Freedom Essay Research Paper FreedomWhat is freedom

Freedom Essay, Research Paper

Freedom

What is freedom. Freedom is the ability for every individual to have complete control of his life, the ability to make his own decisions. From the moment an individual wakes up in the morning to the moment he lays back down to sleep in the evening, thousands, if not millions, of choices have been made. Some of these choices have had negative consequences, and some of these choices have had positive consequences, but regardless of the outcome, there remained the freedom of choice.

Too often, ones. freedoms are encroached upon by someone or something else This encroachment can be both physical and emotional. Such circumstances can be very difficult to deal with and often times lead to hardship and emotional trauma. Sometimes it takes an external force or personality to come forward to help survive such instances. Such a scenario exists in both Toni Morrison.s novel Beloved and in the movie Secrets and Lies. In both stories, there is a family disturbed by circumstances from the past and in response a character .from the past. comes back and helps to mend the somber situation, helps to free them from the past.

In Beloved, a slave by the name of Sethe escapes with her children from the dark and dismal environment of plantation life to the bright and carefree environment of freedom. From being shackled and torn from her family, to having her breasts sucked dry of milk by white plantation owners, Sethe has survived too many horrific situations and witnessed too many inhumane acts on her fellow man. In order to deal with such pain and the resulting bitterness, she tries to forget, tries to hide the memories deep down in her self. Sethe refers to these as .rememories..

Living on a plantation and being a slave, Sethe had experienced first hand what it was like to be deprived of nearly all freedoms. Deprived of the opportunity to make her own choices and decisions, as well as the deprivation of love, it appears the only thing Sethe was not deprived of was bitterness and hatred. Thus, after escaping the captivity, the only life she had ever known, freedom was pure heaven. For twenty eight days, she and her four children lived in a state of bliss. Unfortunately for them, this freedom was short lived. On that twenty eighth day, as Sethe and her children worked in the yard, the white plantation owner, known as School Teacher, approached Sethe.s house in search of his lost slaves. Sethe, temporarily overwhelmed by her own horrific memories of slavery, decided that death was the only escape, that freedom through death was better than the living death experienced by slaves on a plantation. Herding her children into the work shed, she got hold of a saw blade with the intent of killing herself and her four kids. Fortunately for the other three children, she only had time to kill one of them. At the sight of the dead body, School Teacher turned and left, .there was nothing there to claim. (Morrison 149).

Such an incident is not easily forgotten, nor is it easily forgiven. People no longer stopped to visit Sethe.s house. Her two sons, Buglar and Howard, run away, never to be heard from again. The only family Sethe is left with, the only joy in her life, comes from her one remaining daughter, Denver. Unfortunately, for the wellness of the family, Sethe is unable and incapable of expressing her love in a suitable manner. Because Sethe lived her entire life deprived of love, she was clueless when it came to properly expressing her own feelings of love. As a result of this, and also to prevent her own past from infecting her daughter, Sethe keeps an overbearing watch over Denver. Denver is restricted from leaving the house, and is thus deprived of all the freedoms of the .outside world..

In the months and years following the murder of her child, Seth.s life is in a state of shambles. She does her best to hide the memories, to force them from her consciousness, but no matter how hard she tries, they still linger in the depths of her consciousness, they are a permanent part of her very being. When it appears that life could not get much worse for Sethe, a visitor emerges, a visitor from the past. Referring to herself as Beloved, Sethe.s daughter, the one killed in the work shed, decided to come back into Sethe.s life. Beloved is in search of answers, answers to the many questions that Sethe had worked so hard to hide, to permanently forget about. Through her constant questions and inquisitive personality, Beloved delves into Sethe.s past. Upon Beloved.s return to the family, Sethe.s life begins to make sense once again. The family unit becomes stronger. The more memories Sethe allows to let go of, the more .rememories. she sets free from her consciousness, the less pain Sethe is forced to retain in her heart. Very similar to this situation in Beloved is the situation in the movie Secrets and Lies. The mother, Cynthia, is a middle aged factory worker who, similar to Sethe, is also haunted by her past and her deprivation from freedom. After her parents. death, Cynthia was forced to accept the role of mother figure to her younger brother Morris. In taking on such a role, Cynthia was forced to sacrifice many aspects of her youth. While sitting on the couch, complimenting herself on the beauty of her own legs, she complains about the loss of her youth. It becomes more evident later on in the story that she is frustrated