Theme Of Freedom From American Point Of View Term paper
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It has been custom for American authors to depict the theme of freedom in their literary works. Although the theme of freedom is carried out in various works, it changes from author to author in the role that it plays. In Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne exercises her right to free will which ironically causes her to loose her freedom to live and become a part of society. She lives a life of physical and mental isolation; she is free yet this freedom comes with restrictions as she is forced to wear the stigma of her sin. In Frederick Douglass account, Narrative of the Life of An American Slave, he writes about his life as a slave, and being the result of a violent rape of slave by master. Having never had freedom, Douglass goes from place to place trying to discover what freedom is. He discovers that freedom comes through education, through which he can achieve a mental emancipation. In Mark Twain s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck escapes from the rules of society to find freedom in self-reliance. Through there are variations in the role that freedom plays, it is nevertheless a strong factor in American literature. Hester Prynne is raised in a society that is heavily oppressive, it is therefore no wonder that the Puritans shun Hester from their society for committing a sin. For the Puritan society there exists no gray area when it comes to sinning, there is merely black or white: "The witnesses of Hester Prynne s disgrace had not yet passed beyond their simplicity. They were stern enough to look upon her death, had that been the sentence, without a murmur at its severity, but had none of the heartlessness of another social state which would find only a theme for jest in an exhibition like the present." (Oxford, 56). Although the Puritans feel the punishment is just, they do not express emotions. For them, the punishment that has been dealt is befitting the crime. It is at this point that Hester no longer becomes a name, but rather a symbol. The taking away of her name further reduces her freedom to exist merely as an entity and not a person. Hester, however turns this symbol into an expression of a spiritual freedom. She uses her gift of embroidery to lavish the symbol with intricate designs. The colour red, combined with the gold thread turn the symbol of shame into something further Un-Puritanical and that is something that is colourful and bright: "She wore on her breast, in the curiously embroidered letter, a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skill, of which the dames of a court might gladly have availed themselves, (Oxford, 81). This fancy thread work is a clear indication of Hester s ability to take the symbol of her shame and express herself through it. It is not to say that Hester is rebelling against the punishment, she knows that what she has done is wrong and she must live with it, yet she expresses herself nevertheless. She removes herself from society and lives a life of solitude that both she and the town prefer: "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of earthly punishment Hester Prynne therefore did not flee. On the outskirts of the town within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation there was a small thatched cottage." (Oxford,80-81). Hester could have left since it would have been far easier for her to pick up and begin a new life where she was not known for her sin. However, she stays in the place that decreed her guilt until she feels her punishment has been met. Pearl is yet another tool for Hester to exercise her spiritual freedom. Pearl becomes the physical personification of Hester s creativity: "The mother in contriving the child s garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play; arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic, of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of gold thread." (Oxford, 102). Hester does not flaunt Pearl, but she does not hide her away as well. Through Pearl, Hester is allowed to express her spiritual freedom in the form of colour and design. Pearl becomes the vehicle of expression for Hester. Pearl, herself is "dauntless", she has no fear of children who ridicule her. Together with Pearl, Hester, continues to live with the symbol of her shame. There is however one point in the novel that Hester lets go and tries to experience a physical freedom. For one moment she thinks of running away with Dimmsdale, but just as quickly as the moment comes it leaves. Leaving Hester to tell Dimmsdale "no" and thus allowing herself for the first time a physical release where she allows herself a physical process of achieving her freedom: she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves The stigma gone, Hester heaved a long deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. O exquisite relief! She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom! By another impulse she took off the formal cap that confined her hair " (Oxford, 202). As the weight is lifted from the removal of the stigma, Hester feels a physical freedom that comes from release, which in turn changes her physical appearance as well: "A crimson flush was glowing on her cheek, that had been long so pale. Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty, came back (Oxford, 202). She is once again a woman and not a mere symbol. This physical freedom however is short lived, Pearl, refuses to acknowledge this new woman as her mother until the letter is replaced back on its rightful place. Pearl is the constant reminder to Hester of what she has done. Pearl remains with her mother until she grows up and gets married leaving her mother behind in New England. Pearl s role of judge has now passed, Hester has a new understanding of her role in society and she achieves further enlightenment in her later years as she consoles women who have sinned: "Hester comforted and counseled them, as best as she might. She assured them, too, of her firm belief, that at some brighter period a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relationship between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness." (Oxford, 263). Hester foresees a future where women who have committed such sins as hers will not be so punished. By the end of the book she has reached a new spiritual freedom as a result of her new found insight. Frederick Douglass Narrative of the Life of An American Slave, tells his account of being a slave; physically he has no freedom, his mother being black, and his father owning her. Douglass goes through the early part of his life without any sense of real belonging. Douglass goes through physical contradictions as he moves from place to place. He goes from seeing a brutal scene of whipping in the plantation, to experiencing a kindness of his new mistress, both these things are new to him and he doesn t quite know what to do with it. It is here that he first receives an education from Mrs. Auld, and it is here that he learns that the path of spiritual freedom on the way to a physical freedom is through education. Douglass figures this out for himself when her hears Mr. Auld speaking: " A Nigger should know nothing but to obey his master - to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best Nigger in the world. Now if you teach that Nigger how to read It would forever unfit him to be a slave." (Norton, 889). Douglass experiences an epiphany at this moment when her realizes that the only thing separating him from the white man is an education: "I now understood what had been to me a most perplexing difficulty - to wit, a white man s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom." (Norton, 889). Mr. Auld had inadvertently instilled upon Douglass the need to get an education, learning how to read, and therefor achieve a personal sense of freedom.
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