Freedom versus Slavery

No phrase better sums up the novel as a whole than Freedom versus Slavery. Octavian desires freedom even when he is not poorly treated. This desire to be free is man's natural state, so taken for granted amongst slave-owners in the colonies that they cannot understand why slaves would even desire it. This constant striving for freedom is the driving force in the novel, and the reason that Octavian comes into conflict with the likes of Gitney and Sharper over his own freedom is that they refuse to equate his desire to be free from slavery with their own desire to be free from Britain's rule. The other slaves in the novel that Octavian familiarizes himself with all desire freedom as well, one even dies in the fighting and is freed after death for his work. Hence, the institution of slavery is simply grossly mistaken that...