The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail

Lights illuminate Waldo. Stage directions say that his posture is bent, “as if he were trying to stand simultaneously on opposite sides of a question—which he is” (84). Waldo is flustered, asking what more he can do besides vote. Henry tells Waldo to use his “whole influence,” prompting Waldo to claim that they must “go along” with majority rule. Henry grows more exasperated. Waldo claims it is “infinitely complicated” when Black and white people cohabitate and that human relationships evolve slowly and cannot be rushed, and Henry retorts that a Black man who is shot in Boston while trying to escape the country doesn’t have time for Emerson’s measured “sermon” on the sluggishness of social change. Henry is furious that Williams was shot and is disappointed in Emerson’s calm acceptance of this fact. Henry wants Waldo to use his popularity to persuade people to be more open. Instead, Waldo retreats into thought, saying he couldn’t live like Henry because he enjoys comfort and leisurely breakfasts, calling Henry his “walking ethic.” Waldo claims to do all a person can do, but Henry wants him to do “the impossible” instead of “singing [his] spineless benedictions” (87).