In “civil obedience “ thoreau His overall purpose for writing this is to persuade the citizens and people that when the government is unjust like they feels it is, then they should not be obligated to follow these laws and should separate themselves from the government all around. He tries to explain why he thinks that the government is unjust and that we are better off if the government would just not govern us at all. “That government is best which governs not at all” (Thoreau). he is speaking to the audience which is the people and citizens who are very interested in the government ways . he wants these people to see that laws that are unjust still exist in these times . shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend…show more content… “Some years ago, the State met me in behalf of the Church, and commanded me to pay a certain sum toward the support of a clergyman whose preaching my father attended, but never I myself. "Pay," it said, "or be locked up in the jail." I declined to pay.” (Thoreau). . He felt that in jail it gave him a little time away from the big issues and “in his mind, the walls between himself and his townspeople simply make him freer than the others, since he is acting in accord with his own thoughts” (Bankston). He continued to be positive and stand strong with his beliefs…show more content… But this government in which the majority rule in all cases cannot be based on justice, even as far as men understand it” (Thoreau).
The appeal for pathos is referring to the minority saying that there opinions should have a say in the government.also he uses an appeal to ethos in this part by showing how good of character he has by showing that all people matter. He uses this very well by getting them emotionally involved and making minority groups feel like their opinions are just as important in the government as the majority group. giving them that chance to have a voice in this matter can go a long way