Literary Analysis Essay on Walden and Civil Disobedience

Introduction

Walden and civil disobedience is a book by an American author known as Henry David Thoreau. The book was first published in 1849. Thoreau was considered as a transcendentalist who believed in the intrinsic goodness of natural surroundings and people. It is also a belief that the pureness of individuals is corrupted by society and its institutions and that individuals perform at their best when they are free to become independent and self-reliant. Walden describes the life of Thoreau and his experience living in the Walden Pond for two years. This was an experiment in which he desired to discover whether he could live a simple life based on nature so that he could discover the necessities of life. He preferred to live a primitive life in the face of civilization to discover, himself nature and the world (Thoreau 85). Walden and Civil disobedience is essential in the American imagination as it has helped people question laws, democracy, and life, and it has also formed our understanding of our relationship to people and nature. While Walden and Civil disobedience is a title that can be interpreted to be misleading people to defy against the government, on the contrary, it is an essential piece of writing that is important to American imagination explains how the relationship between nature and humans should be and explains the roles of individuals in a state.

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The books questions various aspects of life in ways that reflect deeply though and truth. In regards to citizen's duty, Thoreau states that individuals have a responsibility to create a society that they want to reside. He argues people not to wait for elected leaders so that they can bring the change; rather, individuals should create the change they desire to see. People who desire to see a change in government, such as the end to slavery must withdraw their support in person and property from the government. He considered these actions as the right and responsibility of individual and act that is termed as civil disobedience. He believes that those who oppose unjust laws are the true patriots as opposed to those who obey the law in spite of its consequence to people. His ideas brought a new way of thinking about the government and laws. Most people comply with laws that are harmful but according to Thoreau are that the withdrawal of support of such a government is necessary as it transforms the leadership into something beneficial to society (Thoreau)

In regards to the law versus conscience, he believes that every individual's conscience ought to guide him/her during difficult times. When a society is driven by people who employ their consciences rather than law, then it would be a better place. According to Thoreau is that legislatures are not always accurate and sometimes are not driven by the need to help people and therefore can create unjust laws.

Further, is that laws can be changed by the different leaders who take power and therefore they are subjective, and it is vital for people to be guided by their inner moral compasses which do not change. He also believes that the government is corrupt, but it is only so when citizens allow it, and he imagines of a free and enlighted government (Thoreau, Levin & Thoreau 82). Through civil disobedience citizens can get to control what the government does thereby creating a society that it desires.

In regards to his resolve to seek isolation and nearness to nature, he decides to live in a tiny house which he builds for himself to be close to nature. His decision indicates that human beings have a responsibility to care and respect the environment rather than destroy it. As a transcendentalist, he uses nature to understand the importance of the soul. Nature is employed as an instrument for learning, thereby taking nature as his role model and a reference point. According to Thoreau in "Wild Apples" is that the quality of apples is high that it cannot be bought, sold, or corrupted (Thoreau 17). He goes on state that in solitude with nature a person is never alone. Therefore, Thoreau promoted his love and belief in maintaining the wilderness and living in accord with nature. He advocates for people to live in unification with nature rather than in opposition with it because he sees the importance of all humans needing contact with nature, to have a relationship with other living things and not to disturb the environment. He believes that what is required is people to move from the urban and industrialized areas to rural areas.

Thoreau was a prolific thinker whose writing reflected many things that are relevant even in today's society. Civil disobedience is a way of showing people's will and excess distrust in the government, which in most cases uses "perverted" and "abusive" ways which require people to stand up for their rights. He argued that there were few individuals who had taken advantage of the government and manipulated it against the popular will. There are three major themes that manifest themselves clearly in the civil disobedience book and have continued to empower the Americans imagination hence shaping their reactions with people and nature. These themes are the right to resistance, individual conscience and morality, and limited government. The ideas by Thoreau are inspirational and thought-provoking and still significant in today's society.

The right to resistance is one of the ways Thoreau enlightens people that they have an absolute right to withdraw their support to the government when the policies implemented are unjust and immoral. He also recommends weighing the intense of the injustice and the probable consequences that may result from the civil disobedience. Some of the approaches Thoreau proposed and utilized were like withholding taxes to ensure that the government does not have any resources to push for their unjust policies (Thoreau 67). However, he emphasized an essential fact that the role of the government is to enforce core values and respect for individuals as opposed to the popular view that it is undermining democracy. He advocated for economic pressure which can also be applied today but with "dire" consequences.

The author of Walden and Civil Disobedience has also emphasized that people can exercise their conscience and demonstrate it in all their undertakings. The point he was driving home was that all corporations and the State are amoral entities that are impersonal, and yet they are made up of individuals. He affirmed that individuals had the right and responsibility of doing what they perceive to be right in their conscious minds and refuse to get involved with the government that forces people to adopt unjust policies. Engaging in civil disobedience is a show of morality and individual conscience. This disobedience ensures that the government has started to adopt policies that are less burdensome and equitable towards the people. In his opinion, he asserts that fundamental questions of morality cannot be settled by majority opinion despite him supporting the principles that guide democracy (Thoreau, Levin & Thoreau 121).

Finally, limited government is another theme that was of great concern to the author, whereby he suggested that the ideal government is the one that limited its power when it comes to the control of its citizens. Some of the activities that are undertaken by the government appear to be intrusive and negatively affects the creativity of the people. In most cases, the political classes are ineffectual and incompetent and always stand in contrast to the rights of ordinary citizens. The relevance of his teachings is undeniable, whereby he affirms that there is a room for the democracy to recognize the individual rights and freedoms that should be accorded to the people.

Works Cited

Thoreau, Henry D, Jonathan Levin, and Henry D. Thoreau. Walden: And, Civil Disobedience. New York: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2003. Print.

Thoreau, Henry D. Walden. Boston: Beacon Press, 1854. Print.

Thoreau, Henry D. On the Duty of Civil Disobedience. Tustin, Calif: Xist Publishing, 2015. Internet resource.