Freedom, in definition, a state of being free, the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action. However, we all know that such state cannot be true, we are all in a certain extend confined by different rules of society, and total freedom will only bring total chaos; freedom is just the pretty word for us to feel better in captive. And most importantly, freedom is not equal in most cases. Some people will always enjoy more freedom than other people, and those in power will even rationalize their superiority with the status or knowledge they have. In the past, that is very obvious, such as male dominance and white supremacy. In “the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka , “the Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and …show more content…
“The Trifles” by Susan Glaspell, these text are all associated with such phenomenon of supremacy happened in the past or a warning toward the future of society. The world needs to become a fairer place, where people in great scale enjoys equal freedom and chances, in order to discover more talents who can help to make the world even better. “The Penal Colony” represents the relationship between power and freedom, which greater power and status will usually bring greater freedom.
It is about an explorer who is invited to an execution, which was a traditional and popular event in the Penal Colony, but is now diminished. In the story, the officer who is responsible for the execution has been talking about his glorious days as well as the era of the former Commandant in the past. As the new Commandant disagrees with such execution method, the officer as an adherent of the former Commandant faces the change of power and status. The officer realizes that his power and freedom has been diminishing and he asks the explorer for help so the execution can regain the influence among the people. However, the explorer is not impressed by the machine and refuses to help, the officer eventually killed himself with the …show more content…
machine. The officer once has great power and freedom. He always get new parts for the machine and there will be a lot of audience during the execution, as he “under the former Commandant had free access to a sum of money set aside entirely for this purpose” (Kafka, 27). However, as the former Commandant passed away, and the new Commandant disagrees with such execution and limited the officer’s power and freedom, such as he no longer has as much supply as he had, and no one will come to the execution. This shows the relationship between power and freedom. When one has the power in hand, he will usually be able to enjoy more freedom. Beside showing that more power brings more freedom, it also shows the danger of totalitarianism. According to the officer, the prisoner who is going to be executed has no idea what he had done wrong, there is no sentence, and the prisoner has no chance to defend for himself. In our point of view, there is simply no human rights. If the people who has power, such as the Commandant in the Penal Colony, think a person is guilty, then the person will be guilty even if he hasn’t done anything wrong. If one has the absolute power which can seize the freedom of the majority, it will be really dangerous. This is why we develop a system of government and elections, so that the power will not be held in the hands of a few and the freedom of the majority can be guaranteed. Moving forward to the Yellow Wallpaper, which symbolize knowledge and status, and how they are associate with freedom. John, the husband of the narrator, perfectly symbolise the male supremacy in the past. In the reading, the narrator is being kept at the top of the mansion, because her husband says that will be the best environment for her to recover from illness. She is not allowed to see other people, to work, or to do anything out of her own will. At first, the woman didn’t like the place, she thinks that there was something strange about the house, especially the yellow wallpaper. Then soon, she starts having illusions about there’s a woman behind the yellow wallpaper and women creeping over the windows, and eventually she becomes the creeping woman herself. The narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” is not possible having to enjoy the amount of freedom as much as his husband does.
First of all, her husband John, and her brother are both physician in a high standing, which both of them suggest that the woman isn’t sick but is only having a temporary nervous depression. It will be hard for the woman to deny these statements made by his husband and brother even she disagrees with them inside her heart. Secondly, the woman wishes to work and she thinks that congenial work with excitement and change will be good for herself, however, her husband doesn’t think the same way. He forbids her to work or even socializing with others, not even her own children:”it is fortunate Mary is so good with the baby, Such a dear baby! And yet I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (Gilman, 928), until she gets well. How can a mother be not nervous without her babies with her? Her husband, as well as his status and knowledge as a physician, has been the most powerful force confining her. She cannot find evidence, nor she has the knowledge to prove his husband wrong. It will sound dumb for her not listening to her husband who loves her and is a physician of high
standing. However, John only loves her in his own way. As suggested by the text: “John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him.” (Gilman, 928) He believes in his decisions, probably because he is a physician, and believe every choice he makes is the best for his wife. There are several times the woman tries to talk with John and tell him what she wants, but John simply deny her will. From this, we can see that there is no respect and communication in this relationship. John simply does everything he thinks is correct, and ignore the will and thoughts of his wife, and this is probably why the story comes to such a terrible ending. As a male, a husband and a physician, John obviously more freedom than the narrator. As a role of husband, in theory, he will not do anything that will harm his wife. As a physician, he has the knowledge that normal people cannot disagree with his statements. Facing multiple supreme statues, the narrator feels strengthless, as she said “if a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression - a slight hysterical tendency- what is one to do?” (Gilman, 926). He even confined his own wife with the statues he has, which eventually dirven his wife crazy. If this case happens in our time, it will likely leads to a better ending. As the husband won’t have such rights to confine his own wife, and no one has the right to confine another person, because we have laws to protect us. As well as more discussion on the effectiveness of rest treatment, and the emphasize on mental health aspect rather than just physical aspect, such medical advancement might as well prevented such tragedy from happening. Such benefits we enjoy now is due to the wide spread of freedom and rights. As more people are getting educated, more doctors are nurtured, and more discussion will lead to the correct knowledge. More people gaining the same status also mean that the amount of freedom they grant will be less, as they will become less prestige than before. In the early of 19th century, women have obviously less freedom and power than men, and this is the main issue in the play “The Trifles”. The Trifles is about a case which Mr. Wright died in his own house, and the scene is when a couple of characters go to the house for investigation. George Henderson, the county attorney, Henry Peters, the sheriff, and Lewis Hale, a neighboring farmer, spend most of their time upstairs, looking at the things they think are important evidences, and ignore the “trifles” which are very important for the case. At the mean time, their wives, Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Hale, walk around the house, discovering the “trifles” that the men will never pay attention to, and shape the whole picture of the case. There are couple of important messages in this play. First of all, at the early 19th century, when this play was written, women are still suffering from different kinds of unfair treatment, and we can see how the play emphasize on these treatment. For example, the men in the play never seem to take the women seriously. According to the text, the county attorney has an attitude of ”as one turning from serious things to little pleasantries”(Glaspell, 920) , we can see that men speak to women in a less serious manner. Men think that women only care about trifles and things that are not important as mentioned in the text: “well, women are used to worrying over trifles.”(Glaspell, 915). Mrs. Peters also said that the men would probably laugh at them for getting stirred up by the dead canary. This shows that men at the time have little respect towards women of what they think and say. Secondly, this shows that women are very capable at looking things in detail. As men and women look things in different direction, the mixture of opinion of both sides can be really beneficial in different situations. In the play, the County Attorney actually senses that there shall be “a thing that would connect up the whole case”. Imagine if the men and women are investing the case together, they could have figured out the case very quickly. These text are important literature which address the problems happened in the past, they represent the history of our mistakes. As the society moves on, people with different gender and races have proved their capability in different aspects, and the rights and freedom become more widespread than in the past. However, it is important for us to look back at the history in order to prevent these discrimination from happening ever again. There are many famous female celebrities a that are influential in the modern society, such as Oprah Winfrey, Eleanor Roosevelt. Besides female, people of different colors also gain increasing status as the American society moves forward. If America was as sealed as it was in the past, how colorless would the society be now? There will be no Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordon, Magic Johnson, etc. in the history of NBA. There will be no music of Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, etc. Allowing more people of different gender and race have the opportunity and freedom to fight for their dreams and fully utilize their talents will surely be a valuable addition to this world. Today, we live in a relatively free and equal society than in the past. So it may seems a bit irrelevant when looking back at the literature about inequality in the past. However, in this modern society, we shall not be surprised to know we are still having both economic inequality and certain supremacy happening in our daily life. Most businesses leaders are male, female are usually underpaid than male, etc. and these are all still happening although there are laws and rules enforced to eliminate and avoid discriminations and racism. We need to bear in mind about these issues and not making the same mistakes our ancestor did. We, humans, are flawed beings that have evils within ourselves, therefore we need laws in order to protect and maintain the functionality of our society; what confines us also protects us. Despite the fact that we cannot enjoy total freedom, we shall not deny the possibility for us to make this world a fairer place where more and more people can enjoy a certain amount of freedom. And I believe, we are moving in the right direction.
According to Dictionary.com freedom means “the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.” Freedom. What does freedom mean to you? Even though freedom means the state of being uncontrolled by another, or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint, I believe that freedom means being able to accomplish what you desire and when you desire it without anyone saying anything, by reason of the comparison and contrast of our society and the society in the book Anthem by Ayn Rand, the negation of the word freedom, and synonyms of the word freedom. I believe that you should accept the consequences of the actions you take when you have your “freedom” as well.
According to the Collins Dictionary, “freedom” is defined as “the state of being allowed to do what you want to do”(“freedom”). The definition of freedom is simple, but make yourself free is not easy. Concerning about some common cases which will take away your freedom, such as a time-cost high education attainment. In this essay, I shall persuade that everyone should try his or her best to insist on pursuing freedom. For the individual, it appears that only if you have your personal freedom, can you have a dream; for a country, it seems that only if the country is free, can the country develop; for mankind, it looks like that only if people has their own pursuit of freedom, can their thoughts evolve.
There are multiple possible causes for the internal conflict the narrator faces. The first being nervous depression and the other is the fact that her life is being controlled by her husband. Her husband is in full control because in the beginning of the story, John, her husband, influences how she should act. He decides the actions that should be taken in regards to her health and sanctity. Although she finds herself disagreeing with his synopsis, she is confined and does not admit how she feels to him. This also brings about another a major conflict that occurred in the 19th century, men being dominant and woman being categorized as inferior. Evidence can be found when the narrator states, “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband assures friends and relatives that there is nothing the matter with o...
The narrator is being completely controlled by her husband. The narrator's husband has told the her over and over again that she is sick. She sees this as control because she cannot tell him differently. He is a physician so he knows these things. She also has a brother who is a physician, and he says the same thing. In the beginning of the story, she is like a child taking orders from a parent. Whatever these male doctors say must be true. The narrator says, "personally, I disagree with their ideas" (480), and it is clear she does not want to accept their theories but has no other choice. She is controlled by her husband.
Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. In America there is numerous of choices that someone may make on a daily basis. If someone were allowed to make their own choices and were being told what to do; then they would not be free. When someone is allowed to speak when they want to, and say what they want; such as their opinion or view of something. Being allowed to have a right to speak is one of the most important characteristics of being an American. Thinking and stating your opinion in any predicament it a strong part in being a citizen because people in the United States are known for being able to think in their own ways. Freedom can stretch too many things such as being able to do as they please, they are not forced into doing anything that someone may want. The citizens of the United States are not made to do anything that one may not want to do; like
Throughout history freedom has had many different meanings and definitions; based on race, gender, and ethnicity. According to the dictionary freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint (“freedom” def. 1). Freedom may seem like something given to everyone however it was something workers had to fight for. Not everyone believed that workers’ rights needed to be changed, which led to a long battle between workers, employers and the government. To the working class people freedom meant making higher wages, having regulated hours, workable conditions and the right to free speech.
The word freedom can be defined in many different ways and according to different people, it might to all mean the same. During the time of the discovery of the New World, the place seemed like a new opportunity, a new beginning for many people as they went there with the hope of succeeding, but finding success and opportunities wasn’t the only things the European’s had done. Freedom at the time definitely wasn’t equal with everyone despite what the people say, and some may say it still isn’t to this everyday.
Everybody has his/her own definition of freedom, each of us perceives the meaning of freedom in different ways. In my opinion, freedom is to do what you want without limiting it, without thinking the consequences of it, and without external influence. Also people cannot be free with saying that they are free, but they have to feel that they are free. Moreover, human nature was born to be a free, not to be noble from someone. Human freedom is the essence of the human nature. Every action of human being is characterized with freedom in some way. People think, people do, people create and according to the free human being freedom must be obvious in each of all these activities. However, in order to keep people under the control, government prefer
Freedom is a theme that is commonly seen all throughout literature. The word freedom is defined by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary as, “the quality or state of being free: as, the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action; liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another; the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from the power of another”. (Webster’s) Authors use this definition of freedom and apply it as a theme in their stories in many different ways. Freedom can be used to describe the prevention of it, as someone is being oppressed and held from freedom. Freedom could then be used to show the escape from the lack of freedom and highlight their newfound freedom.
Freedom is a simple enough idea we generally all accept and claim to understand and partake in. Besides, we live in a free country, do we not? You’ve heard the title land of the free and know the gist of the idea as it is applied to our everyday lives. Our freedom comes from our government when people do their duties as a citizen and play the roles they are told to. But, is that really freedom? No. The typical understanding of freedom we all accept as correct remains heinously perverted in regards to the true meaning of freedom. Although freedom is blindly understood as the rudimentary ability to speak and act without restraint, the genuine meaning of freedom exhibits a deeper complexity staunchly relying on individualism in action, morals, and mental capacities- an idea that bends the minds of humans, as it is a seemingly rare variation of the idea.
When referring to freedom these words are often associated with freedom: Liberty, independence, sovereignty, autonomy, privilege, immunity, and indulgence. Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and justice. Independence is granted by freedom in the sense that an outside party does not control you. To gratify ones desires by whichever ways they choose is freedom through indulgence. Privileges are g ranted through freedom. In some countries the dictator or ruler makes choices for their people on regards to what profession they shall have or to what religion they shall worship. In the United States we have special privileges that let the people of the country decide on their own religion and professions.
Freedom is one of, if not the most, important aspects of modern society. All of human history can be seen, through primary sources, as a struggle for power, and said struggle results in the freedoms of certain peoples or populations being completely eradicated for hundreds of years. These populations are fighting for, and in some cases gaining, their rights. The freedoms available to people across the world are constantly changing, as can be seen during the enlightenment, imperialism, and even today, where freedom of scattered around the world with no real consensus.
The word freedom can technically be defined as the quality or state of being free. However, this definition leaves enormous room for every interpretation imaginable. I live in the “land of the free”, also known as America. But every country, free or not, has its obvious restrictions, such as laws, society, and government. Someone’s age, race, sex, height, or weight can restrict people in society. In my personal opinion, nothing is truly or completely free. To be free no definite barriers can exist physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.
Freedom means the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or underphysical restraint or exemption, but in this case we are talking about a more specific section of freedom called privacy so the exemption from external control, interference, regulation. Differently than security, freedom has been achieved later in world history with the French Revolution in 1789 being the first time citizen claimed with words and then violence equal rights for everybody without any kind of discrimination. The revolution of rising expectations states that as soon as life conditions are improved in one area, that improvement become standard within a period of time and people will demand for more is a perfect analogy of what has happened with human rights and privacy at least in the western part of the world, we have gained these rights recently, slighly before or after we were born and now we seem them as normal. This is the reason why we see as legitimate the protests against special security measures such as digital and camera controls applied in extraordinary circumstances such as after the Paris terrorist attack, because security is limiting our freedom. It has been proved that security decrease freedom, the most notable examples of it are the controls in the airports before and after 9/11, the Edward Snowden scandal where all the SIM cards and mobile phones of US citizen were spied
Firstly Freedom is an absolute right and obligation to the humanity as we were born to be free not because we had some differences in us for example someone being the rich or someone being poor, freedom is also defined as a natural right by some but it is rather a complex matter in some countries not because they lack behind in resources or anything that can contribute in the welfare and freedom of the society but rather what is missing in awareness of its importance of having freedom. The design or idea which is in freedom is that it gives us the privileges to express ourselves by ultimately understanding that all humans have some desires, goals and standards which has to be respected despite of his/her difference in the society where they belong to.