Twain V Thoreau Twain v.

Twain v Thoreau

Twain v. Thoreau

Though written several decades apart, there are many similarities between Henry David Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government" and Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. t is true that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn touches directly on far more topics in society than Thoreau's extended essay, but both provide commentary on society and humanity in very similar ways. That being said, there are also ideas of Thoreau's that Twain, the later author, would most likely have disagreed with. A closer look at the two works reveals the way in which the two authors with generally similar outlooks on the way things were still had very different ideas on the way things should be. Specifically, Thoreau has at once a more pessimistic view of society and more fiath in the ability of the independent individual, whereas Twain views society with somewhat more humor than Thpreau, but is far more cynical in his idea concerning the ability (or lack thereof, actually) for society and humanity to truly change.

Twain would almost certainly have agreed with the major points of "Resistance," especially Thoreau's belief that "law never made men a whit more just." Much of Huckleberry Finn is devoted to pointing out the unjust aspects of law and society, which is of course a direct and explicit agreement with Thoreau's statement. The novel also makes Twain's stance against slavery clear, a point-of-view which was argued even more explicitly in Thoreau's essay. Clearly, each of the two authors held a basic distrust for government, and both also believed in the right and even duty of individuals to point out the hypocrisies and injustices that a government committed. Both saw the simple foolishness that can arise in man, and in the institutions that man creates -- a foolishness that is generally born of greed and pride. This is exposed satirically in Huckleberry Finn, but is part of a more heartfelt plea in "Resistance."

This, however, is where much of the similarity between these two authors ends. Though they both agree that society is largely hypocritical, and that truly open-minded and open0eyed individuals will ultimately have to reject this society, they are vastly different in the attitudes they as authors adopt towards this society, and in their advocacy of how others should deal with it. The first major way in which the differences between these two authors in this regard is illustrated is through their vastly different styles. Thoreau's "Resistance" is much more direct in the presentation of its ideas than Huckleberry Finn. This is in part due to the nature of the work -- Thoreau was quite purposefully and consciously writing a political and/or philosophical essay, whereas Twain was writing a novel, but this still speaks to the authors two different views. Thoreau removed himself from society to write against it; Twain wrote from within.

This speaks quite clearly to the different attitudes the two authors had about what to do with this hypocritical, greedy, and foolish society. Thoreau argues for revolution in a way that Twain almost certainly would have avoided. Instead, Twain's protagonist Huck says that the best way to deal with direct violence and injustice from people like Pap "is to let them have their own way." To Thoreau, acceptance of such injustice was the same as performing the injustice. For Twian, society is to late to be saved; remembering that he wrote his book over a decade after the close of the Civik War and the end of slavery suggests that Twain saw his society as basically unchanged by this major event. Rather than changing society, Huck (and presumably Twain's) solution is simply to leave it behind.

This fundamental difference between the two author's views on the irrationalities, absurdities, and injustices of human society and "civil" government shows up in many ways in these two works. For example, Twain and his characters would almost certainly not have suffered prison for their beliefs when escape was easy. Though Huck breaks the law in helping Jim escape, he does it secretly and feels guilty about it. He also plans with Tom to help set Jim free a second time, when he is being held in a makeshift jail cell. Thoreau called for open resistance, which was clearly not Huck or Twain's way. Strangely, this suggests a viewpoint on the part of Thoreau that is, though less cynical than Twain's, much darker in its overall view of humanity. Thoreau displays an outright distrust for other people when he claims that the majority is not wise; though Twain definitely satirizes mob mentality and many of the prevailing majority viewpoints of his time, he also shows many kind and well-meaning people. Even while he deems society as a whole to be a foolish and even vicious entity, Twain seems to believe that people are basically good in a way that Thoreau does not suggest in his essay.