Liberation Day: Stories

Mr. U represents the elite, ruling class in the dystopian setting of this story. Saunders depicts Mr. U as an ironically ignorant man who has convinced himself that his behavior is not abhorrent, although he is crucial to the maintenance of this enslavement system that has brainwashed Jeremy. Mr. U sees Jeremy and the other Speakers and Singers as objects that are a function of his hobby, which he uses to impress other members of his elite class. His understanding of the Speakers and Singers as subhuman figments, only there to serve his fixation with the “performances,” is augmented when he rearranges them to different spots on the stage for different songs. He asks his other servants to move them at random and lock them in place so that they’re completely immobile, as if Mr. U sees the Speakers as decorative objects. They cannot speak—except under Mr. U’s command—for fear of being punished in a vague but intimidating manner. When confronted by the rebel group during the performance of the battle, Mr. U appears earnestly surprised by their opinion that the Speaker system is barbaric and oppressive. He claims that his Speakers volunteered for the job and were proud to become Speakers; further, their designated recipients are paid very well for their service. As such, Mr. U represents another form of brainwashing: He himself is brainwashed into believing fully in the system that he upholds, because it supports his hobbies and his desires to impress powerful people. In his ironic lack of self-awareness about his own cruelty, he will perpetuate this system of oppression whilst believing that he truly helped the Speakers from desperate situations. Mr. U therefore represents a ruling class of society that is so entrenched in their understanding of the world that they have no awareness of others’ suffering at their hands.

Derek’s mother narrates the story “The Mom of Bold Action.” The first-person perspective provides insight into her personality. Saunders represents her perspective through a stream-of-consciousness style, which jumps around from title ideas for her writing, to worrying about her son, to contemplating her own procrastination. Although the mother knows that Keith has, in the past, described her as overly anxious, her anxiety in this story is rooted in the reality of her son having been attacked on Church Street. After that attack, the mother becomes mentally preoccupied by the two suspects and the concept of retribution and justice. Her privileged, unempathetic perspective is highlighted through her unfiltered thoughts, which describe the men as “rejects,” “freaks,” and “losers,” whereas she sees her and her own family as “[g]ood people” (76, 66).

The narrative slowly reveals, however, that the narrator is more preoccupied with her particular understanding of justice rather than a completely equitable form. When she stages a fake conversation between herself and one of the male suspects, she admits that she can forgive her brother Ricky (who also committed violent crimes) but can never forgive the man who hurt her son. This conveys her hypocrisy and her refusal to extend empathy beyond herself and those immediately around her.

By the end of the story, it is clear that the narrator is especially worried about maintaining an illusion of normalcy within and surrounding her family, despite the upheaval that they have experienced since the attack. Her decision to play the role of a cheerful, helpful, and content mother and wife reflects how vastly different the outward appearance of her comfortable, middle-class home life seems compared to the anxious and violent undercurrents of the family. In this way, the nameless narrator symbolizes for the pretenses and masquerades that sometimes shroud middle-class life but which hide more sinister histories and events below the surface.

Brian undergoes a significant personal change when the extent of his oppression is revealed to him through letters from his friends who have gone up the “Egress Spout.” Brian’s transformation from beginning to end of the story is substantial. He begins as a brainwashed follower of the Moderators and complies entirely with their violent orders despite his personal reservations about their strict and controlling laws. Brian, however, easily accepts the news from both Rolph and Amy, which tells him that his entire life has been built on a lie: Visitors will never come, and his endless rehearsals and rituals have been only a tool to control him and his fellow citizens.

Despite a life of brainwashing and oppression, Brian decides to sacrifice himself for the greater good of his community. When he decides to print and disseminate the letters from Rolph and Amy, he acknowledges the inevitability of his own death, but he also feels reassured by the fact that his society will learn the truth of their oppression and manipulation. This is an example of bravery and self-sacrifice, making Brian a heroic figure within the story from humble beginnings. His growth is particularly remarkable given his initial subscription to the Moderators and their highly strict, regulated system; his heroic willingness to believe and spread the truth, however, points to the possibility that he had suspected some type of social oppression or manipulation but was now able to act on discernable proof. As such, he is a more complex character than it initially appears, as his motives and outward behaviors are ultimately self-sacrificing in a drastic turn from his previous behavior.