FREE ESSAY ON THOREAU ON THOREAU

THOREAU ON THOREAU

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 toil at the bidding of any
prince and To be awake is to be alive. I have never met a man who is quite awake support
many of the arguments in Civil Disobedience because they help to explicate the complex
ideas Thoreau presents. 
The phrase A simple and independent mind does not toil at the bidding of any prince
regards the responsibilities of a man to his own consciousness-it is a duty that can not
be revoked by any form of tyrant. Rather than hinting at a type of anarchy, this
statement merely describes each man's duty to performing justice in all his actions. This
does not refer to any man's duty... to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the
most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is
his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not
to give it practically his support (681). The term simple does not refer to an
underdeveloped sense of morality; it describes a state of mind in which the concept of
justice is so defined that contradictions cannot exist. To toil, as it is presented in
this quotation, means to sacrifice ideals for the sake of conformity or law. 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 modern society. In fact, Thoreau believes that no man with a
genius for legislation has appeared in America. They are rare in the history of the world
(692). Perhaps, by the word awake, and its equation with alive, Thoreau is also referring
to the ability to fulfill his own mission: I came into this world, not chiefly to make
this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad (683). Although this
concept is not a particularly unique one, it is nearly impossible to fulfill
completely-but to fulfill it partially is useless. As a living being, one must cast your
whole vote, not a strip of paper merely, but your whole influence (684). To truly be
alive, one must be consciously satisfied with every passing moment.
Through his conscientious support of every facet of his philosophy, Thoreau effectively
proves his statements regarding citizenship and government. He remains consistent to
nearly every idea he presents and therefore surrounds them with a seriousness that cannot
be ignored. 
Bibliography
Thoreau, Henry. Civil Disobedience. Elements of Argument: A text and Reader. Ed. Annette
T. Rottenberg. 6th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2000. 463-466.