Susie Student
Ms. Eichhorn
English II Pre AP Period 1
November 12, 2012
The Cost of Freedom
Oscar Arias Sanchez, former President of Costa Rica and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is credited with the quote, “The more freedom we enjoy, the greater the responsibility we bear, toward others as well as ourselves.” This idea applies to every walk of life, whether it be the freedoms given by a government or the freedoms given to a child as he/she matures. Literature, as well as observations in daily life, can be used repeatedly to prove the truth behind these words. Whether one is looking at classic pieces such as Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne or examples found in the celebrity news everyday, it becomes obvious that as people are given more free will it is necessary for them to conduct themselves responsibly or turmoil will ensue either in their own lives are in the lives of those around them.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter is one literary example of Sanchez’s quote. This particular example shows how things go so very wrong when a man does not live up to his responsibilities. Set in historical Puritan Boston, it is the story of Hester Prynne, who is guilty of committing adultery, bearing a child from this act, and her subsequent punishment. A key character in the novel is Arthur Dimmesdale, the outwardly pious minister of the community. As the spiritual leader of these people, Dimmesdale has the freedom to interact with all of the members of his congregation without censure or suspicion. With this freedom, it is his responsibility to guide his congregation through the dangerous waters of temptation and comfort them when they stray or are disheartened all the while living strictly by the moral code he is teaching.Early in the novel, Dimmesdale breaks his own covenant with God, takes advantage of the freedom he enjoys in the village, and commits adultery with one of his parishioners, Hester Prynne. After it is known that the widowed Hester is pregnant and has obviously participated in an adulterous affair, she can no longer hide her sin and must bear a lifetime of punishment and shame placed on her by the town as must her daughter, Pearl. Because she has not acted responsibly as a member of this Puritan society, each day she must “feel the innumerable throbs of anguish that had been so cunningly contrived for her by the … ever-active sentence of the Puritan tribunal (Hawthorne 48).Dimmesdale, on the other hand, can continue to hide his sin and let Hester wear her scarlet letter signifying adulterer alone. Dimmesdale has, on two accounts, not been accountable for his actions. And it is what this hidden guilt for not acting responsibly with the young Hester and for not taking responsibility for his sin does to Dimmesdale that further demonstrates the truth of Sanchez’s quote. “While thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul” (Hawthorne 121) Dimmesdale begins to physically punish himself and the burden he carries begins to affect his mind and body. The guilt continues to wear on him until he finally dies of a heart weakened by his own remorse. Three lives are destroyed by one man’s inability to face his own accountability.
A final example of the truth of Sanchez’s quote can be found in the lives of many celebrities today.