Pedagogy of the Oppressed Analysis

The first chapter of Paolo Friere’s book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Friere explores the relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed. Oppression seems to stem from the need for one party to humanize another party of individuals who aren’t deemed as qualified enough to exist in society without an authoritarian figure. In this case, the oppressors seek humanization, but end up dehumanizing the individuals instead.

Friere further discusses how the oppressed become the oppressors or seek to become like the oppressor even though it is not their desired goal. When humanity is stripped from an oppressed person, Friere says they strive to obtain power and become “sub-oppressors.” “Their ideal is to be men; but for them, to be men is to be oppressors. This is their model of humanity,” says Friere. This warped sense of humanity may seem reasonable because they were denigrated and tyrannized.

One could also say that this same idealistic manhood they seek also enables them to selfishly ensure their own freedom by overpowering others. They may willingly ignore the need to liberate others because they want to make sure nothing like this will happen to them again. He also goes on to say, “It is a rare peasant who, once “promoted” to overseer, does not become more of a tyrant towards his former comrades than the owner himself. This is because the context of the peasant’s situation, that is, oppression, remains unchanged.” Originally, I could not understand this sort of selfishness towards your own people who have suffered with you, but then I remembered a simple childhood memory where I was part of a small population of girls at my lunch table that didn’t own any of the Littlest Pet Shop toys. These tiny, plastic toys determined whether or not you were going to be made fun of or included in this elite group of Littlest Pet Shop toy owners. Once my mother let me finally become a gratified owner of my one and only plastic dog, I too looked down on the other girls who couldn’t proudly participate during lunchtime. This extremely menial scenario simplifies the concept of a peasant becoming an oppressor and treating their former comrades as poorly as the oppressor once did.

Another affliction for the oppressed occurs when the idea of freedom. Some people do not want to stray from a routine they’re so used to following, especially if they were born into a certain life and this is all they know. Freire introduces the idea of prescription and says, “Every prescription represents the imposition of one individual’s choice upon another, transforming the consciousness of the person prescribed to into one that conforms with the prescriber’s consciousness.” Ones own ideas may have been inherited from the oppressor who makes the oppressed feel as if this is what they want for themselves not just what is being forced onto them. This reminds me of Stockholm syndrome where the victim feels true affection and trust for their captor. This warped idea of the captor being in any way loveable is sick, but it’s also a result of abuse.