Freedom of Religion and Freedom of the Press are main rights as citizens that we have. If these rights were taken away from us, what would we have left? Would we live in a dictatorship, like how Hitler once ruled Germany? Or would we live as a communist country, like Kim Jung Un once ruled North Korea? If these basic rights were taken from us, we would not be able to express ourselves in the way we are able to today. In the books we have read about freedom, they all state ways that our rights as citizens are being taken from us. For example, in Douglass’ narrative, he was a slave and had no rights; in the Crucible, the people of the township were not allowed to believe in witchcraft; and in Fahrenheit 451; the people were not allowed to read any books that were published.

In Douglass’ narrative, he stated that being a slave, he had no God given rights to him. He was treated as a fraction of a human, and not given the opportunities as the average white man would have. Even though Douglass went through these hardships, he always seemed to come out on top, and above the white slave owners. Douglass once said, “It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood.” This quote was very significant in the freedom unit because once he was beaten by his master, and finally stood up to defend himself, he realized that he was strong enough to enable his rights as an American citizen. Douglass played a significant role in the abolishment of slavery in the South, and because of his determination and hard work, he was recognized by President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln decided to attempt to abolish slavery when he was voted into office, but that did not succeed. But due to the dedication of one man, slavery became an arising issue in the mid 19th century.

In Bradbury’s book, Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag is restricted from reading published books. Even though these books were illegal, he still managed to read and stash away these books without anyone knowing. In this book it was stated, “There must be something in books, something we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing.” Montag was responsible for burning books from people’s homes. Not only would he burn the books, he would burn the innocent people still in their houses. This book restricted Montag’s freedom to read these books, he wasn’t just a book holder himself, but he also burned these books as an occupation.

In The Crucible, it is made clear that witchcraft is frowned upon, but when the people of the township are restricting people of their freedom to be curious about different beliefs, the people in the township go haywire. There are girls dancing in the outskirts of the town, worshiping different religions, and wishing death upon people due to jealousy. Tituba was a black woman in the town of Salem at the time of when the Salem Witch Trials were going on, she was suspected to be a main role in the witchcraft. It was stated in this book, “I speak my own sins; I cannot judge another. I have not tongue for it.” This quote is a prime example of freedom being restricted because if you only speak your sins, that means your actions cannot be your sins.

These three examples of freedom being restricted in literature all link themselves in some sort of way. Whether it being freedom of Religion, or Freedom of the Press, or being treated differently because of the color of your skin, as an American citizen we are entitled to many God given freedoms, no matter how hard someone tries to take it away, they can’t. It was even stated in the Constitution that we have God given rights that no one can infringe upon.