Theme Of Freedom In Alif The Unseen

The concept of freedom plays an essential role in Alif the Unseen, by G. Willow Wilson. Throughout most of the novel, Alif, the main character, is driven by a desire to gain freedom. The State has a tremendous amount of control over the citizens in the City where Alif lives, and Alif believes that he wants to break free of that control. However, as the novel progresses Alif realizes that freedom is “a moment in which all things [are] possible” (425), and to achieve this society must rid itself of class and hierarchy because these things provide structure which prevents anything from being possible. Though Alif first believes he is fighting for liberty the message G. Willow Wilson actually conveys in this novel is that people’s inherent desire

for division within society results in fear of true freedom and a preference for the illusion of freedom the internet provides.
G. Willow Wilson uses the insights of multiple characters to depict humans’ intrinsic need for societal division. One of these characters being the Hand. From the moment the Hand is introduced, when he is interrogating Alif, he brings up this idea by stating that “the world is returning to its natural state, to the rule of the weak by the strong” (Wilson 268). When the Hand says “natural state,” he is referring to the innate qualities of human beings and the way they manifest without other influences such as society which forces people to control or alter many of their natural instincts. The Hand believes this “natural state” involves one group “the strong” ruling over another group “the weak.” To the hand these divisions are inherent or natural. He further clarifies his views at the end of the novel when he says the revolutionaries “will hurt themselves. Suspicions will grow, factions will arise, secularist and Islamist will discover they cannot cooperate, men will decide women are not their comrades. Someone will get bold and pull a knife. And that will be the end” (402). One of the first things that will happen is “factions will arise.” Even though the many different people in the City are able to come together, the Hand knows it is only a matter of time before factions arise and people need to draw the line between secularist and Islamist, women and men all over again. The idea that humans inherently desire classes in society is strengthened because the Hand is not the only one who believes this, Alif comes to agree with this view as well. When the internet is shut off and the revolution is in full swing Alif is struck by the realization that freedom is always “overtaken too soon by man’s fearsome instinct to punish and divide” (425). When all the tensions in the novel see to be coming to a head, Alif finally recognizes that human instinct is to divide. Wilson uses Alif’s realization of this to send the message that this innate desire for division is not simply the Hands imagination but a truism about society.
The human inclination to divide in turn leads to a fear of true freedom. When Alif is being tortured in prison the Hand explains this phenomena:
“People don’t want freedom anymore- even those to whom freedom is a kind of religion are afraid of it, like trembling acolytes who make sacrifices to some pagan god, People want their governments to keep secrets from them. They want the hand of the law to be brutal. They are so terrified by their own power that they will vote to have it taken out of their hands” (268).

The Hand describes the people who believe freedom is most important as being “afraid of it.” They don’t want freedom, they want their government to brutally enforce the societal divisions they inherently desire.

People are terrified of the power that freedom gives them, and even the people who desire freedom are described as “acolytes,” which makes them seem driven by something they don’t understand, in servitude to something else, the opposite of what it means to be free. The Hand’s interpretation of the world is supported again by Alif’s growth throughout the novel. At first Alif is convinced that he covets true liberty from the state for himself and the dissidents around him. He protects people from the Hand and fights State security in a way that sparks revolution. Yet when the revolution actually breaks out Alif realizes “he could talk about freedom but would readily have settled for familiarity” (384). A world full of freedom seems rosy from behind a computer screen, but Alif is scared of that would actually entail. He wants the familiarity of the government controlling the people, enforcing class distinction within society. A world without class and structure in which anything is possible is frightening and extremely far from what is familiar and natural. The Hand’s interpretation of humanity supported by Alif’s personal journey conveys the message that humans’ yearn for classes and order inspire a deep seated fear of liberty and all it

involves.
People may fear true freedom but they still desire some of the feelings that freedom provides. The internet is the perfect source for this illusion of freedom because it provides the impression that anything is possible without the risk of real life actually getting worse. When the Hand crashes the internet and people are forced to come together in real life, Alif thinks “perhaps this was all freedom was- a moment in which all things were possible” (425). This moment however is short lived. When Alif uses Tin Sari to restore the internet the Hand says, “‘What is that sound? howled the Hand. Shaken from his reverie, he clapped his palms over his ears. Alif smiled. ‘The delusion of freedom,’ he said” (413). The sound of the devices whirring back to life as people post pictures on social media sites is the sound the Hand is referring to. Alif describe this sound as the “delusion of freedom” because people can return to living through their devices and no longer need to unite in real life. Alif’s conversation with Sheikh Ballal in Irem about video games versus the words of prophesy sheds light on how the internet provides the illusion of freedom. Alif tells Sheikh Ballal, “A game has a reset button. You have infinite chances for success. Real life is awfully permanent compared to that” (334). People prefer video games to the words of prophesy because one’s failures are not permanent they can always try again whereas if one violates the words of prophesy “it’s the fiery furnace for [them]” (334). The distinction between the internet and real life is very similar. Absolving classes and order to obtain a state of freedom where anything is possible has a huge risk of society dissolving into an irreversible state of chaos. In contrast, online anything is possible because one can say whatever they want say, be whoever they want to be, and anyone can become an internet sensation. If someone “fails” or doesn’t like the presence they have created they can simply try again because online one can be completely anonymous. However one is not actually free because in real life they are still confined by the echelons inherent to society. People want to feel like anything is possible without the ensuing consequences. So they prefer the illusion of freedom the internet provides over freedom in real life because these consequences don’t exist online.