Elsa was trained to return to the wild, and when she was released her scope for roaming was vastly increased--in that sense she was free. But in another sense she still wasn't. Her appetites drove her, and what choice had she in that? I have not quite puzzled it out completely, but I suspect, with Lewis, that the pet cat may be more free than the wild one, even though it superficially labors under more restraints.
"As free as the grass grows" It sounded nice, and I never bothered to think about exactly what that might mean. "Stay free where no walls divide you" Sounds good, but it doesn't seem to make sense, unless somehow I'm on both sides of the wall. Even "born free" is a little odd when you think about it. We're born dependent, not able to exercise much freedom. We're born into families, with obligations we did not ask for. What kind of freedom were we celebrating here?
It sounded good and noble, and we didn't think about it much. I wonder if, at that age, I would have sat still for a more rigorous discussion of what freedom was. I read Plato, but I didn't do Plato--I didn't try on my own or with others to puzzle such things out. Do you need more adult experience, or can youngsters handle such questions? (If said youngster is aching to get back to a video game, probably not.)
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