What metaphor does Thoreau use for the government in Civil Disobedience?

A metaphor is a figure of speech. It is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things that are seemingly unrelated; however, the comparison helps point out common characteristics between the two things.

In Henry David Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience," he makes use of the same metaphor throughout the entire piece. Thoreau compares the government to a machine. This comparison should not come across as shocking to readers, as Thoreau was writing the piece on the heels of the Industrial Revolution. While machines did exist prior to the Industrial Revolution, there was a massive buildup of machines as a result of the Industrial Revolution.

Thoreau introduces the machinery metaphor already in his second paragraph, when he admits that people do need some kind of government machinery. This is important because Thoreau isn't arguing for anarchy. He's arguing for a better, more just form of government. Thoreau isn't anti-machinery, but he does know that machinery has inherent problems and can break. One of those natural machine problems is friction, and Thoreau spends a fair amount of time discussing friction in machines and relating it to how friction within a government structure can cause problems or even the eventual breakage of the government. A machine/government with too much friction should be fixed or replaced in Thoreau's mind.

If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of government, let it go, let it go; perchance it will wear smooth,—certainly the machine will wear out.

Why does Thoreau compare the government to a machine in Civil Disobedience?

Thoreau compares the government to a machine to explain how governments dehumanize individuals. Thoreau claims that the "mass of men" serve the state as machines "with their bodies"; they "put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones." What he means is that by serving the state, people do what the state tells them to do rather than what their conscience dictates. They become less than human because they allow the needs of the state to supersede their own individual morality.

Thoreau specifically criticizes the "American government" on two issues: slavery and the Mexican War. These two issues show that the government is a machine which produces inequality, hatred, and bloodshed. Individuals are acted upon by the superior physical strength of the machine/state and through coercion are forced to become complicit in its actions. In such a case, Thoreau says individuals should intervene in the functioning of the machine—"Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine." More plainly, he says that in such cases where the law is unjust, we are morally obligated to break the law.

Thoreau's valorization of the individual conscience is an expression of his love of personal freedom, something that is achieved only by resisting the machine. The famous example he gives in this essay is his night spent in jail for failing to pay taxes. Being locked up is ironically a way of becoming free; he bonds with his cellmate and derives personal satisfaction from opting out in this small way from participating in the "machine" of the state.

What metaphor does Thoreau use to describe the army in "Civil Disobedience"?

When Henry Thoreau’s essay was first published in 1849, it was titled “Resistance to Civil Government.” In 1866, four years after his death, it was published again and re-named “Civil Disobedience,” even though Thoreau never used this phrase in the essay. However, this is the title and the nonviolent protest strategy that we associate with him today.

Thoreau was a creative writer who loved to use subtle puns, wordplay, and literary devices whenever he could. The first paragraph of the essay holds the answer to your question. It reads, “The standing army is only an arm of the standing government.” This sentence is a good example of Thoreau’s deliberate approach to writing. He was able to repeat and reverse the order of the words “standing” and “arm/army.” Doing so had the added benefit of describing the army as an arm of the government, which it certainly is. This is a metaphor and could also be considered a pun. It compares the government with a human body that has arms; and one of them is the army. On the other hand, Thoreau uses the word “standing” in two different ways. A “standing army” is one that is maintained by a government on an ongoing basis. The “standing government” is the one that is currently in place. The first one is permanent, the second one is temporary. This is an amusing twist of meaning in one word.

The sentence contains only eleven words. But Thoreau crafted it with purpose and chose his words carefully. His writing is full of these intricate, creative examples.