Question
What does Henry David Thoreau mean by the following metaphor?
A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers . . . [who] have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?
A.
That soldiers are not treated as individual men by the government, but as disposable weapons
B.
That the army's soldiers need better protection and artillery than what the government provides
C.
That soldiers who refuse to fight are not only enemies of the state, but also unscrupulous men
D.
That the government's army is composed of men who do not care if we win or lose a war
A common and natural result of an undue respect for the law is, that you may see a file of soldiers . . . [who] have no doubt that it is a damnable business in which they are concerned; they are all peaceably inclined. Now, what are they? Men at all? or small movable forts and magazines, at the service of some unscrupulous man in power?
A.
That soldiers are not treated as individual men by the government, but as disposable weapons
B.
That the army's soldiers need better protection and artillery than what the government provides
C.
That soldiers who refuse to fight are not only enemies of the state, but also unscrupulous men
D.
That the government's army is composed of men who do not care if we win or lose a war
Answers
GPT 3.5
A. That soldiers are not treated as individual men by the government, but as disposable weapons