Liberty

Liberty

By: Julia Alvarez

Freedom, Liberty, and Justice are luxuries that many take for granted. In Julia Alvarez’s “Liberty”, she uses symbolism, irony, and “liberty” as the title as well as a character, to develop a larger theme.

Freedom, liberty, and justice are indeed luxuries, even though many abuse these them. Freedom is the choice to do what you want when you want to do it. Liberty is the freedom of choice with knowledge of the consequences. Justice Julia Alvarez shows her feelings toward this in her short story “Liberty” by having the dog that they don’t want named liberty. “We will call him Liberty. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (papi 185) This shows that even though they want liberty they don’t want liberty.

Symbolism, irony, and liberty are all used in everyday life. Symbolism is when an object or something is used for the meaning of something else. Irony is a figure of speech in which the literal meaning is the opposite of the intended meaning. In Julia Alvarez’s “Liberty” a family experiences irony and symbolism in a unique way. “Eh, Liberty, you are a lucky sign.” (papi 186) This is ironic because one expects him to be talking about the real liberty not the dog.

Development of a theme in a story is part