Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Error 404- Failure to Stay in Jail

Hidey-ho, bloggerinos!
I have finished The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail (in case you hadn't guessed) and found the ending to be surprisingly satisfying. From how the book was going, I thought it would have some really stupid ending that no one liked, but it wasn't all too bad. And for once, I can actually say my reading has taught me something...
After much perusing of the play, I finally got a couple of examples of irony. I think it's ironic how Henry tried so hard to 'rebel' against the system, but in the end, his Aunt Louisa got him out of jail. All his work, his night spent in jail, was foiled by his Aunt's blunt regard for Henry. It was also somewhat ironic how Henry was seen by people as some sort of 'crazy' guy who just wanted to stir the people up. However, in the end, he seemed to be smarter and more passionate about what he cared about than anyone else.
Adding to this, in the end of the story, I don't think Henry's protest proved successful. The whole point was to do whatever it took to not support the Mexican war by paying taxes. While at first, he ended up in jail and it was seemingly working, he was just bailed out by Aunt Louisa. He was forced to re-enter society, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted to accomplish with his protest.
And before we go any further, I'm afraid to say I am absolutely clueless as to what to say for the actors and whatnot. Like, I can barely think of any actor's names, let alone which ones would make good characters. My three important characters were Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and John Thoreau, if that helps any, but I can't think of any actors at all to play these people...

I apologize.

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