Freedom and Oppression Anonymous 12th Grade

Blake’s protest against oppression of the human spirit is a clear and assertive one, yet his methods to establish it are subtly employed. The collection of poems establishes, as Blake intended, two “contrary visions” of freedom and oppression. Although this innocent freedom may have its limitations, Blake’s use of antithetical images nonetheless brings into harsh light, and condemns, the suffering felt under oppression. Furthermore, natural imagery is crucial to Blake’s protest in endorsing free human spirit, whilst characterizing oppression as a violation and suppression of man’s natural being. Finally, Blake’s interesting appropriation of a wide range of voices is significant to his subversion of convention, as well as in demonstrating the extensive impact of oppression. Thus, by presenting the consequences and unnaturalness of oppression, emphasized by the contrasting image of freedom, Blake devises his protest.

To begin, it is important to explore both how and why Blake portrays both freedom and oppression. Arguably, through showing the joys of free human spirit, Blake is able to emphasize the consequences of its oppression and thus heighten his protest against this. In ‘Songs of Innocence’, the reader sees an image of...