How Does Ehrlich Use The Theme Of Freedom To Barbed Grass

In the tale of his experience with the freedom of a clean slate and the ability to be entirely individualistic out in the empty expanse of Wyoming, Ehrlich shows us that while this freeing but also emptier than normal life, we can and all should open ourselves up further to seeing beyond what has become a race to “strangle ourselves with what we can buy” (Ehrlich 476). As his story out on the open plains progressed, one could see this greedy and blinding race for material goods further even out in this area renowned for open spaces. Over the years, it too had become a place where “barbed wire abrogated space … the ‘anything is possible’ fever — the lure of a new place — was constricted. The integrity of the land … and the freedom to ride anywhere

on it, was lost” (Ehrlich 473). The disparity between the fulfillment the author felt working on a sheep farm in the midst of nowhere and the greedy insufficiency felt by the majority of humanity as stated at the end of the passage highlighted the author’s main idea, clearly and explicitly stated at the very end, where “we fill up space as if it were a pie shell, with things whose opacity further obstructs our ability to see what is already there” (Ehrlich 476). Shown in his satisfaction to live in the middle of nowhere after realizing that “the silence is profound … keenly observed, the world is transformed” (Ehrlich 471), Ehrlich shows that when by oneself, one can notice all of the beauty and intrigue already surrounding him; there is no need for material goods which our world is rapidly moving to focus on — “as if what we have, what we are, is not enough” (Ehrlich 476). You are enough.