Please Grade My Essay #2

iin77
Sat, 24 Feb 2007 17:56:27 +0000

Prompt: Are we free to make our own choices in life, or are our decisions always limited by the rules of society?

“Living so free is a tragedy… / When you can’t be what you want to be” - Powerman 5000
Luckily, we can be what we want to be, no matter how much society attempts to hold us back. Despite the limitations society puts on us, we are free to carve our own path by either moving outside society’s sphere of influence, dictating the rules ourselves, or flat out breaking the laws of our society.
If we do not like society’s rules, we can just move to a reclusive place and do whatever we want. Henry David Thoreau wrote about his experience in solitude on Walden Pond in the book “Walden.” He discesses his position on the outside of the societal sphere of influence and meditates on pros and cons of political and social organization. He feels no pressure to do anything but what he wants.
Rather than avoiding society’s influence, some people have dicatated the ruiles themselves. For example, Napoleon rose to dictatorship of France through several decious and surreptitious political maneuvers. After rising to power, Napoleon conquered much of europe and achieved hegemony over most of the Eurasian supercontinent. He imposed on his empire a set of laws called the Napoleonic Code and blocked trade with Great Britain. Napoleon truly decided his own path in life.
For those withour the means to become tyrannical dictators, we can simply ignore the laws of society. In The Awakening, Edna Pontellier, a Southern belle living in New Orleans, goes through a series of philosophical and sexual “awakenings.” These lead her to ignore the rules of society and pursue an extramarital affair in a society that believes a woman is essentiall an object in her husband’s possession. In the end, Edna truly liberates herself from society’s grasp by letting the ocean embrace her in her last moments of life.
Everyone can do exactly what Napoleon, Thoreau, and Edna Pontellier did, and truly decide his or her own destiny. We can all break from the clutches of society and make sure our life is not a tragedy.