Freedom In Shirley Jackson's The Haunting Of Hill House

Have you ever thought about what it would be like not to be free? What would it be like not to be able to make choices? What would it be like not to be able to do what you want? It's scary to think about not being free, but even in the world today some people don't even have basic human freedoms. Lois Lowry shows us in her books The Giver and Gathering Blue what it would be like not to have freedom and how important it is that we have it.

Throughout history, Americans have sought to spread the spirit of equality, which is believed to be the realization of true freedom. Before establishing this freedom, every American had only one question stuck in their head: What is freedom? Our country received it in the year of 1776 from the British through a series of difficulties and wars. African Americans defined it as an escape from slavery, while immigrants defined it as their acceptance into a new society. More yet, women of the women’s suffrage defined their freedom as their recognition into society and for their rights to be equal to that of every other man. These different perceptions of cultures/groups in America tied together to form an American view of freedom. Freedom is

Freedom and Liberty are explained in many ways and in “Chains” by Laurie Halse Anderson it is explained in the American Revolution by different types of people like Patriots, the rebels that are fighting against the king to become independent, the Loyalists that want to stay with the king of Great Britain, and the slaves. The slaves are working for both Patriots and Loyalists and they chose different sides but still have their own opinion like Isabel who is more on the Patriots side but still has here opinion on freedom. They all have their own interpretation of the words, “Freedom and Liberty” but they're all different. In the book Isabel is a slave with her sister Ruth, and is with a kind woman until she dies then she is sold to the

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”- Nelson Mandela. The quote is describing how freedom is not only being out of chains but to be able to be in society with respect from all. Freedom can also mean a lot of different things depending on the person. For example to a teenager freedom could mean them getting out from under their parents supervision or parental control. But, freedom to an adult that works everyday of the week, their freedom can be, not have to work on the weekends, which gives them their freedom to do anything they want to do. In the slave narrative Incidents of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs about her life as a slave, freedom means Linda (aka Harriet Jacobs) being free from slavery, being away from Dr. Flint, and to have her family free with her. She tries to achieve her freedom in many different ways. She confesses to Mrs. Flint about the advances Dr. Flint makes towards her, she falls in with a free black man, and gets pregnant by Mr. Sands. She uses these to achieve her freedom from Dr. Flint’s advances. She also achieves her freedom by running away to her grandmother’s attic, and running away to the North. Linda also achieves her freedom when Dr. Flint had died and when Mrs. Bruce being her savior.

In Western culture we are born with the right of autonomy. It is believed that this right can never be taken away from us. We are born into this privilege of liberty and are given opportunities to grow and make our own choices without being oppressed or discouraged for them. We are free, or so we think we are. In the book Slave My True Story by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis (2003), Mende a 12 year old girl, is stripped of her happiness, childhood and most of all, her freedom.

In the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, a theme of freedom is expressed. Freedom takes on a different view for each character in the novel. In Huck's journey, and in Jim, the runaway slave, they acquire freedom. Jim's hunt for freedom is an escape from slavery, while Huck's is a method to get away from the civilized world. Their search for freedom is for one reason, their happiness. This is expressed throughout the novel in Jim's wish of escaping slavery and Huck's desire for being uncivilized.

In all stories there is someone who changes after something happens and it turns them into someone they aren't. An example is a person turn into someone you never expected them to be because they are hiding themselves. Its also important to think before everything you do because the aftermath can be unreal. The characters in the“ Possibility of Evil” by Shirley Jackson and the short story,” Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl could have learned their lessons. In the story, “ Possibility of Evil” Miss.Strangeworth takes her hate out to an family by writing letters to them. In “Lamb to the Slaughter” Mary makes a bad decision after finding out her husband is leaving her. These stories tell the reader that people around you have a side they don't show, but sooner or later it will come out of them.

Fear brings forth a certain atmosphere which compels us to act upon it. The era in which the book was published allows us to see how common these fears were. Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is an excellent portrayal of how fear controls the human mind by using the characters as examples. In the book Eleanor, Theodora, Luke, and Dr. Montague have all been influenced by fear in the story, whether it be the fear of love, the unknown, family, rejection, expression, or loneliness. These different types of fear plagued their minds, causing their actions to reflect upon them. Jackson explores the theme of fear in The Haunting of Hill House by creating a cast of characters that in turn are manipulated by the inner workings of their minds and the malevolent manifestations of Hill House.

The protagonist in the book The Haunting of Hill House is Eleanor Vance. Eleanor “was thirty-two years old when she came to Hill House” (Jackson 7). When her mother passed away, Eleanor was relieved. She did not have a good relationship with her mother, and in fact, she didn’t have a good relationship with anyone; she had no friends. Eleanor took the role of the “mother” and was always taking care of her mother; she could never escape and find the person so was going to be; she was stuck. She was a very unhappy woman who was searching for freedom.

Our world today is filled with unnecessary oppression. Slavery is one common form of human oppression, but there are numerous other forms as well. War, death, hunger, and sadness caused the elders in the society of The Giver to force each citizen to live extremely structured, controlled lives. That structure and control effected each person’s ability to live unique, private, and free lives. The elders in The Giver wanted all the citizens in the community to be undifferentiated for their own safety, so they greatly censored all citizens. Lack of freedom to pursue individual happiness is, indeed, a form of oppression not only faced by fictional book characters, but also by twenty-first century Americans. American society is changing so rapidly that we as independent Americans must decide whether safety, or freedom, is more important.

      "The Widow Douglas, she took me for her son, and allowed she would sivilize me; but it was rough living in the house all the time, considering how dismal regular and decent the widow was in all her ways; and so when I couldn't stand it no longer, I lit out."

Jean-Paul Satre once said that “Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.” Freedom is an idea that is expressed in multiple ways. In the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn freedom is a theme that fluxuates between characters. Mark Twain wrote Huck Finn as an American realism story. The novel was based around the pre civil war period where slavery was a big factor of life. Slavery was a key basis of whether a man was free or not during this time period. Freedom is something that has a different meaning to everybody or to any situation it is applied to.

Freedom is what defines an individual, it bestows upon someone the power to act, speak, or think without externally imposed restraints. Therefore, enslavement may be defined as anything that impedes one’s ability to express their freedoms. However, complete uncompromised freedom is virtually impossible to achieve within a society due to the contrasting views of people. Within Mark Twain’s 1885 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, numerous controversies are prevalent throughout the novel, primarily over the issue of racism and the general topic of enslavement. The characters in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn along with their development take an unmistakable, resilient stand against racism and by doing such in direct relation

In Toni Morrison novel Beloved, she wrote, “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” Which means that being free and claiming that freedom are two different things because when being freed they can still feel trapped. On the other hand, claiming that freedom means that they do not feel trapped and they actually found a way to claim their own freedom. The novel Beloved is about a former slave name Sethe and her past of being enslaved still haunts her even to the present day. However, it is not just only her who past haunts her, it is also the people who been freed from slavery. Even though slavery was abolished and they were freed, they did not know how to live comfortably and freely. Although

Just as every plants and animal as evolved and changed throughout the course of its existence so has the definition of freedom while its’ meaning has stayed constant. Freedom has a perpetual meaning, however, humans have tried to change the definition based upon moral, ethical, social, and legal ideals that have through history been debated upon and never satisfied all. Freedoms’ perpetual meaning is that everyone, no matter race or gender, has the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. As time progresses and new ideas flourish the definition of freedom either flourishes along with society or takes a drastic spiral downward usually with the opinions of humanity. In this essay we will be