Difficulty

Ahmad Rifai

Professor D. Adra

English 203

October 12, 2015

Difficulty

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher who played a major role in shaping modern society through the books he published back in the enlightenment age. In one of his most notable books “The Social Contract” he states that “man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Here’s one who thinks he is the master of others, yet he is more enslaved than they are.” (Rousseau 114) This tells the reader that even though we are born free and without limitations, society is gonna always chain us down and not let us do certain things that we may desire to do, and even the one who is applying these chains on us is actually even more chained down then we are because of his responsibilities, and because of what society expects of him to do, and the way he should act since he is in a way a role model to society.

In this picture I toke a while back for a project I had to do in school we can see a policeman, who is considered to be the master of law and order on the road, ordering around free men in their vehicles, and signaling to them whether they can or cant move. This greatly ties with the main idea of the social contract since we can see that the policeman, who is stationed their by his superior who makes him do this role whether the policeman likes it or not, ordering around freeman who are free to do whatever they like, but in this case they wouldn't dare since the policeman is there and acts as these free men’s chain restricting them from breaking the law.

This picture also shows us how the basis of the social contract works, since in a way if a man follows what the police man is ordering him to do he is inevitably consenting to follow the social contract the law has placed, therefore he is losing his natural liberty, and his complete and utter freedom in exchange for civil liberty which the law grants this person, along with right of ownership of his possessions. 

Work Cited

                                

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques.”The Social Contract. “Shifting Narratives: A Reader For Academic Writing.Ed. Sinno,Zane , Bioghlu-Karkanawi, lina , Flezsar, Dororta , Jarkas, Najla , Moughabghab , Emma , M.Nish, Jennifer, Rantisi, Rami, Ward, Abir.Beirut:Educart,2015.Print.