Freedom Is Not Free Essay - 1223 Words

Freedom is not Free â€Å"Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you re living?† (Bob Marley) This is a question that is at the forefront of the minds of so many people today. Similarly, the main character Riel is playing with the demons of that question throughout the story. He faces many questions, decisions, and facts that he must come to terms with, or explore himself through. We first meet our characters while they’re high on MDMA. They are 4 roommates, Kelly, Erika, Riel, and Frances. The Non-Babylonians is about the unattainable idea of freedom and equality and shows that by attacking social injustices based on differences. In The Non- Babylonians the main character, Riel, who is undergoing much pressure while†¦show more content†¦The words â€Å"freedom† and â€Å"equality† have different meanings to different people. Throughout the story, the protagonist Riel, a college student who is of mixed race, is continuously trying to break free from the chains that are holding him to conformity, those chains being his life in Port Corbus. Where there was an extreme lack in diversity, â€Å"Everyone in his family was white; everyone he knew in Port Corbus was white. On the issue of illegal aliens, at least, all the people in Riel’s life thought alike.† (Compton 238). To him, living this way was not living at all as he had much interest in social issues, diversity, and influential people who had spoken out about social injustices and racial inequality such as Malcolm X, and his favorite musical artist M.C. Kaaba. While he was living in Port Corbus, he felt like a flightless b ird which is why when college came around he felt free, and he embraced it -hard. Freedom and equality are ideals that people constantly strive for, but the uncertainty in their obtainability make it very difficulty to stay on course and soon, it becomes about chasing a feeling. â€Å"The coming semester would be make or break because Riel was on academic probation. The apartment, friends, clubs, and drugs had eclipsed everything else somehow.† (Compton 239). Even thoughShow MoreRelatedYour Freedom Is Not Free Essay1645 Words   |  7 PagesFreedom is more than a concept, it is an ideal with varied and complex subjective interpretations. Ideas concerning the liberty of body and soul are heavily connected to the formation of individual and cultural identity in American literary history. Certain nineteenth century American writers stand out for their real-life dedication to freedom and non-conformity for seeking to free themselves from whatever shackles limited them from reac hing their potentials, both literally and figuratively. HenryRead MoreEssay on Freedom and Exercising Free Will1463 Words   |  6 Pagesactions, as life is full with factors and different elements. This point of view takes on the ideas that free will may be an illusion. â€Å"Free will may be defined as the capacity to exert the â€Å"power† which allows one to act freely (Wall 2013: 268); this is one of the many definitions of free will. Therefore, it would bring up the question of whether there is an actual general definition of what free will means. By looking at the different perspectives, it clearly shows that there are two points of viewsRead MoreFree Market and Freedom Essay612 Words   |  3 PagesThe fact that free markets are based on a contractual agreement between the buyer and seller with very little government control makes it feasible to consider it to be compatible with individual freedom. 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For those readers who say yes, would you then be willing to legalize types of speech like slander or defamation of character and reputation? This is precisely the tricky and delicate balance that democratic societies like the United States often have to weigh in which different social valuesRead MoreTranscendentalism : Henry David Thoreau And Ralph Waldo Emerson847 Words   |  4 PagesTranscendentalism relates to freedom in several ways. Freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau are two transcendentalists that have different views on freedom. Our project, representing freedom, shows a person how to live his or her life in a way of freedom shown by Emerson and Thoreau. Together, we did research on the transcendentalists: Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. We studied