Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau's mother calls him by his real name, David Henry, but he has yet to respond to that. Why? Because he wants to do things as uniquely and as differently as possible. He wants to see how life can be lived being called a name that he hasn't been christened with. He embraces every new challenge with a distinctive attitude hoping to realize something unusual .He marched to a different drummer.

One of the best examples of Henry's individuality is his experience of life independent from society in Walden. During this time he proves that one can survive without associating with others , no trading , no small talk , nothing . Henry lived with only the bare essentials grew what he needed and when the occasion aroused he would go to the city and pick up the necessary. Simplify is his ideal and he plays it is played out perfectly in Walden.

In the movie Dead Poet's Society, Mr. Keating plays the Henry type character that changes the entire atmosphere of an all boy's preparatory school with his presence. He made his intent clear when he asked the boys to rip out the introduction and to ignore the Prichard scale. Mr. Keating wanted to help the boys think outside the conformity which had formed an imaginary box within their lives, inhibiting them from listening to their hearts. Mr. Keating took the boys the boys out to the courtyard one day and picked 4 boys and told them to start marching . The boys started out differently , but ended up in uniform step . This showed the yearning in everyone to belong and fit in , when really , the whole point is to stand out . Mr. Keating taught them to march to the beat of their own drum, not the drum society forces on them.

When asked to pay his taxes, Henry simply said no , he wouldn't because he didn't support the way with Mexico . He logically answered Sammy saying that if the government didn't do as he said, there was no reason to pay them. This landed him in jail, which gave Henry quite some time to think and inspire Bailey, his cellmate. Henry was persecuted for thinking independently, but they could never really hold him down because they could only imprison his body, not his mind.

Not only did Henry David Thoreau march to a different drummer, he was his own drummer. His isolation from conformity and discourse gave him a much more broad perspective which led to his distinctive attitude towards life . We must all strive to do