The High Price of Freedom

Freedom doesn’t come as Amazon gift cards, or Disneyland passes; it can only be earned through sacrifices, like Harriet, in the book Harriet Tubman: Conductor of the Underground Railroad finding out her husband, John Tubman, is married to someone else which changes her thinking process and makes her help slaves find freedom.

Like was mentioned early, freedom doesn’t come without sacrifices. For instance, the author Ann Petry wrote on page 141 it says “We got to go free or die. And freedom isn’t bought with dust” (141). The quote relates to the main idea because it shows they need freedom, but it can’t be bought with dust, which means sacrifices and adjustments will have to be made. Harriet had either liberty In Chapter 10, Harriet says “There was one of two things I had a right to liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have another”(94). She can either have liberty or death. Since death isn’t an option, freedom is the only choice here. Freedom can only be earned through sacrifices, and it is crucial that we learn about these sacrifices that gained freedom and independence, so we do not have to make the same sacrifices that the people had to do.

While Harriet made many sacrifices, John Tubman was a character that influenced the story. For example, on page 85, John Tubman, Harriet Tubman’s husband says “You take off, and I’ll tell the master. I’ll tell the master real quick”(pg.85). Harriet had to sacrifice her freedom because John would tell the master on her. She ended up running away successfully without John Tubman, but it comes back to John with a surprise that John is now married to another woman. Harriet thinks about this after she finds out that John was married, makes some realizations. On page 120, Harriet says “Her mind, her soul always wore freedom clothes. John’s never would”(pg.120). That's is vital because Harriet is saying that John would never think of freedom as Harriet did. That exemplifies the big difference between Harriet and John, which was a big problem for them before. Harriet had to make sacrifices like leaving her husband, John Tubman, for her to get free from slavery.