Human History Begins With Man's Act Of Disobedience Quote Analysis

“Human history begins with man's act of disobedience, which is at the very same time the beginning of his freedom and development of his reason.” ~Erich Fromm, Psychoanalysis & Religion. Henry David Thoreau embodies this quote in every way, shape, and form. Henry David is a head strong man who is willing to fight for what he believes in, he has the rare ability to never question his convictions no matter what obstacle is thrown at him, whether it be jail, or his family. As an educated man he has been through the “system,” and has seen and experienced things that has shaped his way of seeing the world. One of the people he saw and met, was also the person that had one of the greatest impacts on his life as well. That man was Ralph Waldo Emerson. In the play we see and experience things just as Thoreau sees them, and the story was correct when it stated “time and space are awash here (3).” We realize as the story goes on, there is no set …show more content…
They ask themselves, is what I stand for right? Should I be doing what i’m doing? Henry David Thoreau Never once questioned if what he was doing wrong. Henry David refused to pay his taxes, which in his mind means he “refused to commit murder.” At this time in the play the Mexican war is going on, and there is an increase of taxes. Henry David does not agree with the way his money would be spent and chooses to do jail time. By this act of disobedience Henry David expressed to the world the amount of freedom he had, although it seemed like he had lost his freedom. He said that since his thoughts were able to transcend the boundaries of the walls of prison, he still had freedom. He believed the only boundaries his thoughts faced were other people’s minds. He never questioned his convictions because it was unnecessary too, in his mind he was never pushed against a wall, he was never forced to reconsider his convictions, in his mind he had true freedom, the freedom of