Morgan Kearney
Prof. Young
English 1101
February 8, 2015
What
does it mean to be truly free?
Freedom
can be expressed in many different ways. I believe freedom is having the
ability to freely express yourself and have control over your own thoughts and
decisions. All people deserve freedom, as it is a part of one’s basic human
rights. In the novel The Good Lord Bird
by James McBride, neither Sibonia nor Pie are truly free based on my definition
of freedom, but I believe Sibonia has more freedom then Pie because she speaks
her mind and is well respected.
Sibonia is not
seen as physically free because she does a lot of manual labor but she is
emotionally free. Since Sibonia lives in the pen, she has to take care of the
animals that live there as well. “She o the garden
and the hogs” (McBride 164). Sibonia is very bold, unlike Pie who is afraid to
speak her mind. Sibonia says to Onion, “And you got a smarter one for a
big-witted, tongue-beating, mule-headed sissy. Walking’ round dressed as you is”
(McBride 163). Sibonia is expressing herself and saying how she feels. Sibonia
also speaks her mind and goes against the judge, when the slave revolt is being
discussed. When Sibonia is called to the stand and questioned, the judge says,
“Sibby, we aims to find out about this murderous plot. We know you is the leader.
Several people has said it. So don’t deny it. Sibonia was calm as a blade of
grass. She looked straight at the judge and looked neither sideways nor over
his head. ”I am the women,” she said, “and I am not ashamed or afraid to
confess it”” (McBride 175). This shows how Sibonia is a strong enough woman to
be able to stand up to people and say what she wants. This is what makes
someone truly free. Being free isn’t always about it being physically visible
that one is free, yet it is about someone who is internally free.
stepped clean away to the other side of
the fence with the rest of the Negroes who was bent over, tending t
Sibonia freely
expresses herself unlike Pie, which shows her internal freedom. Sibonia
standing up for herself makes her well respected, even though she is still a
slave people are impressed by the way she doesn’t allow people to walk all
over her. Onion says, “That flummoxed me right there“ (McBride 163), in saying this he is showing how shocked he was by Sibonia snapping back at him. She was very sharp. She was able to figure out he was a boy and wouldn’t let him walk all over her. Standing up for herself shows her great courage.
over her. Onion says, “That flummoxed me right there“ (McBride 163), in saying this he is showing how shocked he was by Sibonia snapping back at him. She was very sharp. She was able to figure out he was a boy and wouldn’t let him walk all over her. Standing up for herself shows her great courage.
Even though Pie is
of a higher status, she has to sell herself sexually to get there. “Pie was the
busiest whore on the Hot Floor“ (McBride 170). This shows how Pie had an immense
amount of costumers that used her for sexual purposes. Pie is not free at all because she is treated
like property rather then a human being. A man says, “I aim to take this little
lady across the road to the Pikesville hotel, where Miss Abbey is no doubt
holding my room for me on the Hot Floor” (McBride 142), this shows that Pie is
not respect she is just being used and taken advantage of. When Pie says, “He pushed me” (McBride 142),
this shows the man being aggressive towards her and not really caring about
her. Pie may get benefits such as luxurious housing but the disrespect she is
treated with is just as bad as the other slaves or even worse because she is
giving up herself.
Pie will not stand
up for herself because she is filled with fear. Pie feels as if she needs to
hide things from people because she does not want to get in trouble. “I can’t
ride no place, child. Even with a pass, too many people ‘round here know me.
Still, it’d be nice to pass the time reading dime books like the other girls. I
seen it done” (McBride 155). This quote shows how she’d love to be able to read
but she’s too scared to let herself learn how.
This proves the point how her living in fear affects her behavior
causing her to be very passive and not speak her mind.
Sibonia and Pie
have very different values from one another. Sibonia is strong and independent.
She respects herself and makes others respect her as well. Pie is weak and just
does what she has to better herself on the outside with materialistic things such
as her luxurious housing, rather then bettering herself on the inside the way
Sibonia does. Pie would never stand up for herself the way Sibonia did to the
judge because she would be too concerned with the consequences of what could
happen.
Works Cited
McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird. New York, NY:
Penguin Audio, 2014. Print.
