43 pages • 1 hour read
Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. LeeThe Night Thoreau Spent In Jail
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1970A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Conscience Over Country
Content Warning: The source text and this guide discuss enslavement and racism.
The idea that people must follow their conscience rather than the dictates of their country (or other authority figures such as the church, society, or their employers) is paramount to the play and to the real life of Henry David Thoreau. In the play, Henry obeys his conscience when he refuses to pay his tax, which leads to his brief incarceration. The law states that citizens must remit various taxes, but Henry states, “if a law is wrong, […] it’s the duty of a man to stand up and say so. Even if your oddfellow society wants to clap him in a jail” (62). As a man of integrity, Henry feels it is his duty to break unjust laws, saying that the proper place for a just person in an unjust society is jail. This is why he is angry with Waldo; based on the ideas that Waldo espouses, he should have joined Henry in jail for refusing to pay his taxes, too. If Waldo truly opposes enslavement, Henry thinks, he would not provide the government with funds to extend the territory of enslavement.
Henry believes that one must withdraw all means of support from a corrupt government, just as the colonists did in the 18th century when they rebelled against England. This belief is echoed in Waldo’s explanation to Ball outside the church. He says, “For you and me, Deacon, the Declaration of Independence has already been written. Young Thoreau has to declare it every day—Sundays included” (42). Just as the American colonists fought to free themselves from the rule of England’s corrupt government, Henry must fight to free himself from Concord’s materialism, the church and school board’s authoritarianism, and the government’s moral depravity. He says nothing changes when people simply “go along” with the laws to which they object; revolution requires intentionality and sacrifice. When Waldo tells Henry that he could never live as Henry does because he likes his “warm toast and tea and soft-boiled egg […] in bed each morning,” Henry challenges him, asking, “Do you think this country was hatched from a soft-boiled egg???” (87). Waldo’s comfort is more important to him than any effect he might have by exerting his influence to inspire social or legal change. If he were jailed, as Henry allows himself to be, he could not maintain the lifestyle he wants, so he pays his taxes and follows the law. This prompts Henry to call him “spineless” for being unwilling to do anything besides lecture—Waldo does not live the ideals he speaks about, and in Henry’s eyes, this makes him a hypocrite.
Henry calls himself a “majority of one,” by which he means that, in acting on his conscience, he has as much authority as a group that constitutes a majority of the population (61). To this end, he says: “If one honest man in this state of Massachusetts had the conviction and the courage to withdraw from this unholy partnership and let himself be locked up in the County Jail, it’d be the start of more true freedom than we’ve seen since” the American Revolution (61). This “unholy partnership” exists between the law and the citizens who obey it, and by withdrawing from the partnership, Henry submits to the imprisonment of his body but not to the imprisonment of his mind, because the state cannot control it. Thus, his duty is to his conscience rather than to his country; otherwise, he would be sacrificing true freedom for the mere appearance of freedom.
The Importance of Simplicity
Henry stresses the importance of simplicity to disengage with society’s materialism and to avoid becoming what he calls a “work-slave.” He says that by consuming less, people would need to only work to make enough for necessities. Bailey says, “It’s always been a marvel to me how a man can get the money together to own […] a house that belongs to him” (57). If a person wants to own a house, they need money, and they must work to earn it; a bigger house means more money and more hours spent working. However, if a person can content themselves with less, they don’t need much money at all. Henry uses his cabin as an example of this principle, proudly citing its cost as “Twenty-eight dollars, twelve and a half cents!” (57). He fishes and grows some of his food, and repairs things that break or wear out—such as the worn shoe that brings him into Concord—rather than replacing them. These are the habits that permit Henry to work very little. He can choose to spend his day fishing, writing, helping a friend, or any other way he chooses because he isn’t “chained” to a job that consumes most of his waking hours. He claims to be “very wealthy,” but he “just [doesn’t] have any money” (82). Also, by living simply, he avoids the rampant materialism that leads to industrialization and damages the natural world.
In addition to living simply by owning little, Henry believes that people should “simplify” their thoughts and actions as well. When deciding how to behave, Waldo considers his comfort, the law, and the “economic and sociological ramifications” of a choice (85). Henry’s unshakeable commitment to his conscience, however, leads him to believe that Waldo is overthinking, being selfish, or talking himself out of taking decisive action. For Henry, his decisions are simple because he doesn’t care if he’s put in jail or alienated by the community. Once he identifies the just and right thing to do, he does it, without concern for his personal comfort or his reputation. Luxurious habits require money, and people who are too invested in their comfort “go along” because they don’t want to lose their status, their wealth, and their physical freedom—even if this means they are surrendering away their mental freedom and their conscience. Thus, Henry tells Lydian, “Your husband […] has the misfortune of being a gentleman. And famous. And he is drowning in his own success” (91). Henry, on the other hand, has no concern for status, fame, or the accouterments of achievement because he lives simply, led by his conscience and nothing else. In comparison, Waldo does not live simply, so Henry sees him as hypocritical and disappointing—Waldo doesn’t live by the ideas he preaches.
Freedom and Liberty for All
Henry’s desire for real, rather than illusory, freedom and liberty for all people is at the heart of his beliefs. His passion for the justice of equal liberty for all first emerges in his dealings with students. He doesn’t lecture them on “approved” subjects; instead, he invites them to “scrambl[e] for ideas,” like searching for huckleberries (18). He encourages their intellectual curiosity and refuses to train them to be obedient “subordinates” to himself, the school board, or the government. Thus, Henry works for the freedom and liberty of children by teaching them to trust themselves and pursue their own interests rather than simply learning what the school board says they should. He quits when his conscience cannot support the idea of teaching the way Ball demands. He opens his own school in which he plans to “Teach [students] how to teach themselves” (24). He implores students to ignore the advice of supposed experts and try their own experiments. He tells Ellen, “Don’t […] copy me,” advising her to “be very careful to find out and pursue your own way” (29). He insists that students not see him as an authority because each must be their own authority.
Henry is opposed to authority figures of all sorts because they tell people how to act, dress, work, and live, instead of allowing people the freedom to choose their own ways. Therefore, Henry says, “I have yet to hear the first syllable of valuable advice from my seniors,” and he feels that “We are polluted by advice” (37). Just because one person has tried something and had a certain experience doesn’t mean that all people must try it or that they will all have the same result. Therefore, Henry believes that people must not install so-called experts as authorities; otherwise, they relinquish the liberty to try things for themselves.
Henry’s refusal to be or accept someone else’s authority is demonstrated again when he meets Williams. When Williams asks if Henry will turn him in, Henry assures him, “Here you’re as free as I am” (82), though he knows not everyone shares his convictions. When Williams suggests he might call himself “Mr. Henry’s Williams,” which would imply that Williams belongs to Henry, Henry recoils in horror. He tells Williams, “You don’t belong to anybody, sir. Except yourself” (83). When Williams says he feels the freest he’s ever felt while he’s with Henry at Walden, Henry tells him, “You’ve got to find your own Walden” (84). Henry’s words make it clear that, in order to be truly free, each person must be their own authority and no one else’s, and they must not copy or mimic another person’s pursuit of liberty, either. Freedom, liberty, and justice for all requires the government to abolish enslavement, but it also requires individuals to disavow conformity and refuse to allow society to limit them. Thus, Henry warns Williams, “Every man shackled to a ten-hour-a-day job is a work-slave. Every man who has to worry about next month’s rent is a money-slave” (83). He argues that, if Williams is not careful, he could unwittingly subject himself to a different kind of captivity—one that installs social norms and the pressure to “go along” as one’s authority.
By consistently opposing the unjust war, Henry works for the freedom and liberty of Mexican citizens who are impacted by it. He pursues freedom and liberty for enslaved persons by refusing to pay his taxes and assisting Williams as much as he can. He continues this pursuit when he tries to convince Waldo to publicly denounce Williams’s death. He even works for Bailey’s liberty after he learns that Bailey has been waiting three months for a trial. Finally, he works for the freedom of anyone who is part of a society because societies are governed by authority figures; they develop standards, accommodate churches, elect school boards, and are governed by some leader or group of leaders. Henry believes that irrespective of race, gender, or social status, each person has a right to personal freedom and liberty.
