PUB 3

No matter your race, religion or gender, egalitarianism is an aspect that almost everyone would wish to obtain. Egalitarianism is a belief in human equality on a political, social, and economic level. A word as powerful as egalitarianism can be considered a fantasy to many, as we see many horrid examples all around the world of people being shown no equality at all. As Martin Luther King stated, “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” By saying this, Martin Luther King is stressing the point that someone who is ruthless enough to oppress another will never cease this oppression. Rather the person being oppressed must make it their own responsibility to fight to put an end to this terrible oppression. This can not only be proven true in real life, but also in literature, specifically in the story “Children of the Sea” written by Edwidge Dandicat.

The story “Children of the Sea” by Dandicat clearly depicts not only the horrid practices oppressors would perform, but the eerie effects of the people being oppressed on both a mental, and physical state. The story portrays some of the terrible treatment being placed upon the Haitian people due to the Haitian government and their oppressive acts. Some Haitians were treated so gruesomely they became dehumanized. An example of this from the story is when Dandicat “To them, we are not human. Even though their music sounds like our, their people look like ours…” (13). This signifies that although many of their traditions are identical, they were treated so poorly and looked so down upon that they weren’t even seen as humans, and almost as animals. Due to eerie treatment received by the Haitians, they began to do anything just to put a termination to the maltreatment to not only themselves, but to their children and family members. As Dandicat exemplifies, “She threw it overboard. I watched her face knot up like a thread, and then let go. Splash, it floated for a while, and then sank (26). This reveals some of the crucial sacrifices some of these oppressed Haitians would go through just in attempt to obtain freedom. This action was fulfilled in result to deride some weight in the boat which was on the verge of sinking. Keeping the boat afloat was the only way for the mother to achieve the freedom she and so many other Haitians desired. Clearly, the examples exemplified in Edwidge Dandicats story “Children of the Sea” depict both the horrible practices preformed toward the people they would oppress and the tremendously brave sacrifices the oppressed must undergo in order to relieve themselves of being oppressed.

Although literature provides brilliant examples which relate to Martin Luther King’s quote and egalitarianism, there are also many extravagant examples in music which do the same. One example of this is Bob Marley and The Wailer’s song called “The Oppressed Song” a line from this song is “The man oppressed will seem to do the worst but with all he possesses self-preservation comes first”. This lyric signifies that a man being oppressed will go as far as he can to survive and fight against the oppressor although it may make him seem selfish and egotistical. Secondly, when Marley sings “While oppression is the poor man’s choice Ah, but in this he does rejoice”, he is depicting that after all the hardships an oppressed man must go through, he will rejoice in the end and hopefully terminate the oppression.