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    My Jim is a novel about the emancipation of slaves during the Civil War. In the novel, liberty is viewed in a different perspective due to the emotional trauma slavery has brought to the main character. Nancy Rawles would agree with Helen Schulman that the liberty in this novel is unobtainable and a false hope for some such asz Sadie.

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    My Jim is a novel about the emancipation of slaves during the Civil War. In the novel, liberty is viewed in a different perspective due to the emotional trauma slavery has brought to the main character. Nancy Rawles would agree with Helen Schulman that the liberty in this novel is unobtainable and a false hope for some such asz Sadie.

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    23 views3 pages

    Myjimessay

    Uploaded by

    api-255902700
    My Jim is a novel about the emancipation of slaves during the Civil War. In the novel, liberty is viewed in a different perspective due to the emotional trauma slavery has brought to the main character. Nancy Rawles would agree with Helen Schulman that the liberty in this novel is unobtainable and a false hope for some such asz Sadie.

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    of 3

    KailanBragado

    MyJimFinalEssay
    11/22/15

    AmericasdefinitionofwhatLibertymeansisaformoffreedominwhichanindividual
    canbefreefromtheoppressionofauthority.Thisdefinitionisoriginallyformedfromthefirst
    everfoundingdocumentofthenation,theDeclarationofIndependence.Includedinthis
    foundingdocumentisthebasicrightsAmericanshold.Weholdthesetruthstobeselfevident,
    thatallmenarecreatedequal,thattheyareendowedbytheirCreatorwithcertainunalienable
    Rights(Jefferson910).Wehaveguaranteedrightsthatallowustohaveourownlife,liberty
    andhappiness.Inotherwords,LibertyinAmericameansthatwehavecertainfreedomsgivento
    usbyGodhimselfmakingitimpossibleforanyauthoritytotakeitaway.Howeverinthisnovel,
    MyJim
    ,libertyisviewedinadifferentperspective.NancyRawleswouldagreewithHelen
    Schulmanthatthelibertyinthisnovelisunobtainable,andafalsehopeforsomesuchaszSadie,
    themaincharacter,experiences.

    AccordingtoSchulman,thenovel
    MyJim
    wasonethatishonestandrealistic.Duetoits
    accuracyinthishistoricevent,itshowshowlibertywaslimitedtoslavesatthistime.Schulman
    statesthatthelibertyinthisnoveldoesnotexistduetoSadie'slife.EvenwhenJimisfreed,and
    thenfinallyandfartoolateSadieaswell,emancipationfeelsalotlikeslavery.Thewars
    overlongtimeagobutIstillainttastemyfreedom,Sadiesays(Schulman1417).Schulman
    infersthatslavesduringthistimehadsomeformoffreedom,butdidnotnecessarilyhavethe

    samefreedomsasothers.InSadiescase,aftertheCivilWarandtheemancipationofslavesit
    didnotaffectSadiesincetherestillwasaninfluencefromthegovernment.HelenSchulman
    fromthisviewofSadiesstorycanseethatfreedomcanbegiven,butcanhavenomeaning
    whenitsnotforeveryone.SheunderstandsthatSadiefeelsasifshedoesnothavecomplete
    freedombecausesheisnotfreefromtheemotionaltraumaslaveryhasbroughtontoherlife.

    Inthenovel,Sadieexplainsthatevenafterbeingfreedfromslaverybythenorthern
    statesitstilldoesntmeanthateveryoneisfree.ThisassistswithSchulmanstanceonhowliberty
    inRawlesbookpertainstotheslavesbeingfree,butarestillconsideredenslavedbyauthorityin
    adifferentway.Folkthinkfreedomlookonewaybutitlookallkindofways.sometimesitlook
    likeslavery.Folkthinkfreedomsomethinglikeabottonortooth.Somethingyoucanoldonto
    anditaintgonnabreak...iffreedomaplaceit'saplaceyoupassthrough(Rawles140).What
    freedomorhappyendingtheslavesreceivedwasanillusionforitseemedthatway,butlike
    Sadiesaiditismerelyastagetheywillgothroughbecauseeverythingisunfair.Itwasan
    illusiontoSadiebecausesheisntfreefromtheemotionalimpactslaveryhashadonherlife.
    Thelostofherlovedones,specificallyJimandherchildren,isafactorinwhyshebelievesshe
    isnotcompletelyfree.SimilartowhatSchulmansaidhowthereisnohappyendingsinthis
    worldthereisntreallyoneinthisnovel.Schulmanalsostatesthatthebookisatestamentto
    RawlessskillthatSadiesexperiencesfeelalltoopainfullyrealandsadly,thisisaworld
    withouthappyendings(Schulman1214).Thebookisfilledwithtroublingeventsandwiththe
    emancipationSadieknowsthetruthandthatinthisworldnooneistrulyfreefromthe
    government.


    RawleswouldagreewithHelenSchulmansreviewfor
    MyJim
    becauseoftheway
    Schulmanelaboratesonhowthisconceptcontainsfalseliberty.Thenovelbringsuppointsof
    howthefreedomofslaveswasntgiventoallatthattime.People,suchasSadie,thoughtit
    didntfreeanynegativeemotionalimpactcausedbyslavery.Overallthereviewhelpsin
    accomplishingwhatRawleswastryingtoportraytothereadersthatfreedomhasadifferent
    meaningtoothersanddoesnotalwaysmeanapersonisfree.

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