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Camille Nguyen

Ayn Nys

Advanced Placement English Language and Composition/4th period

01 May 2014

Civil Disobedience: Rhetorical Analysis

“That government is best which governs least.” Though Thoreau’s contention may

seem contradictory at first glance, in context, it is a piece of insightful wisdom. Any

government, however excellent and beneficial, is not wholly a caricature of good. Like a

double-edged sword, one must know to approach it with caution. Thoreau took this up a

notch with his belief “that government is best which governs not at all.” Though most of

humanity is not “prepared for it,” it shall “be the kind of government which they will have”

when they are.

But this point has yet to be reached because the government is always “liable to be

abused and perverted before the people can act through it.” This is because it “is the only

mode which the people have chosen to execute their will.” The government usually attempts

to hide this attribute through countless objections. People always seem to blame the army for

their problems – as it is easier to target it as a catalyst for gratuitous violence – but “the

standing army is only an arm of the standing violence.” This metaphor dr ew upon the big

idea that the government is wholly at fault. The reason why people cannot have a good

government is because they blame the wrong individuals and only know to oppose each

other. They are too dependent on the government, viewing it as a wooden gun of sorts; if they

should ever seek its usage “as a real one against each other, it will surely split.” Humans are

too gullible about the government; they would rather “have some complicated machinery or

other, and hear its din, to satisfy” the delusional idea of the government they have. For

example, during the Cold War, there was a rising fear of communists in America. This was



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due to their enemy at the time being members of the Soviet Union, whom all or almost all

were communists. Instead of uniting together to fight against their common enemy,

Americans fought each other, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials.

From this, McCarthyism was born, a practise of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion,

or treason without proper regard for evidence. Many people suffered wrongly at the hands of

those dealing out unfair allegations and using unfair investigative techniques. But this is only

one event; Thoreau sought to address all events such as this one. His metaphors are the

foundation of the diluted reality most people live on.

In addition to misleading the people, the government has significantly cut back their

potential. There is too much pain in drowning out voices of injustice with battle cries of false

patriotism. Take, for example, the Mexican-American War, a tragic occurrence in which a

few individuals used “the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people

would not have consented to this measure.” For a year and a half, American forces quickly

invaded New Mexico and California, and other parts of Northeastern and Northwestern

Mexico. With a final occupation of Mexico City, the war ended with a solid victory for the

United States. In the aftermath, the country forced Mexico to go through with the Mexican

Cession of their territories in exchange for money. Thoreau’s exemplification strengthened

his argument displaying cold, hard proof of the truth he spoke, rather than just relaying a

conceptual message. This showcased the American government as the prime guilty culprit. It

made an effort “to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity,” but lost its integrity along the way.

It has yet to improve any enterprise, but proved adept in its “alacrity with which it got out of

its way.” The people, not the government, of America are the ones who educated and settled

the West. If anything, the people could do more, “if the government had not sometimes got in

its way.” For example, trade and commerce not of Indian rubber “would never manage to

bounce over the obstacles which legislators are continually putting in their way.” And in



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laying down these examples, Thoreau enumerated the qualities of the government people

tend to overlook.

But Thoreau is not asking for a complete elimination of government, “but at once a

better” one. If humans would know to “make known what kind of government would

command [their] respect,” they would have their wish. This is the important insight

Thoreau’s metaphors and exemplification conveyed: know what makes a good government –

or at the very least, an improved one – and you are “one step toward obtaining it.”

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