Freedom From Fear

A detailed Summary of Freedom From Fear

Freedom, democracy, and human rights are the causes that are being fought for in the book Freedom From Fear. This book is a collection of speeches and essays of Aung San Suu Kyi's fight for human rights as well as a historical review of Burma's inheritance and forthcoming. Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize and has been recognized for her struggle against tyranny for freedom and dignity. She has showed enormous amounts of courage and strength by dedicating her life to fight for human rights and democracy in Burma. She cannot be silenced because she speaks the truth and because her words reflect basic Burmese and universal concepts. This remarkable woman said that she bore no one malice; she nursed no grudges against those who treated her so unjustly; she had no bitterness and she was ready to work for the healing of her homeland that had suffered so greatly. Freedom From Fear is a book that shows how the individualism of one woman can make such a difference to the people of a nation who are in great need for a leader in the resistance against tyranny.

To understand where Aung San Suu Kyi gets her inspiration and passion, you have to understand her heritage and inheritance. Part one of th

The next part of the book talks about the heritage of Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi has a great pride for her country and a great love for the people that there. The purpose of the next section was to educate the reader of the beauty of Burma and all the many wonderful qualities it possesses. Burma is one of those countries that seem to be favoured by nature. Its soil is rich, producing rice and other food crops in abundance. There are vast forests containing a large variety of trees from which timber is extracted. The ground yields many minerals and precious stones including the world's loveliest pearls. Burma has been described as the golden land, an eastern paradise of untold riches. Not by any means is Burma one of the wealthiest nations in the world today. It is nevertheless an extremely beautiful country comprised of people of all different races.

Aung San Suu Kyi goes on to talk about the establishment of the country and their turbulent history. Relations between the British and Burma had been stormy from the beginning. The British colonialized Burma by taking all of the prosperity of the country and putting it into the hands of the British companies. Resistance occurred from the Burmese people because of this. The British brought in tens of thousands of troops from India to put down the uprisings. The Burmese people would never reconcile to foreign domination. The beginning of the Second World War was a turning point for the Burmese independence movement. The Burmese would not support the British in the war unless they promised to give them their independence at the end of the war. In 1941 the Burma Independent Army marched in Burma with the Japanese and the British were driven out of the country. At that point, Burma was declared an independent nation. In fact, the country had simply traded one foreign country ruler for another. The Japanese took over the country, which was not what the people of Burma were looking for. Aung San organized a movement with the help of the British to rise against the Japanese. The British and the Burmese now fought on the same side and the Japanese were defeated and the war in Burma came to an end in 1945. This was not the end of Burma's struggle for independence. The Burmese did not want the British to come back as their rulers. With the popular support of Burmese people the British had to give into the Burmese demands for independence. Before Burma formally became an independent nation, Aung San and six of his ministers were assassinated at a cabinet meeting by gunmen sent by political rival. Aung San is considered a national hero and the father of the nation. Burma became an independent republic on January 4, 1948.

In the section "Freedom from Fear", Aung San Suu Kyi talks about how fear is limiting the freedom of the people. She claims that it is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts the government and the fear of the government's power corrupts those who are subject to it. Any society that has fear of power is subject of being entrenched with corruption. Her protest is that every individual should strive to promote the basic rights and freedoms to which all human beings regardless of race, nationality or religion are entitled. She pleads with her people to develop courage, which is an essential attribute of those who would free themselves from the grip of oppression. " Don't just depend on the courage and intrepidity of others. Each and every one must make sacrifices to become a hero possessed of courage and intrepidity. Then only shall we all be able to enjoy true freedom (Freedom From Fear 182)." She pleads for a change in the mental attitudes of the people, which shape the course of the nations development. There has to be a united determination to persevere in the struggle, to make sacrifices in the name of the cause, to resist corrupting

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2616
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)

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