Examples of Thoreaus definition exist in both the ancient and contemporary culture. Sophocles describes Antigone as a goodRead MoreSelf-Reliance and Good Citizenship in Henry David Thoreaus Essay, Civil Disobedience804 Words   |  4 PagesSelf-Reliance and Good Citizenship Civil Disobedience is an essay by Henry David Thoreau on the place of civil disobedience in society. It analyzes men in society, the folly of majority and most importantly of all, it analyzes good citizenship. It looks at what it means to be a good citizenship and the most recurring theme is self-reliance. He discusses obedience to principle, independence from the government, and intolerance of injustice, which are all just kinds of self-reliance. Self-Reliance