In City Park Merry-Go-Round Eli Mandel attempts to demonstrate that “freedom is seldom what we now believe” and correct the understanding of freedom. He suggests the standard view of human freedom is incorrect and attempts to define a new view on what experiences and relationships actually make up freedom. There are two major tools Mandel uses to demonstrate that society has an inaccurate portrayal of freedom. First, he chooses to write the poem in the form of a villanelle, which is structured and repetitive in its lines. Mandel also uses the clichéd metaphor of wild horses to examine the common perception of freedom today. Lastly, Mandel uses children and relationships with them as a symbol of freedom. He begins to explain what freedom may truly be by evaluating how the children’s relationships with their parents can represent freedom.…show more content… He does this through symbolism with children. Line ¬¬¬¬four states, “Like children, love whatever you conceive”. Through this phrase Mandel is suggesting that an understanding of freedom can come through children. Firstly, children are a reflection of what freedom can look like. Children have ¬¬endless imaginations with no limitations. They love whatever they conceive. There is a freedom in not having restraints on your thoughts. Children are also a form of freedom for their parents. Freedom from death is neither something plausible or desired when actually contemplated. The endless repetitive cycle becomes a trap. Children are how parents can avoid the inevitable, death. They are a kind of freedom that lives on forever. They keep part of their parents alive and therefore become a form of timelessness for them. Through loving what they conceive, these people have a freedom from death; a part of them will live forever. A true freedom so desired by
