Thoreau and Machiavelli are in complete contradiction when it comes to their view on men. While Machiavelli believes men to be incompetent and mindless, Thoreau stresses the capability of the individual to be his own advocate and an opposing force.
Machiavelli believes the prince, or for comparative purposes to Thoreau, the government, to be the all powerful and all righteous, with the people being its mindless followers. He gives men none of the credit for being the self-sufficent thinkers that Thoreau does, and is, in fact, in complete disagreement to his idea. Machiavelli believes that "men are so simple of mind and so much dominated by their immediate needs, that a deceitful man will always find plenty who are ready to be deceived,"(464) meaning that men are so simple of mind that someone who wants to deceive, there are plenty of men "ready" to be deceived. Thoreau is in complete contradiction with this view, as he believes individuals are capable of standing up to authority and injustices. He gives men the credit of being able to think for themselves and stand up to power, something Machiavelli does not. While Machiavelli believes there are plenty of men to be deceived, Thoreau encourages men to not be complicit, making his warrant that men are not deceived if they are recognizing an injustice.
Machiavelli also goes by the idea that "it is a good general rule about men, that they are ungrateful, fickle, liars and deceivers, fearful of danger and greedy for gain." (461) His belief is that people by nature are greedy and generally bad, while Thoreau has a different idea about the selfishness of man. Thoreau believes that "he who gives himself entirely to his fellow-men appears to them useless and selfish; but he who gives himself partially to them is pronounced a benefactor and philanthropist." (278) Thoreau's take is that men who give themselves totally are selfish, while Machiavelli believes that all men are by nature greedy and therefore selfish for "gain". Thoreau distinguishes that men who give themselves to others are the better, while Machiavelli attributes this selfishness to all men. This really embodies the contrast between the two men and their ideology- Thoreau believes men choose to be complicit or self sufficient, good or bad, while Machiavelli believes more or less that all men are bad, except, well, if you're the prince.
Machiavelli and Thoreau have both completely contrasted views on men, both going to the extremes of each side. Machiavelli attributes all negative connotations to men, and Thoreau acknowledges the power men have to be great and have their own voice. One would think that the two men are writing these pieces in response to one another, as they are in essence arguing the opposition against the other.
Hey Olivia, Great Job! I thought your blog was very clear and concise. By concise I mean that you got right to the point, and did a very good job with summarizing your most important ideas. I thought that your language was very smooth, especially with your usage of quotations in which you placed them very efficiently into your arguments. You used sufficient amounts of evidence to support your claims. The only problem I had with your blog was that I thought your introduction was not very interesting. I didn't feel like you had a hook. I understood your thesis, but I think elaborating more in the introduction will hook the reader more into reading your argument. Overall though you did a great job.
ReplyDeleteHello Olivia and as Joe said Great Job! I will agree with job in saying that your thesis was a bit dry however it was very clear and you stuck with it throughout all of your paragraphs and the ideas were well supported and interesting. Perhaps a bit more explanation could be used in the 2nd to last paragraph because I got a little lost in how Thoreau saying men who give all of them self are selfish. I think you were saying that he doesn't want a man to just blindly devote himself but perhaps make it clear that why he says "give themselves totally" he means it in a more negative tone. Just a thought. Again great job!
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