Okara, Duffy and Browning Concept of Freedom

Freedom is a concept open to interpretation, as is its contrast inhibition. Many poets try to express these concepts through subtle means; be it using implicit references or literary devices such as metaphors and similes. Poets seek to give form to these intangible concepts. For instance in Gabriel Okara’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ society’s expectations cause limitations on actions and force people to oppose what they are inclined to do in order to gain acceptance. Whereas freedom of understanding, which stems from the having knowledge of the world around you is portrayed in Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘War Photographer’. Both of the ways the ideas are presented in these poems are different to Robert Browning’s ‘My Last Duchess’ which shows an absence of freedom. Each of the stated poems attempts to emphasize liberty or lack thereof. They depict physical freedom from imprisonment or mental freedom from abuse. This shows the reader that there many different forms of freedom, and that it can be achieved in different ways.

In ‘Once upon a Time” Okara reveals how freedom can be diminished and deceptions established due to foreign influences. The quotation ‘I have learned to wear many faces like dresses’ this tells us that the persona’s masks prime aim is to conceal true thoughts and emotions. This indicates a lack of freedom of. The verb ‘have’ implies a lack of choice on the persona and that external influences are acting upon him. This therefore shows a lack of choice on the persona’s part due to the fact that the mask must be maintained, but to endear him to the society and its expectations. Okara uses a simile to both illustrate the frequency in which the masks are changed and the inhibition of social requirements which causes the changes, su...

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...The caesura within the quote emphasizes the emotionless personality of the Duke, and his lack of value for life. He makes these choices because of his dominance in the social hierarchy, both as a male and a duke. This quote also shows the immense degree of influence one can have on another’s life, in changing it, bettering it or in this case ending it.

In conclusion Okara, Duffy and Browning all have the capacity and ability to craft freedom, and show how it is manipulated and how it is constrained. Okara best presents to the reader with the inhibition of being forced to conform to society’s expectation that most, if not all have to experience. In addition his portrayal can be sympathized with the most as oppression and anger are both major parts of his past experiences. Indeed both appear to be the most common of and subtlest causes for reducing one’s freedom.