Night Thoreau Spent In Jail Scene Analysis
In The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Henry David Thoreau, a transcendentalist who respects and learns from nature, encourages his good friend Waldo to take a stance against the war, despite society's views that he is an outcast. In this scene, Lawrence and Lee illustrate Thoreau's individualism through word choice, symbolism, and contrast between characters. Thoreau is very much an individual because although he does not conform to society, he believes in the purpose and the potential of the human race. This is why he encourages his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson to s
Waldo is portrayed as intelligent and inspiring, yet sometimes spineless because he only reaches the limits of his mind and what it tells him he can do. Thoreau has a goal also which is to start a movement, and while he is just one person, he still aspires towards his goals and is successful in the spreading of awareness about the war and the transcendentalist views. Waldo is the opposite because he wishes to inspire a revolution saying that this country was not "hatched from a soft-boiled egg. Thoreau's ideas on transcending one's own limits are also very similar to those of the moth's in "The Moth and the Star," by James Thurber. The body is used as a symbol for the conscience, the right hand being the part that wants to go on and live a comfortable life but needs to take a stand against the wrongs of society, while the left hand being the part which is passive and through not speaking out, kills innocent people. " (87) He believes in expressing one's self, even if it means trying to achieve the impossible. Thoreau's individualism is also stressed by the way he is disappointed when Waldo does not give a speech against the war and slavery. The moth's ideas of reaching the star definitely surpass his physical limits as a moth, but he nonetheless tries and is better for it. Thoreau asks, "Can you lift your right hand to your mouth while your left hand-which is also you-your government-is killing men in Mexico?"(Jerome and Lawrence, 87) In this passage an understanding of the guilt and responsibility for what Thoreau wants Waldo to feel is built in the reader. Lawrence and Lee use the character of Ralph Waldo Emerson to show the type of person which Thoreau is not.
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