The text shows Thoreau how about things he didn't agree with. The text shows that he did not agree with the government's approval to support slavery, so he stopped paying his taxes. He didn't approve of the way the government acted, so he protested writing a book supporting civil disobedience to tyrant governments. He didn't support unfair laws, so he protested resisting those laws.
The story shows how Henry David Thoreau was going to jail. Henry David Thoreau has been known as philosopher and writer who wrote "Civil Disobedience" which is an essay that actively opposes certain laws. How the author shows this is how influential he was.