Freedom

"That backpack's like your symbol of freedom," he comments.

" Guess so" I say

"Having an object that symbolizes freedom might make a person happier than actually getting the freedom it represents".

.....

"Perhaps most people in the world arent trying to be free, Kafka. They just think they are. It's all an illusion. If they really were set free, most people would be in real bind. You'd better remember that. People, actually, prefer not being free."

"Including you?"

"Yeah, I prefer being unfree, too. Up to a point. Jean-Jacques Rousseau defined civilization as when people build fences. A very perceptive observation. And it's true - all civilization is the product of a fenced-in lack of freedom."

Haruki Murakami: Kafka on the Shore.