Freedom Lives Within

"She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow. I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be."  (House on Mango Street, Pg. 11)

Salvador Dali, "Woman at the Window"

"Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don’t want to inherit her place by the window."

What does the name Esperanza mean? She says:

"In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting." (House on Mango Street, Pg. 10)

 I feel like this picture is the epitome of the name she describes. ESPERANZA. Hope, sadness, waiting, regret, wishing, desire, longing, yearning. 

I really think this painting depicts Esperanza's thoughts very well. She gazes out over the sea and sees a ship sailing. I think sailing is very symbolic of freedom for many people. 

for instance: this looks pretty free huh? I think so.

 

 But, on the other hand, sailing can be more like this:

 

Throwing up seasick, and confined to a small space, kind of trapped. Not so free...

My point is that freedom often times is something we see as being what we dont have, we see freedom as being outside of our selves and our little space we live in. But TRUE FREEDOM lives within a person.  I feel that we truly become free when we learn to be free inside ourselves instead of looking for other things outside of ourselves to set us free, like a fast car, or sail boat, or a million dollars. 

Martin Luther King Jr. was confined in Birmingham jail, but he was never not free inside, despite his conditions on the outside. From that jail he wrote the Birmingham Letter, which stated:

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"