The Value of Freedom

    America is a land where many seek to find achievement and religion.  The United States has fought hard for its freedoms, specifically religious freedom.  Many travel far and wide to come to the United States in hopes to chase after their biggest dreams and desires.  Throughout stories like The Rich Brother, The Great Gatsby, and The Color of Water stories of faith and achievement are ever present and put on display.  The idea of freedom is seen in each of these texts in a different way.  In The Rich Brother, Donald hasn't ‘achieved’ as much as his older brother, Pete, but he has made a change in his life that makes him feel more whole.  Although Pete was confused as to why Donald had become a Christian, Donald was proud of what he had chosen to do in his life and in his eyes becoming a Christian was his greatest achievement.  In The Color of Water, James McBride explains his family’s background and tells his mother’s story.  Faith is a major theme throughout The Color of Water and through their faith they are able to achieve so much more than they could have ever imagined.  Lastly, in The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby makes himself out to be this powerful person that has achieved so much in his life when really he is living behind a mask.  He truly just wants to love and be loved by Daisy.  This would be his greatest achievement.  Achievement and religion come from the freedom that we possess and can feel as American citizens if we allow ourselves to live in and accept that freedom that we are so fortunate to have!

    Throughout each text, there is a common theme of the importance of achievement and religion.  Firstly, in The Rich Brother, Pete and Donald have very different viewpoints on what achievements are most valuable and important.  They are constantly being compared and comparing themselves to each other.  In The Rich Brother it says, “By the time Pete finished paying the medical bills Donald had become a Christian.  He drifted from church to church” (73).  Donald hadn’t ‘achieved’ as much as Pete career wise but had found something that he was passionate about and that was worth living for.  But this created a dividing line between what Donald and Pete saw as a true achievement.  Also, in The Color of Water, faith and religion play an important role in who the McBride family was and has become.  Ruth says, “It helped me to hear the Christian way, because I needed help, I needed to let Mameh go, and that’s when I started to become a Christian and the Jew in me began to die” (218).  It was a huge risk and took so much courage for Ruth to convert from Judaism to Christianity.  This decision changed the rest of her life and the way that she went through life and raised her own children.  She had to depart from everything that she ever had learned when she became a Christian.  She created a completely new path for herself and her own family.  She was able to accomplish so much through her courage which gave her children strength and courage to fight for what they believed in.  Ruth’s children learned, through her, the importance of faith and perseverance,  and with the American freedom, that they could achieve whatever they set their minds to!  

In The Great Gatsby, there is an ever present theme of society’s ideas of achievement and the difficulty of living up to society's expectations of achievement.  In The Great Gatsby it says, “Daisy put her arm through his abruptly, but he seemed absorbed in what he had just said. Possibly it had occurred to him that the colossal significance of that light had now vanished forever” (121).  When Gatsby and Daisy are finally together, the dream vanishes. Does this mean that the American Dream has to stay forever a dream? That it loses its meaning if we actually achieve it—or that, once we achieve it, we find out that it wasn't so great to begin with?  Also, Wilson says, “"I told her she might fool me but she couldn’t fool God. I took her to the window" (103).  Wilson believes that the one being that has the right to judge is God – even while he judges his own wife. This is an interesting notion to compare to Nick’s opening lines: that one should not criticize.  Religion in The Great Gatsby is used against people whereas in The Color of Water, religion seems to bring a lot of unity and peace.  These recurring themes of religion and achievement both point to a feeling of freedom.  Being able to fulfill a passion whether through a career or religiously brings a lot of joy and freedom.  The Color of Water, The Great Gatsby, and The Rich Brother each demonstrate the value of freedom and the importance of religion and achievement in the United States as a whole.  John C. Maxwell said, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill their vision comes from passion, not position.”