Comparison: Henry David Thoreau Symbolism, And Transcendentalism

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Transcendental Comparison
"Transcendent forms of truth exist beyond reason and experience" (Celebrations 2). In the nineteenth century writers began to reject conformity and develop their own ideas. In 1847, Henry David Thoreau wrote an essay about the topic advocating nonviolent acts of political resistance to protest government policy (Thoreau "Civil" 1). He made an example of himself by refusing to pay a tax that would be used to finance the government. Thoreau also lectured in antislavery rallies and served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad to peacefully support the abolitionist movement. Civil disobedience, as shown through Gandhi when he performed a march to the sea, protesting against the Salt Act is also an act of peacefully
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“If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man” (Thoreau “Civil” 7). No being can live within the shell of what it is not. A man should not have to follow every rule or law that is put into effect by a government or it would cause the world to be the same, which is what transcendentalism goes against. Thoreau enforces breaking the law, to accept punishment, and to live life truthfully. Not only did Thoreau enforce the truth, but Gandhi did as well. Gandhi believed in a method known as Satyagraha, also known as the insistence on truth (Gandhi “On Civil” 1). He believed that if a man was prepared to go against the machine, he must also be prepared to endure the punishments that come with it and owning up to the responsibilities. In the last scene of Dead Poets Society Todd yells to Mr. Keating, “Mr. Keating they made everybody sign it!” (DPS). Todd easily could have kept quiet, but knew that in order to fight the machine he must tell what actually happened. He sacrificed his education and reputation at the school to prove that he had a voice and to show that he could begin a

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