In Sierra Leone violence towards others, both physical and verbal, seems to be a normal and acceptable act. On several occasions people are beaten, abused, or even killed without a second thought. In a typical home, a beating is a regular punishment for minimal lack of obedience to one's elders. In Mariatu's house Alie is the one that gives the beatings."When we kids didn't do what he asked, he liked to show how strong he was by grabbing a tamalangba and beating us hard." (pg. 26) Ending the life of an innocent person on an instant without valid reason happened on more than one occasion. When Mariatu was on her way to a hospital, people that she didn't know honored her through the murder of a man that she knew personally and who himself was a victim of the rebels. "Even if he didn't personally cut your hands off, we will kill him in your honor." (pg. 55) Based on how violence seems to be a regular occurrence, I think that although it was not justified, it was understandable that Mariatu's hands got cut off by the rebels.
I think that the reason that it may be considered "okay" for elders to essentially abuse the children they have authority over is to teach some form of respect. If a child knows there is a beating coming if they behave badly, they will most likely try to avoid the beating which in turn forces them to avoid poor behavior since the two go hand-in-hand. Here in Canada it is normal for kids to get the "wooden spoon" which is the same thing as beatings in Sierra Leone, just on a much smaller scale. Another threat parents may use with their children is the belt. As a kid, if you heard "wooden spoon" or "belt" after doing something, you knew to never do that thing again. For example, if you're throwing a ball around the expensive pictures in your house and get caught, you very well knew what was coming next. After the spoon or belt you knew to never do that again. There is a good chance that after kids in Sierra Leone are punished, they are left with "I will never do that again" beat into their mind.
Do you think that the "wooden spoon" is actually an effective way to change someone's behaviour? Depending on the person's personality, they could choose to rebel instead of getting the idea of never doing whatever they did wrong again. It's like the idea of how strict parents make sneaky and rebellious kids. People don't like to be controlled or be told what to do.
ReplyDeleteThere are many examples of this throughout history. When people don't like the way a leader is leading, or disagree with something, they tend to rebel.