The Prisoner Character Analysis

The Prisoner is Thoreau’s roommate during the only night Thoreau spends in prison for refusing to pay the poll tax. He is Thoreau’s companion as well as his guide to navigating a night in prison. According to Thoreau, he is a “first-rate fellow and a clever man” who believes he has been wrongfully accused of setting fire to a barn, though Thoreau believes the man most likely unintentionally set fire to the barn by falling asleep with a lit pipe. To Thoreau, the night in prison is a novel and slightly disorienting experience—“like travelling into a far country”—and so he relies on his fellow prisoner to keep him company and show him the ropes, since the prisoner has been there for three months. When morning comes, the prisoner is put to work and leaves knowing that he most likely will never see Thoreau again. The prisoner is effectively Thoreau’s guide through an awakening, because when Thoreau comes out of the prison, he remarks that he is able to see and understand the state he lives in more clearly.