Knight in stolen armor shines on

Henry David Thoreau  (Public Domain)

In order to survive as a hermit in the Maine woods for almost three decades, Christopher Knight had resorted to stealing food from homes and camps.

For these infractions of the law, Knight was jailed for approximately seven months.  Augusta Associated Press reports that he is now being prepared for reentry into a society he dislikes.

During an interview for an upcoming GQ article, Knight offered this critique of today’s society:  It’s too loud.  Too colorful.  The lack of aesthetics.  The crudeness.  The trivia.  The inanities.

Nevertheless, the Kennebec County District Attorney has been praising Knight for “working hard to understand what it takes to become part of society again.”

If fitting in means learning to become as loud, crude and inane as the rest of the herd, is this something to be praised?

When Henry David Thoreau was jailed for civil disobedience, his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson allegedly asked him, “What are you doing in there?” Thoreau is said to have replied:  What are you doing out there?

Perhaps all of us “out there” in everyday society should be asking ourselves that very same question...

Resources

http://news.yahoo.com/man-lived-hermit-adjusting-society-190251468.html

Copyright August 21, 2014 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved