Achieving Freedom Freedom is one of, if not the most highly desired things in this world today and in the past. In many countries people beg and fight for freedom, but in other places they get it. Throughout history there have been examples of countries that have resorted to violence and war to gain the freedoms they seek. The United States, in the Revolutionary War, fought for their freedoms, and the French during the French Revolution also fought for their freedoms. Eugene Delacroix painted a well-known picture depicting this event called “Liberty Leading the People” in which Lady Liberty leads the French through a battle while raising the French flag in one hand and holding a rifle in the other, uniting her people through the war. Over 100 years later, George Orwell wrote a commentary piece during World War II stating how no country should stand aside and be pacifist during war. To defeat enemies a country cannot simply surrender, but must act to defeat them, push aggressively for peace, and unite as one country with undivided morality. Both Orwell and Delacroix demonstrated how to achieve freedom a country cannot be pacifist but must take aggressive action and unite as one to achieve the desired freedoms. In Delacroix's painting the most important figure is Lady Liberty who leads the charge of the men through the battle. The battle seems violent and there are many casualties, but everyone seems to follow Liberty as she raises the French flag in her right hand just as if the people of a country were following what would grant them freedom, which in this case is war. The painting can be looked at in two different ways. One way is Lady Liberty leading the charge...in the center of the card...it does not symbolize the need for patriotism and unity in a country during war on and off the battlefront. These two important texts support each other in the fight for the inalienable rights and freedoms of man through writing and visualization. The connection between the conclusion that war may not be just but it is the act of physical force or even any action that can unite a country and achieve the freedoms it deserves. This is a message that can apply to any human being today, when someone violates another's freedoms then they must stand up and fight back to stop the other from doing it again. Works Cited Delacroix, Eugene. Freedom leading the people. 1830. Louvre, Paris, France.Orwell, George. "Pacifism and war". Reading the world: ideas that matter. By Michael Austin. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton and, 2010. 283-86. Press.