Transcending Violence: The Rich History of Those Who Chose the Path of Nonviolence

Many prominent political figures have spoken out against violence; among them are Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Dalai Lama. Instead of choosing physical brutality, they chose to follow difficult, winding paths full of powerful speeches, civil disobedience, and peaceful protests. These non-violent ideals have led leaders like Henry David Thoreau and Martin Luther King Jr. to achieve goals in ways government leaders and thinkers previously thought to be impossible. Different literary works like The Night Thoreau spent in Jail by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, Walden by Henry Thoreau, and Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., show efforts of these leaders through Thoreau’s stand against the Mexican War and opinion of life in Walden, as well as Martin Luther King’s peaceful protests.

Thoreau’s night in jail proves that the powerful voice of one can change seemingly unalterable situations without violence. An evening others have discussed, contemplated, and criticized, it was the means for Thoreau to begin his political battle against the war in Mexico. Specifically, Thoreau refuses to pay his taxes. Believing that the funding for the Mexican war will be reduced due to his actions, Thoreau is taking a stand against the government. To him, simply helping to pay for a gun is a crime if the gun is used to kill, but the felony is made hundred times worse if the victim is innocent. Thoreau believes that the Mexicans are innocent, so when Sam Staples, his friend and tax collector says, “…But the government gets persnickety about taxes when we got a war goin’,” he just retorts, “I will not pay one copper penny to an unjust government,” (Lawrence and Lee 60). This proves that Henry feels so strongly aga...

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...ent, all of which occurs without any intentional physical harm from the protesting party. Through Martin Luther King Jr.’s extreme perseverance, non-violence was proven as a successful way to achieve political change.

The actions of Thoreau, both his reproduced and direct ones, in addition to Martin Luther King Jr.’s, advocate the peacefulness defense of one’s personal beliefs. Whether these beliefs consist of something as big as either the Mexican War or universal racial equality, or something as small as the making of a staff, they are significant decisions that affect one’s self perception. If current government leaders and corporate managers realized that their choices not only change their environments, but also transform their self-respect and morality, then maybe the Earth would not be in such a dismal state of human corruption and physical pollution.