Am I Free

I will say up front that I believe I am free and I will tell you why. The idea of not being

free but completely governed by systematic laws seems absurd. It makes it sound like what we

do is hopeless as we are always following a carrot that is dangled by our noses. That our minds

and bodies are predetermined and hopeless to change. A video game called Metal Gear Solid 2:

Sons of Liberty dealt with this idea in the story.

There is this group called the Patriots which are a secret organization that is in control of

the united states for many years. They wanted to make a hero out of someone that would be just

like the series Protagonist, Solid Snake, by replicating a terrorist event on Shadow Moses island

where Solid Snake foiled the plot of Liquid Snake who gained control of a nuclear walking

battle tank called Metal Gear. He wanted to gain power and revive a world were soldiers were

important and recognized. This dream was what his and Solid Snakes father, Big Boss, wanted

which would go against the ideals of the patriots. Solid Snake was used most of his life by the

Patriots to do their bidding but when his friends convinced him that their was more to his life

then being a toy solider, he decided to rebel and joined a group along with his friend Octagon

called the philanthropy. They were mad about this and tried to frame him as a terrorists when he

boarded tanker full of U.S. marines to investigate a new Metal Gear. The event went bad and he

was framed for sinking a tanker full of oil.

Two years latter then send in the rookie Raiden who believed he was part of foxhound

fighting terrorists who had taken over a clean up plant.. What he didn’t know was the whole

event was set up so it would be like Shadow Moses island and that the colonel who was

instructing him was merely an A.I. who was programed to test to see who he would trust more.

A computer or a real person. What they didn’t know was Solid snake was alive and he had

infiltrated the clean up plant to throw a wrench in both the terrorists plans and the patriots plans.

The terrorists actually took over the plant because it housed a Metal Gear and they planed to

launch a hydrogen bomb in the New York atmosphere to destroy the patriots. Raiden does not

know this and is led to believe he is fighting mindless terrorists. They constantly try to get him

to be a toy solider and nearly succeed but when Snake meets him, he slowly and subtlety, open

Raiden’s eyes to revel is being used. At the end of the game he is forced to do the patriots

bidding as his girlfriend and a baby of leader who is in charge of the foot soldiers. Though he

foils the leader, Solidus Snakes plans, he opened his eyes and learned from Snake that he could

be more then just a toy solider. For Raiden to be free was the fact he would question, doubt, and

think about what was going on around him. Though he had to obey the Patriots this time, he

could go against them now as he was free from the Patriots just like Solid Snake.

The point of the story was that as long as you can think, feel, and go against the flow to a

new path then you are free. Free from mind control and manipulation of the media and

government. Being your self is being free and as long as we don’t surrender ourselves to

conformity we can still be free. That is why I think I’m free.