Freedom – is one of the most essential, ever-present and controversial themes both in literature and throughout the world. Every day we exercise our freedoms without thinking about how lucky we are to have the freedoms we have. So what is freedom really? Equality, rights, democracy. . . These are all ideas that come to mind. But what are the essential principles of true freedom? True freedom is security, the ability to express oneself freely, and the right to live without government oppression. The first essential component to achieve true freedom is security. This not only includes safety from basic and elementary things, but also safety from violence, brutality, discrimination and unsanitary conditions. In Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" he talks about the violent and discriminatory acts committed against African Americans. In his defense of liberty and equality, he proclaims: “But when ye have seen savage mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will, and drown your sisters and brothers at will; when you saw hateful police officers cursing, kicking, and even killing your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers suffocating in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society. . . " (King 151-157). Part of freedom for African Americans, and for all people, King emphasizes, is safety from violent discrimination. No individual, he argues, can be truly free when subjected to needless discriminatory violence and unequal conditions .Another fundamental right to human security that constitutes true freedom is safety from unjust prosecution to set aside the declarations of rights and freedoms guaranteed to the Egyptian people by their Constitution. This allowed the government to oppress its people and silence any whispers of revolution or change, although it was obviously not as effective as imagined however , this was a sign of an oppressive government and a lack of freedom for the people, two concepts that go hand in hand. Many authors have addressed the concept of true freedom in their work; in letters, essays, stories and memoirs. The definition of true freedom has been debated, but there are some aspects of true freedom that almost all authors seem to agree on: security, the ability to express oneself freely, and the right to live without being oppressed by government. If one of these principles is missing, no person will be able to achieve true freedom.