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Courtney Crotts

Professor Bullington

English 111

8 November 2018

Persuasion in ‘Civil Disobedience’

In ‘Civil Disobedience’ by Henry David Thoreau, the author uses pathos, ethos, and

logos to tell us what is going on in a way that persuades the reader into believing that the

government is corrupt, and that slavery is wrong and that the citizens need to do something about

it. The author used those elements in a way that made the reader feel what they were going

through at the time and used facts that persuades the reader to want justice for them.

The author uses pathos by telling us what is happening in a way that makes us feel what

he feels. He wants to tap into your emotions. Thoreau does this when he says:

Practically speaking, the opponents to a reform in Massachusetts are not a hundred

thousand politicians at the South, but a hundred thousand merchants and farmers here,

who are more interested in commerce and agriculture than they are in humanity, and are

not prepared to do justice to the slave and to Mexico, cost what it may (Thoreau).

This is a use of pathos because when he points out that it is not just the government that is doing

this to the country, it opens your eyes. It becomes clear that the problem does not only reside in

our politician's, but that it also comes from fellow citizens that care more about themselves than

other people. The author wants us to understand what is wrong with the country and why we

should do something about it.

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Thoreau uses logos by providing us with logic. He does this to make you think about

what he is saying. He does this when he says, “Those who, while they disapprove of the

character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly

its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform”

(Thoreau). This quote makes you think about how people may disagree with what the

government is doing, but they stand by and continue to let it happen. This makes you think about

who is really at fault. The quote appeals to your logic by making you realize that the problem is

not only with the people allowing slavery to happen, but also with the people that do not say or

do anything to put an end to it.

The author uses ethos to show us that his information is credible. Thoreau tells us:

If my esteemed neighbor, the State's ambassador, who will devote his days to the

settlement of the question of human rights in the Council Chamber, instead of being

threatened with the prisons of Carolina, were to sit down the prisoner of Massachusetts,

that State which is so anxious to foist the sin of slavery upon her sister—though at

present she can discover only an act of inhospitality to be the ground of a quarrel with

her—the Legislature would not wholly waive the subject the following winter (Thoreau).

This is an example of ethos because it makes the author more credible knowing that he is not a

random citizen who is trying to rebel. We would not trust someone who is only trying to rebel

because of selfish reasons. Thoreau stating that his neighbor is the State’s ambassador and that

he also cares so much about this issue that he has devoted his days to settling it makes him seem

more credible.
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The author used clear examples of pathos, logos, and ethos in ‘Civil Disobedience’ to

persuade the reader to believe in his issue. Reading the article, I could feel the pain that he was

going through, and I understood where he was coming from. The author succeeded in persuading

me and I agree that something needed to be done to stop the corrupt government.
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Works Cited

Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20050311050729/http://eserver.org/thoreau/civil.html