The Interests and the Freedom of the Members of Society - Essay Example

FREEDOM We are all free. Freedom is a basic right of every individual. No one has the right to impede the inherent freedom that all human beings possess. Freedom can be viewed from both political and philosophical contexts. In whatever way freedom is viewed, its value and significance in one's life as well as in society is undoubted. In fact, society and other institutions today are the products of man's quest to preserve and protect their freedom. Various philosophers, political analysts have expressed their different views on freedom and its protection. Also, many literary works and various forms of art have explored the theme of freedom and how it is valued in society. Two of these are the book, Les Miserables and the movie, Sneakers. Despite various differences between setting, plot, and the overall mood of the two, both of them delve into freedom its role in society. Les Miserables is the famous book written by Victor Hugo. Its popularity goes beyond its hardbound and paperback versions for it has been adapted both for stage and screen productions. The main character in the story is Jean Valjean. The story of Hugo's novel focuses on the main character's journey to securing and protecting his freedom. Furthermore, it revolves around Valjean and his attempt to keep and protect his freedom from imprisonment. After spending nineteen years in jail and in the galleys for stealing a loaf of bread and for several attempts to escape, Valjean is finally released. His road to renewal doesn't come easy and he is continuously haunted by his past. It is his past that he struggles to fight in order to remain free, free from capture and arrest. Although he may have committed unlawful acts in the past, Valjean continues to seek renewal in order to live a truly free life, one where he is free from being held back by his past. Sneakers on the other hand is a 1992 film starring Robert Redford as Martin Bishop. For 20 years, Bishop has done what he could to evade the arm of the law and has established a new identity for him. Knowing that he had not done anything wrong and that he was just wrongly accused, Bishop works to secure his freedom. The movie is about Bishop and his team of sneakers and a code breaker box they have been blackmailed into stealing. Failure to do so will mean that Bishop's real identity will be revealed to authorities and may eventually lead to his capture. Several turns in the plot occur, the biggest one being that the Bishop finds himself in a situation where he can finally erase his bad record which will inevitably lead to his complete freedom. In the end, Bishop and his group develop a plan to make sure that no group makes use of the code breaker and at the same time ensure that Bishop remains free and all other members get what they've always dreamt of. As previously mentioned, freedom is a central theme in both works of art discussed. As with Valjean, Bishop makes use of all means possible to preserve his freedom. Both main characters are evading authorities determined to catch them. In fact, both Valjean and Bishop established new identities for themselves in order to avoid being arrested. Such a similarity exists because both stories focus on the lives on men on the run. Both show how protecting one's freedom sometimes entails running away and turning one's back on his past. Also, both characters in the stories have a past that prevents them from living as free individuals. Another important similarity is that both characters were shown to put their seemingly temporary freedom to good use. Valjean escaped in order to help Cossette escape. Bishop on the other hand chooses not to take advantage of the power that the code breaker held and instead, made it a point that neither the government nor any other group can use the device for their advantage. In both cases, we see the great lengths that people will go to in order to remain free. Some even spend their whole lives on the run just to make sure that they remain free. This shows us how valuable freedom is. The movie and the book were both successful in demonstrating such. The difference between the movie and the book was the movie showed how institutions that are meant to preserve freedom sometimes abuse their powers as well. The government's desire to obtain the code breaker may be seen as an attempt to evade privacy of individuals, corporations, and other governments as well. Invasion of privacy is a deterrent to being free. It hinders the freedom of the individual to live life without fear of being spied upon. Also, another difference is that Valjean was guilty of his crime while Bishop was merely wrongly accused. In a way, the theme of freedom in both works refers to personal liberty or freedom from imprisonment. This is just but one of the many facets of freedom that have been explored by various works, writers, and philosophers. The freedom that the movie and the book show in fact adhere to the statement of Patrick Henry, "Give me Liberty or give me Death!" Freedom in society is greatly valued. It is the centerpiece of the rights that people have and it serves as the cornerstone of the laws that we all must abide by in order to protect our freedom. The book Les Miserables and the movie Sneakers show the value of freedom, particularly personal freedom or liberty. Although society tells us that we must abide by the law to protect the interests and the freedom of the members of society, the book and the movie both show that sometimes people place more value on their personal freedom than on the freedom that society and law aim to uphold. In a way, Victor Hugo, the author of Les Miserables, and Phil Alden Robinson, the director of Sneakers show their beliefs regarding freedom in their aforementioned works. Hugo was known to be a valiant defender of freedom, particularly of freedom of the press, during his time. (Victor Hugo, 2006) His fight against social injustice is demonstrated in his characterization of Valjean. Hugo believed that the working class during his time was oppressed. His fight therefore was a fight for freedom through political change. His fight for freedom is evidently shown in his depiction of Valjean and the character's quest to be free primarily through renewal or reformation. Just as Victor Hugo fought against oppression during his time, Phil Alden Robinson did so as well. Robinson was a staunch supporter of civil and human rights. In fact, one of his works, the TV series, Freedom Song should the historical and social importance of the Civil Rights Movement. Basically, Robinson understood that all humans have rights and the inherent right to freedom. Such belief is shown even more by the fact that in the early 1990s, he went to Bosnia and Somalia as an observer in the humanitarian missions of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (Phil Alden Robinson, 2006). Works Cited Phil Alden Robinson. Yahoo! Movies. 2006. 9 May 2006 . "Victor Hugo." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 May 2006, 04:58 UTC. 10 May 2006, . Read More