What Is Freedom?

Chapter 24

(Untitled Fantasy Novel)

Someone started to pound their mug onto the table, chanting ‘speech’ with each pound. Soon, the whole room was doing it. Mr. Freedom popped up on a table, standing on it with a mug of ale in his hand. The room went still, no one moving or speaking, everyone waiting on his words.

“. . . I asked a man once, “‘What is freedom?’” Do you know what he told me? He told me that freedom is mathematics because abstraction frees him from the shackles of reality.” He was almost shouting his story, and every person, including Aslan, was hanging onto his words. 

“I asked another man—a painter—the same question, and he gave me the exact same answer! He said that art is the abstraction that truly frees him from the shackles of reality! 

“I asked the reaper once what freedom is and it said that stories are freedom; that giving life a narrative allows us to feel as if we are in control of it. The Reaper said his job was incredibly important, because every story needs an ending . . .

“I asked my father once what freedom was to him, and he told me that, ‘people view freedom as the ability to plot your own course, but the reality is, every time that we make a choice, 1,000 other potential choices fade into impossibility’ . . . And my Ma agreed with him, saying, ‘exercising her freedom reduces it’.

  "I asked a raccoon once about freedom and it told me ‘freedom is sustainability’. It said that the forest will never make him rich, but that he could live how he wanted to, secure in the knowledge that the forest will always provide enough . . .” 

Aslan couldn’t help but feel the charm the young man had. He was unapologetically himself, and it showed in everything he did. He had seemed so goofy earlier, but now he was passionate and surprisingly intelligent and articulate. 

“And I asked a mermaid about freedom and she told me that she didn’t know what freedom was . . . She asked me, ‘Am I free because I can do whatever I want if I’m incapable of wanting whatever I want? . . .” Murmurs started from the crowd, some agreeing, most confused. 

“I asked a genie about freedom when I was sailing the Golden Sea, and he said to me, ‘Humans don’t care about freedom because humans don’t usually use their first two wishes on freedom—it’s usually an afterthought for us after money, love or security, etc, etc . . .”

Aslan leaned forward, his chin in his hands, as he studied Mr. Freedom carefully. This is a dangerous man, he thought. Very dangerous. 

“And I asked a rocking chair once what it thought of freedom and it told me that most people don’t think that a rocking chair has any freedom because it can’t follow its own desires, but that it is actually perfectly free, because the only thing it desires is to do exactly what it is told.

“I asked a bridge about freedom and the bridge said that humans think of themselves as more free than it because they were not designed with intention, but that shuffling a deck of cards doesn’t make it more free, just more random.” 

He leaned his head back and chugged the rest of his ale. “I asked an Oathhound once about freedom and it told me that people focus on negative and positive types of freedom but that they collapse into each other—that no one can be free from domination—if some of us are free to accumulate enough wealth to dominate . . .” Many grunted and some raised their mugs to this. 

“And when I met Mr. Zolo, I asked him about freedom. Do you know what he said?? He said, ‘blackout curtains were freedom’! Ha! Can you believe that? He said, ‘the opportunities provided by a summer of eternal sunshine only represent true freedom if he also has the ability to shut that sunshine out!”

Aslan started to laugh as he was taking a sip of ale, and the ale went up to his nose. He snorted and started coughing loudly. “S-sorry,” he said between coughs. Mr. Zolo looked his way, nodded and smirked at Aslan. Shit, he is dangerous, too.

“I asked a giant oak tree once what freedom was. The tree, in a very slow and deep voice, said freedom is nothing more than an illusion, for us beings who are trapped in an eternal cycle of cause and effect—mortals are sentient billiard balls who believe they truly want to go into their pockets.”

What the hell is a billiard ball? Aslan wondered. 

Mr. Freedom raised his voice even louder, “And I asked the Phoenix what freedom meant to her. She said freedom is the ability to live multiple lives in multiple ways. She said humans will never experience it . . . and consequently be boring, weak, selfish and sad, and that was why it aids humans in the quest for universal rebirth . . .” A few people shifted uncomfortably and stirred in their seats. “Well!! I told the Phoenix  boredom, selfishness, weakness and sadness are not just the results of human’s lack of freedom, they are also conditions which stunt our imagination and cause us to believe that our servitude is inevitable!! 

“She—the bloody tyrant of Freelann—wants us to believe that serving her is inevitable!, BUT, IT ISN’T!! It isn’t, I tell ya! There are a million ways to live a life! You just have to have an inch of free space to create your own life! We need freedom to discover who we really are!” He sat himself down on the edge of the table. His voice softened. He looked around, seeming to find everyone's eyes in one moment. “Someone dear to me once asked me if freedom really mattered . . . They said they wondered if our fight was pointless . . .  They said maybe everything is predetermined, including humans' inability to accept that everything is predetermined . . . but then they said, ‘If freedom is impossible, then so is giving up on it’ . . .” Aslan saw a few tears fall from the eyes of a few people in the base. A few others were puffing up, growing bigger, looking more confident than moments ago.

Mr. Freedom suddenly stood up again, on top of the table. Mr. Zolo smiled and handed him a new mug of ale. Mr. Freedom took it and then held it up. “IF FREEDOM IS IMPOSSIBLE, THEN SO IS GIVING UP ON IT! SO, WE FIGHT! WE FIGHT FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE! WE FIGHT FOR WHAT FREEDOM MEANS TO EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LIVES!” Mr. Freedom chugged his drink and the base erupted in cheers and applause. “WE FIGHT TO BECOME THE IMPOSSIBLE!”

Aslan couldn’t help it, he stood up and cheered with the rest of them. I can’t believe it. He might actually be a man worth following.