The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail: Act 2 Summary & Analysis

Lights rise on Henry in the jail cell. Bailey is asleep. Henry is pacing and thinking aloud. He laughs at the notion that the government has taken his freedom. He is free, he says. He can touch his nose if he likes. He can stand up or sit down. And his thoughts cannot be contained by walls—he can think whatever he wants.

Lydian enters, and tells Henry he should “go along.” Henry erupts angrily, shouting “GO ALONG” at her. Then Lydian asks him to take Edward with him. Henry saunters out of the cell into the imaginary meadow, which he now shares with young Edward. Henry teaches Edward how to find the best huckleberries (by “knowing where to stand”) and Edward runs around picking them up excitedly. He quickly fills his whole basket, but in his excitement he trips and spills them. When he starts to cry, Henry comforts him by saying that he has planted a whole new field of huckleberries.

Edward is comforted, and tells Henry he wishes he were his father. The light fades on them and rises on Lydian, writing a letter at her desk. Henry and Edward arrive home, and Edward tells Lydian that he’s asked Henry to be his father. Lydian lightly asks Edward, what about his real father? Edward complains that Waldo is never around because he is always traveling and making speeches. He also asks his mother if she wouldn’t be happier if Henry was her husband.

Things become awkward between Lydian and Henry. She says perhaps he should not work around the house while Waldo is away. Henry tells her not to be afraid of him, then remarks that he has too much respect for her. Love is everywhere and has no schedule, he notes, somewhat enigmatically. Lydian asks him why, if love is everywhere, does he choose to be alone?

Suddenly Edward, who has wandered outside, runs back in holding a chicken, saying the chicken is wearing gloves. Lydian says this can’t be possible, but upon inspection realizes the chicken is in fact wearing gloves. Henry explains that he’d heard her complaining about the chickens scratching at her rose plants, and so had fitted their feet with homemade gloves.

Lydian, pleading now, tells Henry to get married—to find someone to love. She doesn’t want him to be lonely. Henry says he cannot be lonely any more than the north wind can be lonely. He then asks her if she is not lonely, going to bed every night without her absent husband. He touches her sleeve and asks her if it is not a pity that she is so “safe” around him.

Lights fade and come back up on the cell, where Henry and Bailey once again sit. Bailey asks Henry to be his lawyer, but Henry says he cannot be a lawyer. Bailey begs Henry to tell him what to do, and Henry suggests being born in a more just time. He then suggests prayer, and Bailey agrees. Henry delivers a wry, almost sarcastic prayer, telling God that Bailey deserves better than what God has given him.

As Bailey sinks back onto his cot, the lights come up on Henry and he moves out of the cell into the sunny meadow once again. A man, Williams, comes out of the woods. He is an escaped slave. He tells Henry he needs food so he has enough strength to get to “Cañada,” where he can be free. Henry tells him to help himself to bread inside the cabin. Williams is startled at Henry’s trust, but goes inside and takes the bread anyway. He comes out chewing ravenously.

Henry tells Williams that he is glad he has escaped. Williams asks Henry why he lives in a “slave shack.” Henry, amused, says that he is rich, but not with money. Henry then says that Williams needs a first name, now that he is free. Williams suggests “Mr. Henry’s Williams” to which Henry angrily says “No!” He tells Williams that he doesn’t belong to anyone anymore. But Williams likes the sound of “Henry Williams,” and shouts the name to the sky.

Williams says he wants to stay here with Henry, where he feels free. But Henry says that in Massachusetts, his blackness is a red flag, and he must find a Walden somewhere where “sickening laws” against blacks don’t exist. He tells Williams to “go to Can-ya-da!” The lights fade on them.

The lights come up on Henry and Waldo in the midst of an argument. Waldo is insisting that he’s “cast his vote” and there is nothing more he can do. Henry tells him to vote with his voice, and use his influence to speak out against segregation. It becomes clear through their argument that Williams has been killed jumping from a moving train in his attempt to get to Canada. Henry argues that for Waldo, Williams is merely an abstraction—fodder for a lecture, but not a human, not a real tragedy.

Henry pleads with Waldo—he is an Emerson, and he can make a difference if he would only use his voice. Waldo contemplatively notes that Henry lives the way Waldo talks. Henry becomes even angrier at Waldo, and Waldo retorts that Henry is not exactly inciting rebellion by retiring to the woods. Henry has no reply to this criticism. Waldo gently tells him that they must work within the existing framework in order to effect change. This disgusts Henry. He tells Waldo he was wrong about him, and starts to leave. Waldo, in pain, asks Henry what he should do. Henry tells him he must go to Concord Square and declare himself against the war and against segregation.

Lights come up in the center of the stage, where Henry is rallying a crowd of people, telling them that Waldo will be making an important announcement. The crowd grows restless as time passes and there is no sign of Waldo. Lydian enters, and tells a crestfallen Henry that Waldo needs more time to “meditate” on these matters. Henry tells Lydian that Waldo is “drowning in his own success.”

Henry shouts to the citizens of Concord, trying to get their attention, but there is no one there. He grips the rope of a bell to ring it, but it makes no sound. A drummer boy enters, and a chant becomes audible: “hate-two-three-four!” A sergeant is handing Bailey a gun, insisting that he must learn to kill. Bailey resists, but a crowd of people turn on him, calling him a coward and a traitor. The sergeant is Sam and the General is Ball.

The sergeant forces a musket into Henry’s hands. Henry resists, but his mother appears and tells him to “always do the right thing, even if it’s wrong.” Then the President appears: it’s Waldo. Everyone begins to chant “go along” with “demonic glee.” They begin to attack a Mexican soldier (Williams) but he escapes. Henry pleads with the president—Williams only wanted to gather huckleberries, Henry says. The president promises to write a lengthy essay on the subject.

Henry notices his brother John in the ranks, but just as he does, a volley of shots are heard. John is shot and Henry pleads with God not to let John die—“not again.” The whole stage fades into darkness.

Sam is waking Henry up from a bad dream. He tells Henry his taxes have been paid by his Aunt Louisa. Henry doesn’t want to go, but agrees to leave on the condition that Bailey is granted a speedy trial. Sam agrees. Henry and Bailey say their goodbyes. Bailey asks Henry if he will go back to the pond, but Henry says no. He feels he has “several more lives to live” and is worried that if he becomes too comfortable at Walden, he will spend all of them there. “Escape is like sleep,” says Henry, “and when sleep is permanent, it’s death.”