ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Thoreau stated that people “cannot spare the protection of the existing government, and they dread the consequences to their property and families of disobedience to it”. So it makes sense that most people would not be willing to risk losing their property, family, or their life.

Detailed explanation-2: -He believed that the government system steals the right to an individual life and personal experience. Because of this opinion, Thoreau came to the conclusion that the government is/can be abused before the people can willfully act through it.

Detailed explanation-3: -MAIN POINT 1: Thoreau prefers a laissez-faire government, but he does not call for abolishing government. Rather he wants a better government. “… I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government.”

Detailed explanation-4: -Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), perhaps best known as the author of Walden, was a deep believer in the demands of conscience over the demands of the state. His refusal in July 1846 to pay a tax led him to write the essay Civil Disobedience, which was to exercise a great influence on subsequent generations of thinkers.