Quickskills Freedom
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The novel Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed greatly portrays the theme that true freedom is a state of mind and one must embraced the past to achieve true freedom.
Raven Quickskill, Reeds protagonist, attempts several times to escape his master Arthur Swille, slavery and the stigma of slavery. Quickskill craves freedom so much that hes willing to learn and study things most slaves
considered to be a waste of time. Quickskill utilizes this knowledge he has learned to greater improve his life. In doing this he is taking steps in freeing himself, not having to be own by another.
Quickskill believes that through the process of writing his poem Flight to Canada, he would gain the absolute freedom he seeks. In Flight to Canada, Quickskill deals with his issues of his enslavement by using sarcasm and satire. In reality, the poem only gives him a false sense of security and freedom. Quickskills attempts to escape slavery led to the most memorable scene in the novel, the day he acknowledges that true freedom is a state of mind. Quickskill was convinced that to be truly free he had go to Canada, the place to be where everyone is accepted and valued for his or her difference "o so he thought...