I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave. I would rather die than submit; and that is the spirit that animates this movement…..I mean to be a voter in the land that gave me birth or they shall kill me, and my challenge to the Government is: kill me or give me my freedom: I shall force you to make that choice.
Comments
14 responses to “The spirit that animates this movement”
Thank you!
False dichotomy. Sometimes, the achievable best is to be a rebellious slave.
John, did you really read that? She considered death an acceptable outcome. How is that not achievable?
Samantha, I did read it: “I would rather be a rebel than a slave”.
Do you truly imagine the two conditions are necessarily mutually exclusive?
Jesus, John, you are thick. Not only are you picking on a point of language that is beside the point, you’re totally missing the broader context. Does that rock you live under at least come with a hot tub?
MrFancyPants, perhaps you could allude to the broader context I supposedly totally miss by virtue of making point of language that is beside the point.
(Is is some sort of animating spirit?)
They are not necessarily mutually exclusive but they are presented as options to one another. Obviously, the opposite of rebel would something like patriot and the opposite of slave would be free person. However, Pankhurst is offering them as options much like one might say “die a lion or live a lamb.”
Not necessarily. I think the formal opposite of “rebel” is “loyalist”. Either could be a patriot in the sense of loving one’s country. Rebels who overthrow a tyrannical regime and institute a democracy are generally considered patriots.
I would think the opposite of “rebel” would be “conformist.”
They’re only patriots after they’ve won! Yeah. That’s why I used the modifier “something like”. I couldn’t find a great noun for the opposite of rebel. The verbs (complacent, compliant, etc.) were better. I like Ophelia’s option. It captures the sentiment of compliant in a noun.
Context: Cat and Mouse Act
What? You can’t be a rebel until after you’ve ceased to be a slave? And what on earth does that have to do with the clarity and simplicity of Pankhurst’s statement?
John the Drunkard, clarity is inversely correlated to the degree of ambiguity in a proposition.
Something like “I’d rather be happy than unhappy” is clear and simple, but the quotation at hand only makes sense to the degree that being a slave and being a rebel are mutually incompatible.
Possibly, the sentiment intended is that if she were a slave, she would rebel regardless of the applicable circumstances and outcomes for the purpose of achieving personal freedom from slavery, but I think there are other plausible (if speculative) interpretations.
[addendum]
I make it clear that I refer to the quotation as prominently featured in the image in isolation; the fine print makes the sentiment expressed quite clear, it being a statement of intent: “… and my challenge to the Government is: kill me or give me my freedom: I shall force you to make that choice.”
(I reckon that would have been a far better choice)