Egalitarianism, Equality for all (PUB #3)

Egalitarianism is, in short, a belief in human equality. Egalitarianism can be equality in everything including social, political, and economic affairs. Martin Luther King once said “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”. If someone were being oppressed by someone and they never speak out against it then the person will never stop oppressing them and will continue in their ways until the oppressed person stands up for themselves and decides to say something and stop the oppressor. There are many real-life situations where oppression still exists and people take on an egalitarian belief to try and get out of this. There have also been many short stories written where it can be said that egalitarianism is a theme in the story.

            As far as short stories go, the story “Children of the sea” by Edwidge Danticat can have some aspects of oppression and people thinking in an egalitarian way. In the story the male narrator is attempting to make an escape from his oppressor and make it to the United States where he can be free. The male narrator can be seen to have many forms of an egalitarian mindset because of the fact that he is attempting this extremely daring and risky escape to get away from his oppressor and the fact that he is willing to die instead of stay where he was. In the story the male narrator starts to talk about a dream he had had where he had died saying “This heaven was nothing like I had expected. It was at the bottom of the sea. There were starfish and mermaids all around me. The mermaids were dancing and singing in Latin like the priests do at the cathedral during mass…” (Danticat, 12). The male narrator sees this death and describes it not as something that he fears but as something that isn’t that bad and makes it sound as if he believes this death would be better than the oppression and lack of equality he was getting back in Haiti. The female narrator had stayed back in Haiti while the male narrator had gone on the boat to attempt this escape. The female narrator describes some of the ways the militia there instilled fear in the people. The female narrator says “They were going to peg me as a member of the youth federation and then take me away. Papa heard about it. He went to the post and paid them money, all the money he had.” (Danticat, 24). The female narrator is describing some of the tactics that the militia was using in Haiti to just kill innocent people or to take the money away from the poor people who lived there.

            Transitioning to slightly more recent events, many people may think that things like people going on risky boat trips to escape is a think of the past. However, it still exists even in this day and age. Much like the people of Haiti attempting to leave and escape to America, the same was true for the people of Iran and their attempts to escape to Australia. The same name was even used to describe the people on boats in both situations, “boat-people”. One person who had been held on Manus but then returned to Iran had stated “Every single moment of it was like death.” (Hossein Babaahmadi, The Guardian). The person was talking about the time that he had spent being oppressed and how absolutely horrible it had been.

            The idea of egalitarianism is an ideal that can be very good for many people to take in so that everyone can be seen as an equal to everyone else and nobody is better then anyone else. Oppression is a problem in many places that needs to be stopped. However, people need to be able to stand up to the oppressors and make that changes needed to make this world a better place for everyone.

Work cited:

“Children of the Sea.” Krik? Krak!, by Edwidge Danticat, Soho Press, 2015.

“Manus Review: Real-Life Stories of Oppression Told Verbatim with Vital Storytelling; The Production, for All Its Pain, Hums with Vital Life, and Some Scenes Stay in the Mind Long after the Curtain Has Set.” The Guardian (London, England), 2019. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsgao&AN=edsgcl.577759667&site=eds-live.