Henry David Thoreau Nonconformism

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To be a nonconformist is to live by values that are atypical of the majority of society. One man that can be easily fit into this definition is Henry David Thoreau, who lived in Massachusetts from 1817 to 1862. Brought up from a young age by family and friends to not always conform, Henry David Thoreau proved he was a rebellious individual with both his writing and actions, and although these were not seen as very impressive during his time, they have been seen later on as material to help change the world for the better. Although Thoreau’s family taught him that abiding the law is not always the right thing to do, his biggest influence was Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was Thoreau's mentor for much of his life. Emerson, who was fourteen years older than Thoreau, served as Henry's mentor after he graduated from Harvard in the spring of 1837.…show more content…
Bronson Alcott, a famous teacher once said, “Thoreau’s speech was an admirable statement of the rights of the individual to self-government, and an attentive audience. His allusions to the Mexican War, to Mr. Hoar's expulsion from Carolina, his own imprisonment in Concord Jail for refusal to pay his tax, Mr. Hoar's payment of mine when taken to prison for a similar refusal, were all pertinent, well considered, and reasoned. I took great pleasure in this deed of Thoreau's” (“Henry David Thoreau” Gale Biography in Context). Thoreau was praised at times for his resilience and his refusal to support the wars and laws he does not agree with. In his essay Civil Disobedience, Thoreau explains that if something is unjust, one should have the right to not follow that law (Jakowski). Thoreau’s writing attracted many people from the very release, as many had not ever thought in this manner before, and as a result many speeches and essays regarding the same topic became
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