The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail

Content Warning: The source material uses offensive terms for Black people and Hispanic people. The source text and this guide discuss enslavement and racism.

Two men lie on cots in a dark jail cell. Outside, Ralph Waldo Emerson, a very old man, asks his wife, Lydian, to remind him of the name of the man who was once his best friend. She says it was Henry and they reminisce about him, describing him as the “saddest happy man” or the “happiest sad man” they ever knew (5).

Then, Henry’s mother appears, and she scolds her son and asks what he did to get himself put in jail. Henry rises from his cot, insisting he’s only been himself. His mother says she doesn’t mind him being odd, but she wonders why he seems to work at it.

A much younger Waldo stands at a lectern, telling his audience to “cast conformity” behind them. Henry sits down on the floor, watching Waldo in admiration. Henry’s brother, John, enters and stands by their mother, and she complains about Henry’s refusal to conform. When she leaves, John approaches Henry, who is still mesmerized by Waldo. John congratulates Henry on his diploma, but Henry explains he didn’t get it because he wouldn’t pay the dollar Harvard charged for it. Henry tells John that he learns more from Waldo’s lectures than he did in his four years at college. John, who is the elder by two years, asks what Henry will do now, and Henry says he wants to “be as much as possible like Ralph Waldo Emerson” (8). The light fades on Henry and John, and Lydian and Waldo appear—they are both still young. Lydian compliments Waldo on his lecture, but he thinks no one was listening.

Henry returns to his cot and jostles his snoring cellmate, Bailey. Henry marvels at the birdsong outside while Bailey tries to rouse himself. Bailey asks why Henry is in jail, and Henry says it’s because he refuses to commit murder by financing the war in Mexico. Bailey asks which side Henry is on, asking if he’s one of “them,” pointing toward Concord, and Henry says, thoughtfully, “I’m one of Me” (11). When Bailey calls Henry a “loon,” Henry declares this to be a compliment because loons don’t make war and have the perfect, nonexistent government. Bailey says he has been in jail for three months, awaiting trial for arson, though he is innocent. Henry is aghast by this length of time and calls for Sam Staples, the constable. Bailey protests, saying he only wants to “get along,” and Henry speaks at length about the United States being a country full of people who just want to “get along,” doing just what they’re supposed to do, even though they are slowly dying inside this whole time.

When Bailey confesses that he cannot even write his name, Henry decides to teach him. As Bailey practices his spelling, Henry steps forward, and he has transformed into the young schoolmaster he used to be. As he speaks to his students, Deacon Nehemiah Ball, the Chairman of the Concord School Committee, arrives. Although Ball claims he is just there to observe his teaching, he interrupts Henry’s lesson several times. Ball asks why his students do not use textbooks, and Henry explains that they are “huckleberrying:” hunting for ideas just as they would search for huckleberries. Ball insists that everything the children need to learn is in the approved texts, but Henry disagrees. One boy has asked why he should believe in God though he cannot see God, and Henry explains that the parts of the universe work together so perfectly because there is an “Intelligence” that governs them—this is an Emersonian idea. Henry insists upon a “Universal Mind” that connects all people with each other, God, and nature, and Ball derides this as “atheism” and “Transcendental blasphemy” (19). Henry then makes the children laugh, which enrages Ball, who demands order. Henry holds up one hand and the children quieten. John appears, speaking in Henry’s mind, telling Henry to offer a “penny apology” to appease Ball so that he can continue to teach the children. Henry grudgingly does, and Ball accepts; but when Ball tells Henry to flog the disrespectful children, Henry refuses. Ball says Henry must perform his “duty” to keep his position. Henry asks for six volunteers, and he whips each one in turn, naming them as he does so. When he’s finished, he flings the belt away from him in disgust, and he resigns.

Ball recedes into shadow, and Waldo is in the spotlight; he is passionately arguing that he “cannot comply with custom” and resigns as pastor of Boston’s Second Unitarian Church (23). Henry declares he’ll never teach again, and Waldo says he will never preach again. John enters and reminds Henry that a school needs only people, so the brothers open their own school. The light changes, and they are now standing in a meadow, examining the flora. A young woman of 20, Ellen Sewell, is there, taking notes. She is the sister of Edmund, age 12, a student at the school. When Henry catches her writing, she explains that one is supposed to take notes in school, and she points out that he, too, keeps a notebook. Henry responds, saying that he also wears a ridiculous hat; does that mean Ellen should, too? He points out that each blade of grass is different from the others, and he tells her, “Young lady, BE YOUR OWN MAN!” (28). He directs her—and all the students—to find their own way of doing things and not copy someone else’s.

The scene shifts back to the cell and Henry tells Bailey to unlearn how to write his name because writing leads to trouble. Bailey removes his coat from the locker, emptying the tall box. Henry flips the locker over and drags it, like a boat. He’s worried it won’t be large enough for the class, but John says it will because they have only one pupil left. John leaves, and Ellen arrives, informing Henry that her father has withdrawn Edmund from school because he opposes Transcendentalism. Henry offers to take Ellen out in the boat. She does not know what “transcendental” means, so Henry tries to explain. He is pleased that Edmund lectured their father on the subject and is unsurprised when he hears that their father disliked it. When Ellen asks him to return her to shore, Henry tells her to stand up to her father; then, he awkwardly suggests that he loves her. She insists that they return to shore, and he apologizes. He asks her to go to church on Sunday because John will be there. Henry claims, enigmatically, that John silently “proposed” to Ellen that day in the meadow, and she is confused. When they reach the bank, Henry’s silence is intense, and Ellen runs off. He kicks the boat disappointedly.