Preview

Similarities Between Thoreau And Arthur Miller

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
198 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Similarities Between Thoreau And Arthur Miller
Thoreau and Miller Henry Thoreau and Arthur Miller both has strong ideology about government and society.
In their literary works they often represented what they believed about how people should live. Thoreau believed in self-government, and Miller believed McCarthysim was hindering. One of Thoreau’s famous quotes is “The government that governs best, governs least”. He did not believe that there should be no government, but instead that the government is not as activley involved in the lives of the people. Thoreau is best known for “Civil Disobedience” which calls for anti-slavery and ant-war. Thoreau was Transcendentalist and believed the focus should be on spiritual aspects of life. Miller

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The essay Civil Disobedience, written by Henry David Thoreau has much to do with Thoreau’s own experiences than a general perception of people as a whole. Thoreau, a stellar student from Harvard believed one key idea: change begins with the individual. With this belief Thoreau in 1846 spoke out against the Mexican American War and slavery. His response resulted in the deliberate obliviousness to his taxes. In July of 1846 Thoreau was arrested for not paying his taxes and spent a night in Jail. During this time Thoreau wrote about the laws enforced by the government must be based on conscience rather than majority appeal.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Henry David Thoreau was able to see the corruption of society and its extreme hunger for money and material goods. Thoreau sought to live a life away from a materialistic world, leading him to escape to the woods around Walden pond. Thoreau believed that society contorted one’s…

    • 1643 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau is one of the most interesting men I have ever encountered in my readings. Thoreau decided to isolate himself from all of civilization, far away from any neighborhood, town, business or governing body. In doing so he wished to discover what mankind could not teach him. In Walden and Civil Disobedience, he recorded his findings.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau decided to remove himself from his ordinary life in society, and relocated himself to an area outside the town Concord. His once typical life now became that of a forest dweller. He built himself a quaint little home near Walden Pond. He chose to approach a life of simplicity by building his own home, living in the forest gathering his own food and fending for himself in essentially all aspects of his life. Ezra Pond makes a claim that Thoreau is demonstrating his indifference to humans and traditional societies, but that is not the case. Thoreau was merely trying to demonstrate just how unnecessary most societal desires were to live a fulfilled life.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Henry David Thoreau was a environmental scientist, American philosopher, and a poet. Henry David Thoreau’s work has been seen having foreshadowed central insights of later philosophical movements like pragmatism and existentialism. He was a leading figure in the Transcendentalist movement. Thoreau is on of the most Transcendentalists today because of his ecological consciousness, independence, commitment to abolitionism, his thought of peaceful resistance. His poem style and habit of close observation are still…

    • 73 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau used his literary talents as a way to express the issues so to say going on in the newly formed America. Thoreau was an advocator for the dismemberment of Fugitive Slave Laws and belief in civil disobedience he would eventually inspire the likes of Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi due to his simplistic views. The thought provoking novel Walden, by Thoreau is written about the events and ideas that came to him during his time living at Walden Pond in nineteenth century Massachusetts. Before his time in Massachusetts, Thoreau presented an extremely controversial perspective on society that was far beyond what was expected from any person of the period where any type of growth both economic and territorial were seen as necessary for the development of a new and thriving nation. Thoreau felt that it was more important to grow himself spiritually and…

    • 610 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau starts his essay by condemning his fellow countrymen’s actions, or rather, inaction. They and Thoreau share similar moral beliefs, but they refuse to take any action towards them.…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry David Thoreau, was an unconventional thinker who expressed his ideas about major issues such as war, slavery, wealth, taxes, friendship, vegetarianism, and the lessons that nature can teach. Thoreau was an important transcendentalist writer in the early nineteenth century. During the Mexican American war, Thoreau refused to pay a poll tax and while he was in a protest against slavery, he was arrested. He was thrown into jail for one night and later writes about how the government could be better. I agree that Thoreau’s ideas about how a government should be more better is a excellent postulation and I would further add the government today in the twenty first century still hasn’t even changed at all.…

    • 517 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thoreau begins his essay by arguing that the government intervenes too much and it would be better if they were not involved at all. He believes men are too absent minded and do whatever the government says without thinking about their morals. Those who listen and follow the government are not wise and do not trust their conscience.…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rebellion is a big difference between the two writings. Thoreau wants a world without government and wants to achieve that with peaceful rebellion. “It will not be worth the while to accumulate property; that would be sure to go again. You must hire or squat somewhere, and raise but…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau's utopian government is one, which enforces very few parameters. "I heartily accept the motto, 'That government is best which governs least'" "I believe--'That government is best which governs not at all'; and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have " (On Duty of Civil Disobedience.) Thoreau makes it clear that all men should oppose every unjust law or guideline, which contradicts the conscience within each citizen who is under the government's control.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his opening paragraph, he declares the bold and audacious statements: ‘[...] government is best which governs least [...]’ (lines 1-2) followed by, ‘[...] government is best which governs not at all [...]’ (line 4). Immediately the audience is—very clearly—exposed to his argument, which has an immense amount of force behind it. This is vital for Thoreau’s argument, as throughout his essay the audience hears a very strong and passionate voice, urging them to feel the same way about the topic, and that they too have been wronged by the government. Alongside Thoreau’s very forceful and powerful tone, a candid and critical tone is present. ‘This American government—what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity?’ (lines 18-20). This very prominent line denounces the American government’s rectitude, implying that its partiality has reached to the point where it is just a pattern, and continued to increasingly execute unequitable behaviour. Though his attitude sounds negative and pessimistic, Thoreau does make a petition for action from society with an encouraging tone. ‘[...] 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...’ (lines 45-48). Here, Thoreau uses ethos, as he knows that every man (and woman) wants to be respected, which then builds motivation for the people to take action against the current unjust government instead of heeding to its indoctrinated…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    David Henry Thoreau, through his writings, influenced the Martin Luther King, Jr. in his quest for equal rights. Not only is this evidenced in King’s actions, but King partially attributes his methods to the inspiration of Thoreau. In “Civil Disobedience,” Thoreau promotes resisting unjust government actions. Although not opposed to violent solutions, Thoreau encourages less aggressive measures. Specifically, Thoreau gave the example of refusing to pay certain taxes. Following this idea, King writes in detail about nonviolent resistance in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. King describes how one of Thoreau’s works was his original inspiration for his peaceful approach explaining, “. . . I read Thoreau’s Essay on Civil Disobedience for…

    • 304 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    4. The two government policies Thoreau most objects to are the policies on slavery and the Mexican War. Thoreau believes that these two policies were against his “common sense and conscience” (941). He believes that if enough people join together to object paying taxes like he “declined” to pay his, the state would examine the policies, again (952). His reasons on objecting the government policies is that he believes “the only obligation which I have the right to assume, is to do at any time what I think right” (941).…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Henry Thoreau developed many ideas throughout his lifetime that have been highly influential for many years. Perhaps the most famous of these ideas were those presented in Civil Disobedience. Within this text, Thoreau presents highly unconventional ideas for his time. These ideas, however, lead to many of the ideals held by Americans today. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau presents the ideals and attitudes embodied by so many American citizens today.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays