Pursuit of Freedom

Laura Laroche

17 February 2014 

Professor Young

Essay 1: Freedom, Final Draft           

  The Pursuit of Freedom

Having freedom is what allows a person of any race or gender to show his/her creative side without having a higher authority telling him/her otherwise. In the past, slaves were unable to express their inner self, and constantly had someone telling the slaves what to do, with force. In The Good Lord Bird, the author James McBride introduced two completely different characters that have different levels of freedom, Sibonia and Pie. Sibonia comes off as a harsh, crazy woman who does not seem to have it together but she gets to say what is on her mind. Then there is Pie who has privileges, but is treated with no respect. Being free is the ability to express oneself and having control on our own actions, and Sibonia has that ability, she is freer. Considering from the characteristics that McBride gave Sibonia, being able to say what she wants, Sibonia has much more freedom than most slaves, especially Pie.

It is obviously expected that no one wants to be labeled as mentally ill, but in this case, it is exactly what Sibonia wanted. Most people want to avoid a person who is perceived as “crazy”. Onion notices that Sibonia went from acting foolish to completely normal in seconds, “She had brushed the madness off her face the way you’d brush a fly away” (McBride 164). Before she changed her actions, Onion assumed right away that she was not at all together in the head and he wanted to get away from her. Being crazy is the identity that Sibonia uses around people she views as authority to be left alone. She wants to hide her intelligence from those who might take it away from her. Faking is what she uses as an advantage to get ahead like planning a fight against the white, “They was planning on killing white families by the hundreds, including the town minister” (Onion, 173). Sibonia is one of the most courageous, boldest, and smartest characters in the novel that once you get to know her, it is easy to tell like Onion could, “her eyes glaring at me was strong and calm as the clean barrel of a double-barreled shotgun boring down at my face. There was power in that face” (McBride 164). Her intelligence is what allows her to represent herself as mentally ill and knowing if she does so, she has a good chance of getting away with whatever she does.

On the other hand, Pie is known as a whore. A whore is a woman who sells her body and mind for money. A woman who does such a thing is far from being free. All the men Pie has been with have a power over her by sleeping with her. She will always be known for her body and nothing else. Pie’s beauty is the only reason men want to sleep with her, not for her personality or even her thoughts. When Onion first met her, right away he noticed her beauty instead of her personality, “bundle of beauty coming down them stairs that first time” (McBride 144). Pie sleeps with men not only for money but also to get special treatment from the whites. Onion describes his and Pie’s living, “Your meals is free. Your roof is paid for” (158), as the special treatment that they get for following Abby’s order or any other white authority. The things Pie must go through to be treated differently from slaves is far from being free, “Pie was the busiest whore on the Hot Floor” (Onion, 170). She rather be used for sex than doing manual labor which shows she has no respect for herself. The beauty Pie has is what allows her to be controlled by others around her and she does not even realize it because she lets them control her.

 Going back to Sibonia, she is known for being a slave and only that. She has no privileges and the whites do not care for her. That gives Sibonia time to herself and since she is not being watched, it allows her to say and do anything she wants without consequences. Sibonia should not envy the privileges that the others get in the house because she knows that is not freedom. Being outside the house, in the pen, allows Sibonia and the others to have more freedom with their actions. They are never being watched and certainly none of the white fellows take their time to see what is going on in the pen. All the main focus happens in the house, which allows Sibonia to be freer by making plans and having actions of her own without anyone on the outside noticing.

Then comes Pie again, and she is being taken away from the true feeling of freedom by having privileges given to her. Pie has privileges that make her believe that she has freedom when it is the other way around. Her believing so causes Pie to act as if she has more authority over the other slaves and sees herself as more of a “white” person than a slave. The privileges that she has, “Miss Abby gived her the run of the place, let her choose her own customers more or less, and live as she wanted” (Onion, 159), have such a great power over her that she follows what is being said without thinking otherwise. Like Pie mentions, “You let Miss Abby work you. She might work you to death…She can do whatever she wants” (154). Having those luxuries allows Abby to control Pie and all her actions. Pie has an extent to her decision-making and they all must please Abby, “Pie was her main attraction” (Onion, 158). Pie is being watched at all time. Others might feel like she has more freedom because of all the things she gets but she does not do it because it pleases her, she does it because it is the only way for her to fit in and be treated somewhat free, but that will never be the case.

Overall, Sibonia definitely proves to have more freedom than Pie will ever have. She is a bright character throughout the novel and has it her way. Freedom is what allows a person to be express oneself like Sibonia does. Freedom should not be seen as just a privilege but more of a control that a person has on their self and no one else. It is about independence a person has without needing help from others. Sibonia has that independence, the chance to do whatever she pleases without being imprisoned or even judged by higher authority. Throughout each slave, some were treated differently with privileges that others did not have. In The Good Lord Bird, Pie had those privileges that slaves desired for years but she never got the possibility of better treatment. Even though slaves desired privileges, it will never be greater than freedom. Sibonia had more than privileges she had freedom.

Works Cited

McBride, James. The Good Lord Bird. New York: Penguin Group, 2013. Print.