The Concept of Freedom in Literature Erich Fromms Ways of Escaping Freedom as applied to famous Literary Characters
Erich Fromm, American psychoanalyst, in his discourse, Escape fromFreedom, analyzed the role that freedom plays for the individual andsociety in a socio-cultural and historical context. Tracing the origins offreedom in human society, Fromm explains how humans have gradually gainedfreedom, with the emergence of socio-economic development throughinnovations and technologies. Thus, greater resources lead to increasedsocial mobility, enabling the individual to do what s/he wants to do; ineffect, there also occurs an increased need to become successful andprosperous economically as upward social mobility is achieved. However, Fromm, as he discusses in the book, the socially andeconomically mobile in a predominantly individualist society willeventually need to put control in himself/herself. This means that
Thus,Fromm formulated typologies that identify the different ways in whichpeople try to "escape from freedom"-that is, ways in which an individualtries to cultivate social control within the individualized and liberalself. According to the story in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve's fallto sinfulness made them equals to humanity, resulting to generations ofpeople whom they interact with, as opposed to their early life of isolationand scarce social interaction (with other people, since they are the onlypeople in the world). Thistypology is applied commonly in the characters of Adam and Eve in the HolyBible. becoming part of anauthoritarian system" (Boeree, 2004). Masochism is the individual's desire for control and there is voluntary,yet passive, submission to power. Sadism, on the other hand, involvesactive submission to power, inflicting on other people this power andcontrol in their desire for social control and become overpowered. Destructiveness, on the other hand, is an escape from freedom whereinthe individual opts to either destroy himself/herself or other people. Prometheus, in his attempt to save humanity from Zeus'wrath, accepted the god's punishment, where he was chained to a rock inCaucasus, gradually bitten and eaten by an eagle. He takes the coloring of his surroundings. In this respect, authoritarianismcan be achieved either through the masochistic or sadistic methods. Antigone's deaththrough suicide at the end of the play illustrates how she seeks to escapefrom, not only freedom, but also from her society. due tohis/her ability to do things independently in life, the individual hasbecome isolated, or too much individualized, which leads the individual to'crave,' not only social companionship, but also social control.
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