Difficulty

Hikmat Nassour

12 October, 2015.                                                                     

Mrs. Dania Adra

English 203

                                                               Difficulty

  

    "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains." Jean-Jacques Rousseau's book, "The Social Contract" reflects on how man by nature is free, an anarchist and how society forces one to follow rules and become chain-bound. By chains, Rousseau means the laws, or norms put in place by the society or the government. He uses the word "contract" metaphorically to emphasize how as much as being a citizen of a state gives you "rights," it still strips you off your nature-given rights. "But the social order isn't to be understood in terms of force ... But it doesn't come from nature" (Rousseau 114). This statement tells us how far the society has reached in its control, the fact that it (in the case of most rules) does not need to use force to "coerce" people into abiding by the law, moreover, it turns the laws into habits that are in normal circumstances unnatural. Furthermore, Rousseau implies that benefits are yielded from signing the "social contract," but a lot is being taken away at the same time; "Here's one who thinks he is the master of others, yet he is more enslaved than they are." (Rousseau 114)

       I chose this photo as I feel it conveys the message that Rousseau intended to send out; on one hand so much light is coming in through that door, but there is no way to come out of it. The photo was taken in the Beaufort Crusader Castle in Tibnine, Southern Lebanon. 

                                    

       The main idea I wish to convey through the photo is that the metaphoric walls that imprison us are artificial, we unconciously allow them to stand before us as we believe that we will reap benefits from doing such. The advantages are make-believe. Rules that guide the way we dress for example, are man-made. We are not born aware that we are expected to act or dress  in a certain way, that is determined by the society and those who govern the society. We are born natural, pure, literally naked and the society grooms us into becoming who we are. 

        That said, if we do not follow those rules/laws/norms, we are likely to be stripped off of even more rights, thus forcing us to become prisoners of the "walls" society has built for us. We think we are free because we see light when we are obedient, but obedience in its self is slavery. 

                                                                              Work Cited

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. "The Social Contract." Shifting Narratives: A Reader for Academic Writing.  Ed. Sinno, Zane S., Bioghlu-Karkanawi, Lina, Fleszar, Dorota, Jarkas, Najla, Moughabghab, Emma, Nish, Jennifer M., Rantisi, Rima, Ward, Abir. Beirut: Educart, 2015. 593-598. Print.