In Henry Thoreau's Civil Disobedience, rhetorical strategies are used to convey the idea that the government is flawed and corrupt. Henry Thoreau builds up questions on top of one another in his writing to create a climax for his subject of unfair laws and bad government. For instance, Henry writes, "This American government, what is but a tradition, though a recent one, striving to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of integrity?" in the second line of the first page. Principally, the statement sets the stage for his analysis on how the whole story is an indication of the government’s failings.
When addressing the unfair use of majority rule in the government, the author writes, ‘’Can there not be a government in which majorities do not virtually decide right and wrong, but conscience?” (Thoreau 36). In this statement, the objective is to point out the difference the actual doings of the government and its constitutional mandate. Essentially, he states that the use of conscience instead of legislation has failed the real purpose of the legislative institutions. The audience that he addresses include normal citizens, Americans that support the government and the government itself. Also, when elaborating the hypocrisy of the government regarding slavery in America, Thoreau states, “What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot today?” (43) Therefore, the question alludes that human trafficking through the “cover of an honest business man” (43) alludes the distance between ideals and reality.
Throughout the story the strategy used is the rhetorical question. Thoreau speaks often of the idea that he supports the idea of, “a government is best which governs least” (Thoreau 722). In the story, he talks about not paying the government any taxes for the past six years. The poll tax that he was going to pay was for waging war on Mexico. Therefore, he disagrees to pay the tax because it is used for ill purposes. The use of rhetorical strategies include intense appeal of Pathos in order to achieve the purpose of persuading the audience that laissez-faire was the best type of government.
The use of Pathos and logos is evident throughout the story. For instance, he explicitly talks about the time he was in prison. He specifically charms his audience’s emotion and try to attract sympathy from the people that he was taking to. The author talks about how bad jail and how unfair the government was. A textual example expressing the use of pathos was when he was talking about his mate in the cell. He asked his fellow prisoner what he was in for and then inmate responded, “They accuse me of burning a barn, but I never done it” (Thoreau 98). In his writing, he convinces the audience that the government is unfair because his inmate had waited for 3 months for his trial. The use of logos is evident from how he describes as if the innocent man had been waiting for a year. Principally, he is trying to prove his innocence to the audience. Also, ethos and logos are used to elicit a strong emotional argument. For instance, he narrates, “if one honest man ceases to hold slaves… and be locked in the county jail therefore would be abolition of slavery” (Thoreau 56).
Thoreau’s main theme in the narrative is clearly presented by use rhetoric, pathos and logos. He believes that the government should eradicate injustice to promote equity. The tale uses moral distinction to prevent unjust acts by actually doing an injustice against the regime.
Work Cited
Thoreau, Henry David. Civil Disobedience, and Other Essays. New York: Dover Publications. 2016.
