Student Question
What is the connection between chapter 11 of Walden and Thoreau's "Civil Disobedience"?
Quick answer:
The connection between chapter 11 of Walden and "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau is that in both writings the author discusses the evolution of humankind in terms of morality and purity. In chapter 11 of Walden, he argues that humankind should eventually stop eating meat, and in "Civil Disobedience," he argues that eventually there should be little or no government and that people should be guided by conscience.
The essay "Civil Disobedience" and chapter 11 of Walden by Henry David Thoreau are connected in that they both deal with the subjects of morality and purity, and the evolution of humankind in terms of these qualities.
Chapter 11 of Walden is called "Higher Laws." In it, Thoreau discusses hunting, fishing, and eating meat. He confesses that sometimes when he walks in the woods he gets sudden impulses to kill animals and eat raw flesh and that when he was a young man he was an avid hunter and fisherman. However, he then explains why he has gotten away from these practices. Not only is the cleaning and cooking of animals and fish a filthy activity, he writes, but also it is inherently wrong once people have attained a certain stage of growth. He writes that "no humane being, past the thoughtless age of boyhood, will wantonly murder...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
any creature which holds his life by the same tenure as he does." It has to do with the evolution of morality in individuals and in human society. In his own experience, Thoreau says that "I have found repeatedly, of late years, that I cannot fish without falling a little in self-respect." He goes on to say that:
I have no doubt, that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other when they came in contact with the more civilized.
Thoreau extends these thoughts to the desirability of drinking only water rather than wine, coffee, and tea. It has to do with purity. He writes that "there is never an instant's truce between virtue and vice." He sums up his thoughts by declaring that "man flows at once to God when the channel of purity is open."
"Civil Disobedience" deals with morality, purity, and individual choice when people are confronted with unjust laws. Thoreau starts by asserting:
"That government is best which governs not at all;" and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.
So for Thoreau, the evolution of humankind in terms of government is ultimately to have no government. In other words, each individual will be guided by conscience. In the meantime, Thoreau argues, it is the duty of people to disobey unjust laws, even if the consequence of such actions might be to wind up in jail. The second part of the essay, in fact, tells of Thoreau's personal experience when he is arrested and jailed for refusing to pay a tax in protest against slavery and a war in Mexico.