The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail

Content Warning: The source material uses offensive terms for Black people and Hispanic people. The source text and this guide discuss enslavement and racism.

Two men lie on cots in a dark jail cell. Outside, Ralph Waldo Emerson, a very old man, asks his wife, Lydian, to remind him of the name of the man who was once his best friend. She says it was Henry and they reminisce about him, describing him as the “saddest happy man” or the “happiest sad man” they ever knew (5).

Then, Henry’s mother appears, and she scolds her son and asks what he did to get himself put in jail. Henry rises from his cot, insisting he’s only been himself. His mother says she doesn’t mind him being odd, but she wonders why he seems to work at it.

A much younger Waldo stands at a lectern, telling his audience to “cast conformity” behind them. Henry sits down on the floor, watching Waldo in admiration. Henry’s brother, John, enters and stands by their mother, and she complains about Henry’s refusal to conform. When she leaves, John approaches Henry, who is still mesmerized by Waldo. John congratulates Henry on his diploma, but Henry explains he didn’t get it because he wouldn’t pay the dollar Harvard charged for it.