2017/08/02

first draft The Land of the Free / Katharina Kosmalla / ISS2017

How Can We Define Freedom?

With laws, we are still free. In most developed countries, we -the people- have a lot of freedom. Meaning, without fearing consequences, being able to act, think and talk like we want to. Nowadays, that is as close as we can come to being free. The story ''In the Land of the Free'' by Sui Sin Far, is about a Chinese immigrant family who came to San Francisco, facing oppression and restriction of freedom. But are they really ''oppressed'' and if so, to what point? I want to look at the story again from a very objective point of view, to answer the question, if the title might fit for the story after all.

 It is a fact that every country has their immigration laws and as before, we still need papers signed by the government to live and work in a country that is not our birth place. So, because it is the center of the story, I want to look at why Lae Choos and Hom Hings baby boy was taken under custody in the first place. Even so Hom Hing says ''There cannot be any law that would keep a child from his mother!'' there is clearly a law that restricts a person of entering a country without their visa. The customs officer makes clear that ''he doesn't like this part of the business'' -marking him as a person with humane feelings- but ''seeing that the boy has no certificate entitling him to admission to this country you will have to leave him with us.''. The parents having such a certificate, they must have known that. Like themselves their son will grow up in a country that is not his birth place. The restrictions they are facing are the outcome of not following the law of the country they want to live in. This all may sound very harsh because it involves a tragic family parting but looking at the parents passing their restriction of entering the country, they are free to live a normal live, having their own flat and store. Also, no one was restricting them from taking their child after he got his papers. We can also see that freedom in their friends and neighbors way of live. Celebrating ''the completion of the moon'' of one of their children as part of their culture. Having force over the family by taking the child away until the papers are ready, is a kind of oppression that wouldn't have taken place if the papers were ready before they wanted to enter the country.

 Coming to a conclusion, we first have to think about if we can really talk about the word freedom if there are restrictions from the very beginning. Saying that, I do believe that it is necessary for a functional living system to have restrictions and laws that protect people from harm, such as violent acts, and keeping order. So, as I said in the beginning, this definition is the best we can get for the word freedom. As for the title, there are to options. Looking on the story emotionally, like I did in the beginning I would mark the title as ironic and rather unfitting. Looking on the title objectively, like we just did in the above, I would still mark the title as a bit ironic due to the familys struggles, but in a way that still tells the story.  

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