Question

excerpt from \civil disobedience\
by henry david thoreau
i have paid no poll tax for six years. i was put into a jail once on this account, for one night; and, as i stood considering the walls of solid stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, i could not help being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if i were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. i wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way. i saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through before they could get to be as free as i was. i did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. i felt as if i alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax. they plainly did not know how to treat me, but behaved like persons who are underbred. in every threat and in every compliment there was a
in \civil disobedience,\ what is thoreaus last thought about the state before he loses respect for it?
he finds the state unforgivably timid.
he finds the states industrious locking of the cell door amusing.
he thinks the state cant tell its friends from its enemies.

Explanation:

Thoreau's text shows his view of the state's actions. He mentions the state's treatment of him as if he were just physical being (flesh - blood - bones) to be locked up. He wonders that the state concluded locking him up was the best use of him and never thought to use his services. This implies that the state couldn't distinguish a person (him, who might be a 'friend' in a sense of having something to offer) from a typical wrong - doer (an 'enemy').

Answer:

He thinks the state can't tell its friends from its enemies.