Where Is Freedom?
It is as though the oppressive conventions of stable society are ultimately inescapable, contaminating their easy riding on a variety of levels (Laderman, 76)
Wyatt and Billy flee across the country on their motorcycles in search of freedom on their way to Mardi Gras. Along their trip they encounter people living in different environments. The people living in the commune appear to be free from mainstream society, but they have not escaped stress and hardship. They struggle to have enough food to eat and to find privacy in their open community. George seems to flee society and find freedom, but discrimination and hatred are part of society that cannot be escaped. His death exemplifies the fact that the discriminatory beliefs that society has bestowed upon ignorant people will follow you, even on your freedom quest. Wyatt and Billy finally made it to Mardi Gras. They had women and drugs and the good time they set out for. Yet Wyatt still felt unsettled afterward.
I think the problem with setting out on a journey for freedom, to find America, is assuming that you will approach a destination with the answer. Americans are diverse. Freedom in this country is the ability to be whomever you wish to be. If you want to farm and live off your land you can do so. If you want to work and live in the city you can. I think you find freedom when you figure out what it is that you love and will make you happy and you work until you get it. I think freedom can be a state of mind. It can be the feeling that you have accomplished what you wanted and have few regrets.