(Play as you read)
Tyler Adams
2/12/15
Prof. Young Essay 1.2
The concept of freedom itself has led to numerous
wars and battles. It has led to timeless pieces of literature and songs. It has
created lives as well as taken them from some who choose to pursue it. It has
defined people and shaped countries, but there is one thing that has not
happened. The word freedom has never been properly defined. There are
speculations and dictionary definitions but to everyone freedom is viewed
differently and it always will be ever changing. Only mentally and emotionally you
can feel what the meaning of abstract words are. The idea of defining freedom
was presented in the book – The Good Lord
Bird by James McBride, an award winning composer (McBride). He used the
concept of slavery to arise the question “what is freedom?” In the novel, the
character Pie had more freedom than Sabonia because she lived inside and could
come and go as she pleased, she had power within the Saloon, and she mentally freed
herself.
Pie had more
freedom than Sabonia because she could come and go as she pleased. The choice
of coming and going when you please was not a right that slaves had. If you
possessed this right as a slave then you were special in this case Pie, was
this kind of slave. She was a molto beautiful young women who worked in a whore
house, so that alone gives her more status. She has so much rank among the rest
of her Coworkers that she had the ability to free roam. She is rarely told she
can’t do something she desires and she enjoys her life. You can see this
because she gets upset when Onion is near because Pie doesn’t want Onion to
ruin everything she worked for. Her owner which was the owner of saloon as well
really liked Pie. She had the choice of opening or closing her door which was
privacy. Back in those days the privileges she had as a slave was almost as
much as a free man; except she still legally belonged to her master. Pies
lifestyle may have been controlled, but was granted more freedom because of her
ability to have privacy. As well as being able to leave or stay when she
wanted.
Pie also had power
in the house that most slaves did not. Pie had the power to make changes and to
assert her opinion. In the novel, Pie even had the audacity to slap a white
man. She did so to save the life of the boy/girl onion because onion was trying
to hide under her bed while Pie was in the middle of a sexual act, which was
her job. This flustered Pie, she kept her composter and didn’t let the man kill
Onion. If Sabonia was in this situation anything she said or done could have
put her life in danger because she was not as well respected.
The most important
piece to freedom is mentally verify that you are free. This is why I believe
that Pie is better off than Sabonia. To be treated like an animal and kept
inside of a pen is enough to drive anyone to insanity. Sabonia realized this
and took advantage of it. She took the personality of a person with mental
illness to throw the slave masters off of any suspicious activity. This to me
isn’t mentally freeing yourself. That is a terrible plan because if you’re not
mentally intact as a slave you could be rendered useless and killed.
Pie on the other
hand learned how to master freeing herself mentally. She found her position and
status in life and stuck to it with no real problems other than the problems
that Onion brought forth. She took her position of authority and tried to do
nothing to jeopardize it. She had more of the freedom because she was
physically and mentally free.
A lifetime truly
isn’t enough to do everything there is to do in this world, but freedom can
really give the best feeling to anyone who is willing to pursue it. Not just
the physical aspect but the emotional and mental side of it. Content and
happiness is all you need to truly realize your freedom. In the story Pie found
that freedom by finding the point in her life where she was content she had
power and along with that besides her bad moments she was happy that’s all that
matters. With all of those qualities Pie truly had more freedom then sabonia
because she had privacy and was allowed to stay or leave. She also had power
within her limits, and she learned how to mentally free herself.
Here is a video of 4 steps on how to mentally free your mind incase anyone need some up lifting
Work
cited
Bob
Marley – The Official Site, n.d Web. 13 Feb. 2015. http://www.bobmarley.com/>
Mcbride, James. "James McBride -
Www.jamesmcbride.com." James
McBride - Www.jamesmcbride.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2015
McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird. United States: Hudson Street Press (an imprint
of penguin Group (USA) Inc), 2014. Print
