Freedom and Writing - Mariah Hill

Freedom and Writing
Sartre's philosophical perspective on writing

            There is a unique relationship between the reader and the writer. First, the writer has complete freedom, and knows that he or she has complete freedom, in their writing. They are writing for an audience but up until the point of publication, the work is completely the writer’s in which they have absolute freedom to put on the pages what they desire. However, when the text is published, the author is handing over their work to the reader, who is then given the freedom to interpret the work and find meaning in the text.

            Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher, novelist and literary critic, among other professions, wrote about the "pact of generosity" between the reader and the writer. The writer puts trust in the reader while the reader puts the same faith in the writer. If not for readers, who would the author be writing for? On the other hand, the reader depends on the writer to provide them with a piece of literature to read. They are demanding of each other.

            Though the writer puts a lot of hard work into producing such literature, the writer cannot  be attributed as the sole creator of the work. Once the piece is published, the text is being handed over to the reader, who can then take away whatever meaning they want from it. Thus, the reader is also creating the story. The author's work acts as a guide while the reader completes the work through interpretation. "The writer gives birth to the dead text but the reader gives life to it," is the idea Sartre had in mind.

            Sartre believes that there is a connection between freedom and writing, in which the writer should not aim to merely flatter the audience but tell the audience what they think needs to be told  If a writer is reserved with their writing and does not express what they want, he or she is limiting what they want to say to the world. He believes that good writing is done with freedom of expression. On the reader's part, they are likewise practicing this freedom by reading such content, and encouraging this freedom in the writer.

            Writing, in itself, is an act of freedom. Sartre said that the "writer writes to express his freedom and to exist," and that the "author writes to reveal the freedom of the reader, and the reader reads to reveal the freedom of the author." Freedom of expression appears to be a key component to the writing process, as well as the pact of generosity between the writer and the reader.