Thoreau immediately attacks the American government as weak and useless in the opening paragraphs of his essay. Thoreau states that "This American government is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves; and, if ever they should use it in earnest as a real one against each other, it will surely split" (1). This metaphor makes the complex idea that the all-powerful American government is actually feeble and fragile, because everyone knows that …show more content…
He states: "The mass of men serve the State thus, not as men mainly, but as machines, with their bodies" (3). Thoreau compares American citizens to show that almost everyone in the country obeys what the government mandates, no matter what the cost. He says that marines are "a mere shadow and reminiscence of humanity already buried under arms with funeral accompaniments" (3). Thoreau's powerful simile paints a picture of mindless drones, who willingly die for a regime that is happy to let anyone parish, into the reader's head. This comparison makes Thoreau's opinion both understandable and persuasive to anyone reading his