Thoreaus Philosophy on Individual Resistance (Essay Sample)

THOREAU’S PHILOSOPHY OF INDIVIDUAL RESISTANCE
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Thoreau’s philosophy on individual resistance
Having lived in concord village in Massachusset, Henry was an introspective individual who loved to wander in the woods recording the life of things surrounding him. In his later years, Thoreau became a force to reckon with in the field of philosophy when he wrote the essay of civil disobedience. The article became a global influence even to great and profound political giants like Martin Luther Jr and Mohandas Gandhi.
This fundamental article "civil disobedience" gives an analysis of the relationship between an individual and the State. It primarily focuses on why men adhere to the law of the government knowing the possibility of unfairness in the system. This theory was an extreme subjective response to Thoreau’s imprisonment due to breaking the law of paying taxes. He was motivated by the fact that slavery was detestable to him and tax revenues added to its support. Following this, Thoreau opted to be a tax rebel leading to his arrest for one night but this arrest had enduring effects.
After the arrest, Thoreau had idealistic motives that ensued a visualized government that was perfect in its course. In this he affirms the absolute individual right to refuse to support a government with unjust or immoral policies. Through civil disobedience, he takes the issue as a moral philosophy that possibly weighs the consequences of civil disobedience versus the seriousness of injustice. One of the most ascertained method of resistance that is exposed in this book is the putting of pressure on the economy as the principal thing. This is where he suggest that individuals withhold taxes to drain the government its resources in order to fail its implementations of unjust policies.
The civil disobedience goal is not ultimately to undermine the democracy but rather to enforce values of liberty and individual respect. In this regard, he enhances on the individual morality and conscience in that only a person can exercise and have a free conscience. By definition, Thoreau shows that both corporations and state are just but amoral entities composed of individuals. He asserts that an individual under a government or corporation has an obligation and a right to do what he esteems as right, to exercise his conscience whereby he can defy to be involved or comply with a government that imposes unjust policies. Values are upheld and yet shown in a different light in that civil disobedience becomes a necessary reflection of a person’s conscience and personal morality. This ideology attempts to amend the relationship between the State and the individual by making the former more equitable and without burden in treatment to the latter.
While still in support of democratic principles, Thoreau did not consider settling fundamental questions of moral importance in regard to the opinion of the majority. He considered that a good exertion of the individual resistance would eventually create a limited government whereby the State exercises minimal power and less control of the citizens. Thoreau also believed that government has always been an inherently intrusive force in that it stifles the originative enterprise of the citizens. The avowed faith which Thoreau had in ordinary people has always stood in contrast to the elite political class entrenchment that he perceived as ineffectual and incompetent. However, his libertarian inclinations are tampered with limited government support to some initiatives and programs such as highway maintenance and public education.
Through his diversity and informed perception of the individual responsibility and conscience, he has given the citizens an awareness that the last stage of a State’s evolution is not democracy. This is because a great room has been created to recognize the rights and freedom of the individual. He pondered on such reasoning pushing it to the logical limit whereby he had a vision of a society without a government and men attaining to a moral code and the capabality to regulate themselves and become independent. His writings has educated the masses and shown us that citizens should not settle for less than a competent government. It’s through the dread of consequences of families and property owned that people fear to disobey the governments. This prompted Thoreau to shows how it commences on the individual level. Based on ideologies like Thoreau’s, men have awakened and questioned the policies of the government and even gone forward to challenging it proving that a government is merely a system that has its own interests in heart but has no regard morally for its citizens.
The connection between Aylmer’s pursuit of female perfection and Hawthorne’s views on American Puritanism
Critics have accepted the forthright and explicit symbolic interpretation of the birthmark by Hawthorne which shows the external sign of imperfection on Georgiana’s cheek and the attempt of Aylmer to remove it as a reflection of either rational, scientific, reformist presumption or just an aspiring idealism. To others, the interpretation propose with some plausibility claiming that the theme upheld by the narrative is the nineteenth century ruthless course of life.[Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne’s lost notebook (Boston: The New England Quarterly, 1978),135-160]
The birthmark story has a history that is connected to Sir Kenelm Digby who ended up killing his wife in a similar operation to that of Aylmer and Georgiana. The narrative goes on to show us that Hawthorne mistrusted scientist just as he had no trust for politicians. He takes us deeper to the realization that the imperfection mark on Georgiana’s cheek as being the personification of the ever present evil. While Aylmer is trying to remove Georgiana’s birthmark in order to make her perfect, to Hawthorne he is competing with God and Aylmer is a temptation that Georgiana must overcome. Georgiana herself was initially happy but the fear of not being complete to her husband made her want to prove allegiance to their love and agreed to Aylmer’s operation.[Kesselring M. L, Hawthorne’s reading (New York: University of Chicago, 1983),287-342]
Under the puritan view, the only morally positive thing that Aylmer has is the power and ambition in which he conducted his experiments and work. With the endurance that Aylmer had in wanting to bring Georgiana’s fault to perfection and the time he waited was definitely a puritan virtue. When Hawthorne looks at this deeply, he is afraid humanity might lose itself in heartless science. Through this narrative we see a more extensive picture and the stages of the evolution of human values. As Hawthorne is writing about Aylmer, he uses an imagery and terminologies of a religious origin. The use of word...