Name: _________________________________________
Writing from Sources: Sample Oppression Essay
What does it mean to be oppressed? Oppression occurs when a person or group of people do
not feel free to express themselves or pursue their individual dreams. People who are oppressed
may feel powerless and afraid because someone else holds power over them, keeping them captive
in a life they did not choose. Being the victim of oppression is often the subject of many works of
literature. Text #1, a visual of a large thumb, and Text # 4,the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by
Harper Lee, both demonstrate how the strong force of oppression holds a person down, denying
him freedom. In addition, while Text #2, a poem by Langston Hughes, and Text # 3, an excerpt
from Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick also demonstrate the pain of oppression, they also
offer the reader hope to fight against such oppression. Whether the oppressor is racism, one’s
government, or a tyrannical individual, all of these sources illustrate that being oppressed means
being trapped in a life one wants to escape.
Text #1, an image of a mighty thumb, defines oppression as a violent and threatening force
keeping a person down. This message is illustrated through an image of a large hand extending its
thumb over a tiny image of another person. Symbolically, this image expresses the idea that the large
hand has the power and the tiny human being underneath the thumb is powerless. The image implies that
the thumb can crush the tiny human being if it chooses to, and is a violent and uncaring force. The
differing sizes of the tyrannical hand and the powerless victim also imply that the tiny image of the
human being conveys the lack of freedom the human being has under the rule of the powerful force (Text
#1). Therefore, when someone is oppressed, heshe may feel trapped and long for an escape.
Similarly in Text #4, the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the “mockingbird” of the novel, Tom
Robinson, experiences the same oppression that the image of Text #1 evokes. Tom Robinson is an
African American living in the racist setting of Maycomb, Alabama during the Great Depression. During
this time period, African Americans were denied the freedoms that many white Americans enjoyed due to
the Jim Crow laws of segregation. Tom Robinson must live in the all Negro community that isn’t far from
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the garbage dump and attend the all Negro church, First Purchase, as well. He is held down by the rules of
white men. The greatest example of Tom Robinson’s oppression occurs when he is falsely accused of
rape by a white woman, Mayella Ewell. Tom was only kind enough to help Mayella with many chores,
but when Mayella’s father, Bob Ewell, catches her trying to kiss Tom, the racist rage causes Ewell to beat
his daughter and force her to accuse Tom of a heinous crime punishable by death. Therefore, Tom’s next
form of oppression is being locked in a jail cell many miles away from Maycomb, unable to see his wife
or children until the day of his trial. At the climax of the novel, the sad but inevitable verdict of “guilty” is
rendered by an all white jury of men. Even though they took two hours to deliberate, the racist jury does
not take the word of a black man over a white woman, therefore reinforcing the oppressive nature of
racism and how it corrupts justice. Tom once again returns to jail, and even though Atticus thinks they
have a good chance at appeal, Tom loses hope of ever being free. Tired of “taking white men’s chances,”
Tom decides to attempt an escape from prison, whereby he is brutally shot 17 times to his death (Text
#4). Unfortunately, the strong oppressive power of racism destroys Tom Robinson’s life.
Furthermore, Text #2, a poem called “I look at the world” by Langston Hughes, also defines
oppression through racism. In the first stanza, the speaker talks about the lack of freedom he has
because of his race. The speaker says that he greets each day as a black person and sees “This fenced-off
narrow space assigned to me” (Text #2). The first stanza begins to define oppression as a lack of physical
space to grow and exist. Symbolically, this lack of space could also represent the rights and freedom that
the speaker doesn’t enjoy because of the oppressive nature of racism and segregation. In the second
stanza, the speaker mentions “walls” that are built by oppression and that these walls “Will have to go!”
This stanza conveys how the “silly walls” hold him in, making him want to break free from this form of
oppression (Text #2). What distinguishes this text most from those previously mentioned is that while
this speaker does suffer from oppression, he is determined to break down the walls of racism using his
body and his mind: “And I see that my own hands can make/the world’s that in my mind” (Text #2).
Through his imagination and intelligence, the speaker plans to find a better world in which he is not
oppressed, encouraging his “comrades” to “hurry” with him to achieve this (Text #2). Therefore, Text #2
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further illustrates that while racism is a form of oppression, those who suffer from it may still try to rise
above it.
In addition, Text #3 , an excerpt from the novel Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick,
defines oppression as being stripped of the freedom to make one’s own choices. In this passage,
oppression can be so powerful that it can destroy a person’s will to live. The protagonist Arn, a child who
lives through the Cambodian genocide, suffers from survivor’s guilt. The experience of witnessing the
horrors of war pains him to the point that he doesn’t feel anything but hatred. He says, “My heart. Like a
tiger inside, clawing my rib to get out. So much hate in there it hurt. Hate for the people who kill my
family, hate for the people who kill my friend, hate for myself” (Text #3). Here Arn expresses his
absolute lack of faith in humanity as a result of the tragedies he’s witnessed. This text illustrates how
oppression ruins many of his dreams of living his own life. He has to be convinced by his adopted father,
Peter, that his life has purpose and value. Peter tells Arn, “Speaking out, telling the story, it’s a way to
choose living” (Text #3). The Cambodian genocide made young Arn forget about living his own life as
he struggled to only survive. Fortunately he escapes his oppressive home country and flees to America
where he can be safe and free. Like the speaker’s goal in Text #2, Text #3 also illustrates that people can
fight oppression and are able to overcome the challenges they face.
Oppression can come in many forms: the “walls” of racism, or the terrors brought about by a
corrupt government. Text #1 shows a large thumb keeping a man down, while Text #2 shows a man
struggling to tear down the walls of racism. Sometimes the oppressed can become so angry with
being held down, that he is motivated to change his life. Other texts show how individuals continue
to suffer and attempt to rise above their oppression, such as the child soldier trying to overcome the
atrocities of the Cambodian genocide in Text #3, or how Tom Robinson in Text #4 tried to break
free from his oppression, causing his own death. It is important for us to learn about the cruel and
limiting nature of oppression, realizing its damaging and violent effects. Hopefully, we will continue
to fight against oppression’s harmful forces, creating a world in which all people are truly free and
equal.
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