Personification In Civil Disobedience Thoreau

Goodbye to the Government
Henry David Thoreau was an influential philosopher, journalist, and poet who opposed the government because of all the racism and unjust actions occurring in his time. In his piece called “Civil Disobedience,” he shares his belief that there is no purpose in having the government because it is used in terrible ways and can sometimes take advantage of people and their rights. He expresses his opinion about the government by attempting to connect with his audience emotionally and logically by providing details about different situations in a credible manner. Throughout the text, he uses figurative language in the form of personification, comparisons, and his diction is appropriate for the topic of injustice in the government. A device Thoreau commonly uses in his text to prove his point is comparison. For instance, instead of referring to the government as a system, he compares it to a person, which is an example of personification because he is and comparing the government system to a person. In paragraph 2, he comments about the government, “It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary …show more content…
In this text, he used comparison, personification, and a great structure of his writing to allow his readers to know how he feels about the government. Overall, Henry David Thoreau backed up his evidence by using various rhetorical strategies and appealing to his audience, which allows him to connect with them. As a writer, one must not only make sure their work is amazing, but one must also make sure their readers know what they are trying to say and prove. If he is not getting his point across to his audience, what is the point of even writing a large