This paper is a report containing a summery and my own opinion of the novel "Pedagogy
of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire. It is a well-written manifesto for the liberation of oppressed
people everywhere. It speaks of love, unity, and knowledge as vital to creating a world of
freedom; an end to the dialectical struggle of oppression and liberation. Freire has had a beautiful
vision and has shared it with the world in the hopes that it will inspire, and cause others to stand
up for their right to become more human.
Throughout the book, one main point is expressed repeatedly-that the process of
liberation is a mutual one, and that it must be achieved through praxis. True liberation, where the
cycle of oppression and liberation is broken, leaving only a liberated society, can only be arrived
at through the equal use of action and understanding. The people must understand the reasons,
and the necessity of their revolution, as well as acting to liberate themselves, otherwise their
action will be no more than pointless activism. According to Paulo Freire, there is one major
driving force behind the movement for liberation from oppression-that is the desire of all people
to find their humanity. If a person is oppressed, then he or she is prevented from being seen as a
complete human being by the upper class, who sees the oppressed as mere objects. Members of
the oppressive class consider themselves, and only themselves, as human. Only through an act of
love, by rising up in revolt with the goal of freeing the oppressed and the oppressors alike, can
In the second chapter Freire describes the educational system's role in dominating the
oppressed, as well as providing an alternate method of education that will teach the people to
think, in effect empowering them. He begins by describing the current system of education, the
banking system. It revolves around the idea of st...