Fighting for someone’s right is not merely given to one. It is something fought for as well as something one desires to have. Martin Luther King once said, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” He knew that gaining freedom wasn’t going to be an easy task. Earning it was going to consume some time as well as effort. It also wasn’t going to be given out to people unless people demanded it. The more it became a social issue, the more it concerned others. Freedom is what makes our country different than many others; it’s what makes us stand out. Having freedom isn’t just a necessity, it’s a desire that every human being has, to live their life the way they want to without anyone telling them they cannot.
The freedom to speak your mind and do what you please is what everyone craves to do. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, the narrator is a woman who feels trapped and dominated in her marriage by her husband John. She feels that she is unable to express herself due to the fact John told her to attempt the “rest cure”. “I think sometimes that if I were only well enough to write a little it would relieve the press of ideas and rest me” (Gilman 318). She starts to fall into this belief that maybe she really is in fact “sick” and needs to get well first. She also believes that the only way to help herself is to express her feelings through writing in her journal but she is forbidden to do so. “And I know John would think it absurd. But I must say what I feel and think in some way –it is such a relief! (Gilman 321). By writing her thoughts out, she thinks it relives her and at least allows her mind to escape rather than being stuck in a bedroom for a long time.
After being trapped in that room which felt like months to her, her imagination started to build and the wallpaper started to become real to her. The smell of the wallpaper started to produce some type of odor to her. “It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house –to reach the smell. But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell. (Gilman 325). The odor represented her sense of feeling trapped within herself. Once she got use to it, it showed how she was under her husband’s control. “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be (Gilman 323). She noticed someone was behind the wallpaper and the only way to help that someone was by freeing them. The woman behind the wallpaper represented her own self enclosed and controlled by John. By ripping down that wallpaper, it allowed herself to gain some type of freedom even though John kept her in that room. Tearing the wallpaper down helped her mentally but not physically.
After being trapped in that room which felt like months to her, her imagination started to build and the wallpaper started to become real to her. The smell of the wallpaper started to produce some type of odor to her. “It used to disturb me at first. I thought seriously of burning the house –to reach the smell. But now I am used to it. The only thing I can think of that it is like is the color of the paper! A yellow smell. (Gilman 325). The odor represented her sense of feeling trapped within herself. Once she got use to it, it showed how she was under her husband’s control. “At night in any kind of light, in twilight, candlelight, lamplight, and worst of all by moonlight, it becomes bars! The outside pattern I mean, and the woman behind it is as plain as can be (Gilman 323). She noticed someone was behind the wallpaper and the only way to help that someone was by freeing them. The woman behind the wallpaper represented her own self enclosed and controlled by John. By ripping down that wallpaper, it allowed herself to gain some type of freedom even though John kept her in that room. Tearing the wallpaper down helped her mentally but not physically.
Having freedom may seem like everything to a person especially to Equality 7-2521. In the novel Anthem, written by Ayn Rand, Rand portrays this character Equality 7-2521 as a follower at first. He follows the rest of his society until he rediscoveries electricity. He then realizes it’s better to be your own person rather than follow the crowd. Even though thinking, speaking, or talking without the Council allowing it was wrong, Equality 7-2521 learned that his individuality was more important. Just like the narrator in the “The Yellow Wallpaper”, Equality 7-2521 is not allowed to write in his journal but continues to do so without anyone knowing. Writing their ideas or thoughts helps them free their minds and express themselves without having the label of actually being “free”. Being placed in a society where everyone was the same, did the same thing every day, and lived their life the way it was planned for them was something Equality 7-2521 could no longer do. He wanted his freedom to let him do what he pleases and experience new things every day.
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