Henry David Thoreau compares the United States' government to a political machine. This machine has friction, which is Thoreau explains is injustice. He states that "If the injustice is part of the necessary friction of the machine of the government, let it go, let it go.

..certainly the machine will wear out" (Thoreau 8). Thoreau is stating that this machine will eventually cease to run if the friction continues to occur. By having injustice in the government, corruption is ultimately the result, and the corrupt government will eventually crumble. Thoreau also explains that the people who are affected by the injustice should stop it, or at least make an effort to stop it. "Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine" (Thoreau 8). Sitting back and letting others fix

Thoreau, Henry David. "Civil Disobedience." 1849. Civil Disobedience and Other Essays. Ed. Philip Smith. New York: Dover, 1993. 1-18.

Although Thoreau's metaphor established an emotional appeal effectively, King's illustrations elucidate the issue of injustice equally as effectively. King makes mention of the Christians that existed

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