Oppression is the name of the game in Friere's opening discussion. He offers opinions about why oppression is allowed in civilized society as well as how it propagates naturally. Basically he distinguishes between the oppressor and the oppressed, placing them on opposite ends of a spectrum of power. While the oppressor holds power, he desires more. For the oppressed, power and freedom are frightening concepts because they can see firsthand how power has corrupted their current leaders. Friere calls for the open access to a very specific kind of freedom, which he defines as praxis, which can be achieved by allowing for every person to make informed decisions in order to achieve maximum influence on their government's decisions. This allows everyone a voice and consequently some degree of power.
In Freire's opinion, education is the battle ground upon which the decisions of power are first and fundamentally formed. He speaks against the traditionally accepted method of education which he refers to as "banking." In this theory students are considered blank accounts into which teachers are supposed to invest in the hopes of allowing those in positions of power to cash out later. This method leads to a mutual disempowerment and dehumanization of both students and teachers who are allowed no freedom and credited with no inherent value as people. Instead, Friere advocates for a more collaborative approach to education which allows both teacher and student to learn from one another out of mutual curiosity and initiative. This is a much more intentional process which Friere calls conscientization.
The third and fourth chapters can be effectively paired as appeals to outside authorities who have influenced Freire's ideas. Regarding Alvaro Vieira Pinto's concept of actualized expression of the people in the direction of society. Friere applauds this concept while adding his own emphasis upon positive creation, based upon a belief in the common goodness of humanity, or at least of positive intent. He relies upon the "truth," as spoken by the individual, as a means of transforming a population. Finally, dipping into Marxist theory a bit, Freire devotes some words to discussing the concept of the dialogic. He desires to see the opposition of parties to bring civilization further into balance of opposing powers. As previously explored, his end goal is to bring renewed freedom to oppressed peoples through an appeal to the collective desire for unity, peace, and cooperation.
