Life of Pi Personal Reflection
Life of Pi – Yann Martel (p 18)
“If you went to a home, kicked down the front door, chased the people
who lived there out into the street and said, “Go! You are free! Free as a
bird! Go! Go!”-do you think they would shout and dance for joy? They
wouldn’t. Birds are not free. The people you’ve just evicted would
sputter, “With what right do you throw us out? This is our home. We own
it. We have lived here for years. We’re calling the police, you
scoundrel.””
“Don’t we say, “There’s no place like home”?”
On a hot summer day, as you stand outside in the breeze, you’ve
probably seen a bumblebee before. One of those big, clumsy, yellow and
black zebra striped insects. On a good year, they can be mistaken for
birds, in more than one sense. They are so free. They play in the wind
and rest peacefully on the flower that appeals to them the most, the pink
wild rose or the red honeysuckle; whichever is the color of the day. Every
so often, you will see a bee swirl away in harmony with the liberty of the
wind. But, “Birds are not free.” Nor are bees. They do not just suddenly
grab hold of the veil of wind and ride for as long as they wish; there are
inevitably things in their lives that must be done that are necessary for
survival. They return to their nest with the nectar they have secured from
the days peaceful activities and in return the nest will grant them
security, companionship, and purpose. The world has evolved into such a
place where a bee simply could not survive on its’ own. In fact, I don’t
think there is a single organism out there that could survive in an
entirety of freedom, as that would require “the absence of necessity,
coercion, and constraint in choice or action”, and, when considered, that
is impossible. Often, society thinks of freedom as bliss, but in fact,
freedom is an unattainable state. We find, as in the case of the
bumblebee, that there is a joy to be found in limited freedom with roots or
connections to lay a foundation for life.

Canada is a free country, by definition. I have lived here all my
life and am thankful for its apparent freedom. You will often hear elders
say “we fought two world wars for our country’s freedom” and the youngsters
will say, “I can do what I want, it’s a free country”, but the definition
of freedom that allows us to qualify Canada as free is perhaps somewhat
lenient. In reality, anybody has the choice to do anything, but we are
steered in directions by all sorts of factors. You could classify the
government’s entire job as to influence its citizens, essentially for
everyone’s own good, but all the same, constraining their actions and
choices and guiding them in a particular direction. As well, every citizen
habituating Canada has basic requirements for life. There is not a human
alive without needs in their life. Whether it is the bare necessities,
food, water, and sleep, needs are inherent and impose upon you, further
detracting from the autonomy in your life. I am not trying to say Canada
is not a free country, we have a lot of liberties as citizens of this great
nation, but we certainly have restrictions imposed on us. This, however,
does not stop us from being happy people. Do you find many people that are
unhappy because they cannot commit fraudulent activities, murder, or
because they have to breathe? No. People need a little bit of societal
direction to maintain order and they have physical, social, and
psychological needs that need to be looked after to live, but they are
still content. This is the same with zoo and wild animals. They are not
free; they have different essentials in their life that are met in
different ways yet they remain happy in their limited freedom. Each time I
step out the door as a Canadian, I recognize the liberties that I have been
given and simply the fact that I am allowed to move at my will allows me to
find pleasure in restricted freedom.

Freedom is beautiful, but it’s important for everyone to have roots
and connections to give us a base. Most can call somewhere their home,
perhaps the most basic, but also the most important root we have. From our
homes, we run our lives. Many of our needs are fulfilled there: cleaning,
eating, sleeping, and for many, family. Sure, our obligation to our limits
us, but there is more to be gained than is there to be lost. If we turn to
the homeless, we can see what happens when you have no base in your life.

The homeless of the world are free within reason in their worlds they do
what they wish within the boundaries of necessities. But are homeless
people generally people that you envy? No, because without that hub and
foundation in their life, they are unable to maintain a lot of the basic
needs of life. Homeless people demonstrate the importance of connections
because we see that something acting as the centre of your life gives you a
place to branch from and each subsequent connection gives you another
resource that you can use from this hub.Amid the network that you have
created with your connections, freedom allows you to choose your path and
they become a powerful entity.

Freedom is something that people from all walks of life strive to
attain in abundance, but there is a limit to how far you can go. Roots and
connections, which may seem to tie a person down, also serve as an integral
part of a functional life and lay the foundation for development in life.

Together, they allow for success and happiness.

Familiarity
Our traditional sense of freedom is no longer valid
For example, bees free to go where ever they wish, but they always return
home to their nest, their home. What waits there for them? Is there any
indication of the unhappiness of a bee? Only when you threaten their home,
the centre of their existence
Freedom has become being able to have
Definition: the absence of necessity, coercion (to restrain or dominate by
force), or constraint in choice or action
What makes Canada a free country? Not because we can just do whatever we
want
Movie where the bugs get confused because there is a twig in the way of
their path