Difficulty

Ramzi Halwani

Dania Adra

English 203

November, 2015

 

Shown in the attached photograph taken by myself is a yellow Canary bird who appears to be captive inside a cage. Food in the form of seeds and apples, water, and shelter are basically all the elements necessary for his survival, and they are all provided for him by his owners. The cage is occasionally cleaned and a sanitary and respectable environment for living is maintained throughout the year. In return, the bird is expected to melodically chirp in the morning and throughout the day to keep his owners some company, and calmly flutter around his cage, in other words, be his/her natural self. There is a social contract between the bird and his owners.

 

In The Social Contract by Rousseau, the author mentions the significance of creating a social contract to create a legitimate social authority. The contract's main goal is to preserve the general welfare of members of a certain society by obligating them to hold certain responsibilities towards their bigger society while sacrificing some of their natural liberties in favor of a more important civil liberty. This is mostly summarized in the text when he says “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains” (Rousseau 113).

 

 My voice about the picture is supported in the fact that the bird has in fact given up his natural and God-given liberties, such as the right to roam freely in the Amazon Forest, which is home to many of his species. It is supported in the fact that his owners have made an oath to themselves to never let his living environment or health deteriorate as a cause of their negligence. Both of them shape up a civilized society, where the Canary bird does not revolt and his/her owners do not take advantage or mistreat him/her. Simple.

As for support regarding my voice in Rousseau's text, The Social contract essential idea comprises of bringing together citizens in group called “sovereign”, who practice the legislative power, and  in return this contract offers them the “ownership of everything they possess” (Rousseau 113). This contract forces them to work for a more general goal.

 

As explained above, the picture I chose for this assignment, while being significantly less complex and profound to the ideas and themes portrayed by Rousseau, outlines one of its most important main ideas; the social contract. Although the social contract between the bird and his/her owner might be noticeably less complex, developed, elaborate, and unexpressive in its portrayal of how a group of individuals or citizens form a single social system, it does succeed in highlighting the relationship between two elements in a social system, and the way these elements act around each other. In other words, the owner takes good care of the Canary bird, and the bird does go into a frenzy trying to revolt, escape, or misbehave.

works cited:

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques “The Social Contract” Shifting Narratives.  Zane S. Sinno, Lina Bioghlu-Karkanawi, Dorota Fleszar, Najla Jarkas, Emma Moughabghab, Jennifer M. Nish, Rima Rantisi, and Abir Ward.  Mazraa, Beirut:  Center for educational consultation and Research, Educart,  2015.  Print.