The Idea of Freedom in The Strange Library

     The main ideas revolving around The Strange Library seem to be about trauma, with the main protagonist being traumatized in some way from his dog attack. It was this initial trauma that seemed to set him on a path of fear and obedience of others, mainly from his mother but is also reflected in his interactions with the old man and his willingness to be chained underground. It's possible that the old man represents his mother in some way, with how he complies with the old man's demands so easily like he seems to do with his mother, an example being to return home on time, and that in both cases he fears how they would react if he doesn't comply, with him fearing that the old man will get angry and verbally abuse him, and with his mother she'll become mentally unstable. 

    The main character's desire to leave the underground cell might stem from his unconscious desire to escape from his responsibilities placed on him, the desire to escape his responsibilities placed on him by the old man representing those placed by his mother, like some idea spawned from the Id. It could be his Id is represented by the sheep man and is being obedient to his Superego represented by the old man, and it might make a little visual sense since devils, a common form of the Id, can be associated with goat features, and goats are similar to sheep. The sheep man does express desire to leave the underground area and help fulfill the protagonist's wish to escape, but is too dominated by the old man, so it could be a representation that the protagonist's mind is in a state where the Superego is completely dominant.

    But there seems to be some wonder if escape from his situation is what the protagonist really desired, since when he does escape the cell and his mother dies, he feels a sense of loneliness, that it's like being back in that cell underground and alone. So instead of being free from his responsibilities, the protagonist could've just wanted a more relaxed and normal relationship with his mother, as she seemed too overbearing, but the reaction to completely change the situation wasn't actually the correct choice.

-David Barnes