Thoreau actually
discusses the time he got arrested for refusing to pay his poll tax in his essay, "On the
Duty of ."He says that he has not paid his tax for six years and that he was "put into
a jail once on this account."He marvels that he is treated thus, as though he "were
mere flesh and blood and bones" rather than putting his mind or even body to some kind of
use.Thoreau apparently found his one night in jail quite interesting, and he spent his time
talking to the other inmates, especially his roommate (who was content because he was sheltered
and fed there).He says that going to jail was "like travelling into a far country"; in
other words, it felt like going somewhere totally new and different that he never expected to
see.He describes his activities and thoughts and feels that he gets to know Concord even better
as a result of this experience.
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