Democracy in Civil Disobedience, Slavery in Massachusetts, Benito Ceren

The Oppression of Democracy Exposed in polite noncompliance, Slavery in Massachusetts, Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener America has long been recognized as a democratic nation, a nation operating under the provide of the people. The forefathers of America fought incessantly against British tyranny to start anew in a land of emancipation and opportunity. Because America revived the ancient Grecian ideology of democracy, the nation was set apart from the rest of the world and was idolise for the freedom and andice it provided its people. However, not everyone thinks that Ameri endure democracy means freedom and liberty. On the contrary, writers such as Henry David Thoreau in Civil Disobedience and Slavery in Massachusetts, along with Herman Melville in Benito Cereno and Bartleby the Scrivener, suggest that democracy can actually oppress and restrict the individual. In Civil Disobedience, Thoreau criticizes the American disposal for its democratic nature, namely, the id ea of majority ruling. Like earlier transcendentalists, such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thoreau believes in the importance of the individual. In a society where there argon many individuals with conflicting perceptions and beliefs, Emerson chooses passivity and isolation to avoid conflict with others. However, unconnected Emerson, Thoreau rejects passivity and challenges his readers to stand up against the government that focuses on majorities over individuals. Thoreau argues that when business leader is in the hands of the people, the majority rules, not because they are most probably to be in the right, nor because this seems fairest to the minority, but because they are physically the strongest (Thoreau 64). Thoreau portrays this very vestigial element of democracy, w... ...t the tyrannical majority and take whatever measures necessary, but Melville only when exposes the repressive nature of democracy and leaves it at that. However, Melville does point out, through Benito Cere no and Bartleby, the Scrivener, that alone rebelling against democracy, as Thoreau proposes, is not the answer. Perhaps Melville does not have a solution, just as Bartleby did not. Nonetheless, to both writers, democracy continues to be a despotic institution. whole caboodle Cited and Consulted Melville, Herman. Bartleby and Benito Cereno. Dover Publications, Inc. New York. 1993. Thoreau, Henry D. Slavery in Massachusetts. Reform Papers. Ed. Wendell Glick. Princeton, NJ Princeton UP, 1973. 91-109. ----- Civil Disobedience from A World of Ideas - Essential Readings for College Readers, Lee A. Jacobus, Bedford Books, 1998, 1849(123 -146)