Publication Thoreau's Night in Jail

The cell, is center stage, with imaginary walls set-up. The way the stage is laid out automatically emphasizes the importance of being thoughtful and having an imagination. As the play goes on an old man enters with his wife. The individual is Waldo, and his wife is Lydian, they walk on stage and Waldo tries to remember the name of his best friend. Lydian suggests the name he is trying to remember is Henry, and Waldo tells her that he thinks his best friend name was David.

The scene then changes to Henry’s mom being clearly upset and asking him what he has done. Henry sits up on his cot and explains that he has actually ‘not done something.’ He is referring to himself refusing to pay taxes because of the United States’ involvement in the Mexican War.

Within this scene, Henry’s mother called him David Henry and he immediately corrects her, this allows us to realize Henry’s individuality.

At this point, Waldo also speaks again and explains how he almost understood the strange Henry. The play then switches back to Henry and his mother talking and reminiscing about him being baptized. We then get an insight into Waldo’s state of mind, he is slowly losing some of his senses and he mistakes his umbrella for a person. In the next scene, a much younger Waldo is seen giving a lecture, at this lecture he urges his audience to cast conformity behind them. Henry is seen at the lecture repeating the words of Waldo.

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Henry’s mother and brother John then discuss the fact that Henry does not do what society expects of him, John credits this to Henry’s education earned at Harvard. At the end of page ten, we are getting to know Bailey who so happens to be Henry’s cellmate.

Some of the Transcendental characteristics I found while reading was self-reliance and individuality. The play repeatedly warns against conformity, explaining that when people obey their government without question they become complicit in the crimes that their government have committed. Henry also showed individuality when he over and over again corrected his mother for calling him David Henry instead of Henry David. I believe the most interesting quote thus far is “Cast Conformity behind you”, (pg 6). This quote is interesting to me because it made me realize that every individual was born to be unique and should not conform to society’s just because it is what is expected of them, we should live in a way that we feel is morally right, rather than the way society wants us to. This quote also supports Henry’s transcendentalism values of self- reliance, and individuality.