What is a freedom trope? Freedom is a common theme in conflict-driven fiction. The struggle against oppression and the ability to fight against adversity reinforce our values and our love of free will. These are the stories that stand the test of time and endure through the ages.
Freedom as a trope can take many forms, external or internal. Some are more subtle than others. Let’s examine a few of these tropes.
Freedom Trope One
Dystopian Subgenre
Freedom and oppression tropes seem to be the most effective in the dystopian subgenre. Dystopia is the idea of living in a society void of hope. It’s bleak and grim. Whether there are corrupt governments or tyrants controlling the weak or a society struggling to rebuild after some sort of disaster, the theme of freedom really works in dystopian fiction.
It’s not that other genres can’t have themes of freedom. Fantasy, science fiction, and even romance are all full of these themes.
However, dystopia is an exploration of humanity and how we cope with dismal situations. Freedom tropes are important because they give us hope when things seem grim.
Freedom Trope Two
A Corrupt Government: Revolt Against Society
This freedom trope is common in dystopian fiction. We all know that power corrupts, and this trope is so popular because it is prevalent. Human history is full of corrupt governments and people who rebel against authority.
The American Revolution and the storming of the Bastille forced the powers that be to recognize the people’s will. A few brave individuals led the charge because they had had enough of the authority that did nothing but hold them back.
The common people can only endure oppression for so long. And this is a trope that lends well to this aspect of humanity. Why does power lead people to corruption, and why do good men risk everything to end this oppression in their lives?
Freedom Trope Three
Caste Systems- Society And Expectations
Not everyone has the same advantages as everyone else when they are born. That people are born into a certain hierarchy is a very common freedom trope. These social expectations can be about financial status, gender, race, or anything that makes people different from other people.
A character may change their lot in life, or maybe they learn to accept it. This can be a constant external and internal struggle for them. Maybe they are the rebel, wanting more in life but knowing society will never approve.
Freedom Trope Four
Oppression By A Family Member
Cinderella is a great example of this freedom trope. There are tons of Cinderella stories all around the world, but they share a common theme: A young woman becomes a servant to her evil stepmother and stepsisters, forced to serve them. She is subjected to ridicule and harassment.
There’s also the abused victim. This could be anyone. A wife is controlled by an abusive husband who beats her every night after he comes home drunk. She isn’t allowed to have any friends, is cut off from her family, and depends completely on her abuser. Or, it could be a husband who is the victim of his controlling wife, who dictates his every move.
These freedom tropes can be found in any genre. They depict a family member, someone the character should have been able to trust, taking advantage of them and forcing them into a kind of servitude. The entire plot of the story surrounds the character’s struggle to escape their shackles.
Freedom Trope Five
A Single Tyrant Overlord
In this kind of freedom trope, instead of a corrupt government, we are dealing with a single leader. Absolute rulers like kings, queens, and emperors were the norm in the Middle Ages and antiquity. This kind of government, where a single person rules over an entire population, creates a perfect environment for tyrants.
Kings and queens often inherited their authority over their subjects. They didn’t win elections or nominations; they were simply born into power, and they took the reins after their parent died.
Emporer Nero was infamous for being a tyrant. He ruled with ruthlessness against his subjects, punishing them for the most minor of infractions. His reign was one of terror.
In these stories, a character lives as a subject of this tyrant, and maybe they are leading a revolution against them. Or maybe they just help those victims of this tyrant, such as Robin Hood, who robbed the rich to give to the poor.
Freedom Trope Six
A People Who Exchange Their Freedom For Comfort
Fear and paranoia can do bad things to people. This freedom trope revolves around the idea that a population faced some sort of terrible calamity. Some sort of savior swooped in to save them in exchange for their obedience. Now, they are oppressed people, and they are okay with that because they are comfortable.
This leader is often seen as a benevolent father figure. He rules over his children because they need him to take care of them, and often, this may not seem like such a terrible deal. People become accustomed to their security and enjoy peace but at the price of their freedom.
There is a story in my favorite anime that always stood out to me as this kind of trope. In the anime Rurouni Kenshin, Kenshin travels to Shingetsu village, where a tyrant has taken control of the people. He imposes strict rules over the people; they aren’t allowed to leave the village to speak out against the tyrant.
What is sinister about this arrangement is that the people are so crippled with fear that they will turn on their own neighbors for stepping out of line. They will happily do the work of the tyrant, punishing and even killing fellow villagers because they broke the rules.
The moral of this story is how fear can lead to cowardice, a people who lack the will to stand up to a tyrant and will go as far as to kill their own in order to protect themselves.
Freedom Trope Seven
Sheeple And Brainwashing
Whenever there are corrupt governments and tyrants and dictators, there are people who follow them. Why do they follow them? Why don’t they see how evil the dictator was? Because they’ve been indoctrinated and brainwashed. They have literally been reprogrammed by the message of their leaders.
Hitler could not have done the evil that he did without a lot of German citizens who were willing to look the other way. Because he spoke with a kind of charisma that appealed to them. He said things and promised things. This kind of brainwashing happens when people are so desperate they will listen to anyone. In the 1920s, Germany was in ruins. The economy was destroyed, and inflation was so high people burned German currency for fire fuel. People were hungry and desperate and Hitler promised them relief, they were susceptible to his message because they were desperate.
A story highlighting this type of freedom trope is from The Legends of Drizzt: Homeland by R. A. Salvatore. In it, young Drizzt attends the academy for drow fighters, where he is subject to lies, manipulations, and indoctrination by his teachers, who sew hate into his mind for other races. Over and over, he listened to lectures by his teachers telling him and his fellow students how the surface elves were the source of all their problems and that it was their duty to kill them whenever they got the chance.
Brainwashing is a powerful tool.
Freedom Trope Eight
Realizing The Truth Of Your Oppression
Sometimes, you don’t know you are oppressed until you see how other people live. This is a common theme in dystopian fiction. The character lives their entire lives in this conditioned society, playing their expected part and doing as they are told. They are model citizens.
Then, something happens that opens their eyes. Maybe they leave the colony, perhaps by accident. They see how free will works in the real world, how people are not conditioned, and they realize they have been lied to all their lives.
This freedom trope is as much an example of internal oppression as it is external. Their biggest enemy might be their own minds. They’ve lived under this oppression their entire lives, and they don’t know how to be free. They don’t know how to think for themselves.
Freedom Trope Nine
Doing What Is Expected vs. What You Want
This is a common theme between romance and historical fiction. Stepping outside the norm is a freedom trope because it takes courage. Imagine a woman who is expected to marry a prince. She’s been groomed for this all her life, but she has no interest in that life. She wants adventure.
Maybe this girl does the unthinkable by falling in love with a peasant boy. Her parents are disgraced. They make their disapproval known. And she opens herself up to societal pressure. Her peers call her names; her father disowns her.
But she holds to her course because it’s what she wants. She is finally breaking free and living her own way.
These stories are popular because they are inspiring. Strong characters are anyone willing to stand up to those closest to them, make their own choices, and think critically about what they’ve always been taught.
This is a common theme in my novel The Next Dimension.
Freedom Trope Ten
Captivity
The freedom trope is a little more obvious. Captivity and loss of freedom of movement is a powerful theme. Whether the prison is man-made, like an actual prison or a concentration camp, or if it’s in one’s own mind. The entire premise of the story is the character struggling to survive the conditions of their imprisonment and longing to be free of it.
Freedom Trope Eleven
Being Oppressed By One’s Own Mindset
Thinking you aren’t good enough, never trying to better yourself because you don’t think you’d succeed—this is an internal freedom trope. The character goes through life always believing themselves to be victims of their situation. Maybe they are born into poverty, and they are convinced things will never change, so they lack the motivation to even try.
The biggest conflict in this freedom trope is internal, and the biggest villain is your own mind. But something must happen to force a character to break through that mindset and learn that they can achieve anything if they just try.
Freedom Trope Twelve
Enslavement
Slaves, serfs, and servants. A few of the powerful enslaving others and forcing them to work for free has been done on every single continent throughout human history, except perhaps Australia.
In Medieval Europe, a system of serfdom enslaved the most impoverished of society. Serfs were slaves who worked for a landlord; they weren’t allowed to leave, and they lived in huts. They were subject to disease because they lived in filth. Their lives were short and brutal. And often, there was no end in sight, no chance of improving your lot.
Whether it’s a lowly serf on a French field, an African slave brought to the American colonies, a Messinian slave captured by ancient Greek Spartans, or a child sold into slavery by parents who need to feed their other children, slavery comes in many forms.
Freedom Trope Thirteen
An Epic War Against The Threat of Oppression
This freedom trope is all about heroes and heroines working to prevent oppression. A war rages against an evil force, and the stakes are high. The evil villain wants to enslave the land and make everyone their property, and the righteous in the kingdom are fighting an epic war to prevent this.
Lord of the Rings is the best example of this freedom trope. The free peoples of Middle Earth stand against the evil forces of Sauron, who is bent on destroying and enslaving the entire land. The enslavement of the Hobbits by Saruman, the wizard, at the end of the book is a subplot freedom trope that is important too.
This freedom trope is best in epic fantasy because the main characters are often the epic heroes fighting, putting everything on the line to protect their homes from invasion.
Bonus Trope
The Police State
This freedom trope fits into the corrupted government or many other of the above tropes because this is the struggle against the forces that restrict freedom. This trope lends itself well to dystopian stories. This is a place where a government restricts any kind of freedom. Communist governments of the 20th century, and of course, the fascist governments, were good examples of this in human history. The government controls what you may say, what you are allowed to hear, and whatever media or news might reach you. It controls your movements, and it encourages your neighbors to turn you in.
This kind of freedom trope lends itself well to dystopian thought. The characters in this theme live under such oppression that they often turn to a life of crime and find some form of escapism. Morally gray characters are common character archetypes in this kind of dismal society.
Conclusion
Freedom tropes are among the most versatile kinds of fiction. Stories that emerge from this trope last through the ages because they will always be relevant. So long as humanity exists, there will be some sort of oppression somewhere in the world, or there will be reminders of it in the past. Rebels, revolutionaries, critical thinkers, courageous warriors—they all have a place in freedom tropes.
