Malala Yousafzai Rhetorical Analysis

Malala Yousafzai once said, “When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful." The strength of a persistent voice has been present in the education and women's rights advocate, Malala Yousafzai. The outspoken voice of her writing and advocacy has put a target on her back by the military suppression of the Taliban regime in her home in Pakistan. Escalated to the point of physical harm through an assassin’s bullets, she had gotten struck down and rose again from physical pain to face the challenges put on by the suppressive and traditional nature of the terrorist organization, Taliban. Similarly to the obstacles faced by Malala Yousafzai, the challenges also encountered by Transcendentalist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay,

“Nature," have many parallels in concerns with the notion of independence contained within the individual. Emerson’s advocacy to the Transcendentalist movement faced the opponent of a similar suppressing government, who fought to preserve their ways to prevent the incubation of new and modern ideas of the movement. The idle attitude of the government has a strong negative effect on its governed body due to the discouragement of a progressive educational movement aided by the attempted elimination of original thought leading to rebellion and the unsupervised enforcement of morally unsound taxes.
The controlling attitude of the government causes discouragement toward the ideals of a progressive educational change. Seemingly stuck in an endless loop, the flow of new ideas is halted for underprivileged people. Likewise, in the story, “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner, the protagonist, Sarty, is divided by the perceived radical ways of his father and the societal laws of hierarchies of the former southern antebellum. After standing as a witness in the makeshift courthouse in the persecution of his father, “the fluid world rushed beneath him again, the voices coming to him again”(Faulkner 4). Through the symbolic meaning of the adjective fluid, Faulkner highlights a recurring motif of constantly moving forward in order to achieve change. In addition, the multitude of opinions being imprinted towards Sarty presents the clash of ideals amongst the different social classes. Moreover, as the story progresses the motif of motion is constantly compared to the stationary. That night the sarty and his family decided to camp “where a spring ran”(Faulkner 5). The decision of the family to camp next to a river outlines their recurring attitude of change. Although not specific to what change the constant motion presents the idea of something fighting for change. Ultimately, giving the notion of an aggressive movement toward the progression and repetition of the father’s ideologies.
The suppression of original thought by the government leads to an inevitable negative reaction of the governed body.

In Emerson’s essay, “Nature,” he argues that the individual thought versus the recreation of others’ work is extremely immoral. Leading to the point of time, “in every man’s education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance” prompting this man to break free from the confines of others (Emerson 1). Reaching the apex of the realization that “imitation is suicide,” Emerson (DEVELOP WITH INFO) (Emerson 1). In other words, Emerson expresses the idea that the lack of movement within the intellectual self will only lead to a lack of psychological movement within the governed body. He presents a metaphor between the act of suicide and imitation. Ending one’s own life and the imitation of others’ ideals puts forth an attitude of giving up on new thought and further exploration of thoughts for not only a single person, but the entire community. Here, Emerson exemplifies the destructive nature of imitation to show that the suppression of original thought will be the driving factor in an unhappy, unproductive, and unsatisfied governed body. To further develop his argument, Emerson introduces uplifting guidance to the avoidance of imitation. Aiming to target the egotistical appeal of his audience, Emerson carries forward his campaign on the abolition of imitation with remarks towards the campaign of individualism. Being ignorant makes it “easy...to live

after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own”(Emerson 2). Therefore, Emerson strikes directly at the audiences egos by placing them in a submissive role in concerns to the “world” around them (Emerson 2). The sharp change in tone by Emerson highlights the insulting message of individualism. Through the psychological tactic of fear, he imprints the ideology of an independent mind. Therefore, the harsh methods of Emerson’s delivery is to dust off the old ideals of the corrupt hierarchical system of government.
The shortcoming of government checks leads to the endorsement of morally unsound taxes.

Displayed front and center was the call for government disobedience called for than in Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience.” Living in full by the motto, “government is best” when “governs least,” Thoreau takes this idea very seriously as he develops new concepts (Thoreau 382). In other words, the government is best when it is least involved with the people. An example of this, which Thoreau derived his opinion from, is the taxation to support and fuel the slave trade society of the southern antebellum. These independent citizens are at a disadvantage because they were forced to adhere to ideals they did not fully support. Through such a situation, the unjust tax money is failed to be discussed between the governed people, rather in the hands of the corrupt limited government lies the fate of the economic fuel. Additionally, Thoreau sheds more light on the specific encroachments that the seemingly perfect government has committed with no limitations. Taking into account that the “mass men serve the state… not as men mainly, but as machines” the work force is driven by supply rather than demand (Thoreau 383). This magnification at the central body of the governed people, in conjunction with the government, exemplifies the physical action of the statement, ignorance is bliss. Thus proving that the avoidance and coherence with the state will lead to a brain wash effect within the mass

of communities and personally nullifying the rights one naturally has by failing to recognize them within their personal being.
In conclusion the idle attitude of the government has a negative effect on its governed body because of the discouragement of a progressive educational movement aided by the attempted elimination of original thought to rebellion, leading to the unsupervised enforcement of morally unsound taxes. Presented clearly by Emerson, there are problems ingrained within society and therefore leaving only the people above the government, such as Malala Yousafzai. I have uncovered the travesty of the ignorant mind through the exploration and analysis of the texts of the past, shedding light on the recurring problems within society today.