Question

Gardiner uses which of the following examples to illustrate the misuse of freedom?

• A. A child playing on the road
• B. A woman walking in the middle of the street
• C. A man shouting in a library
• D. A cyclist ignoring traffic rules

Answer 1

Answer:

B. A woman walking in the middle of the street

• Gardiner begins with a humorous anecdote about a stout old lady who decides to walk down the middle of the road, ignoring the traffic.

• He starts this essay by describing an incident witnessed by him in Petrograd (now renamed Saint Petersburg in Russia); he saw that an old lady was walking in the middle of the road or street that caused confusion and danger to her and other drivers and pedestrians.

• She justifies her behavior by claiming her "liberty."

• This incident leads Gardiner to reflect on the concept of liberty in a societal context.

• When someone tells her that the pavement is a place for pedestrians, she replies "I'm going to walk where I want to walk. We got liberty now." The writer used this phrase to illustrate the danger of that person being "liberty-drunk" and forgetting that personal liberty must be in balance with the liberty of the people's lives in society.