Violence is the intentional use of physical power to threaten or cause harm to oneself or another. The essay features How to Read Literature like a Professor by Foster Thomas, The Things They Carried by O’Brien Tim, The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, and Mallam Sile’s works to illustrate the theme of violence. Literature has presented violence as a cause of psychological dilemma, historical and social aspects that represent spirituality as a negation of violence.
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried symbolizes violence as a psychological dilemma of molar that war produces. The motives of war become unclear when the characters blur the line dividing the wrong and right. The soldiers had to persuade themselves to participate in the random and gruesome killings that the US government falsely justified during the war. The theme of violence is evident when the author states “There were occasions, I believed when a nation was justified in using military force to achieve its ends…” (O’Brien 22). It makes the soldiers change their perceptions of war and react to certain situations, turning to violence to express their frustration.
O’Brien describes that the men would deal with anger and anxiety by carrying war items that helped them calm down. The scholar states, “To blow the tunnels, they carried one-pound blocks of penetrating high explosives… Dave Jensen carried earplugs” (O’Brien 6). The perception made the soldiers be in a constant position of causing violence. Hence, violence within O’Brien’s narrative was due to the social concern that the Vietnam war had impacted the soldiers. The psychological dilemma as a cause of violence has also been established in How to Read Literature Like a Professor. When society thinks Adella fell from the caves because of her personal causes, the texts, however, give a different perception. The author states, “one of the ironies of her Indian experience is that in a landscape so vast, the psychological space is so small … and could not get away from life” (Foster 108). Hence, based on this context, it is evident that psychological dilemmas can cause violence.
In addition, O’Brien lays out in The Things They Carried that violence resulted from social concern. O’Brien highlights the non-significance of violence in the beginning as he describes the fight with the vignette as a metaphor for the non-significant action. O’Brien, in his work, states “It was about something stupid—a missing jack-knife—but even so, the fight was vicious.” (O’Brien 30). During the fight, Strunk laughs uncontrollably after Jensen pecks his nose in the fight, enacting the reader to believe that Vietnam War was also meaningless and it did not matter who would be the victor. According to O’Brien, no person can hide the purpose of war. The author states, “In a true war story if there’s a moral at all… You can’t tease it out. You can’t extract the meaning without unravelling the deeper meaning” (O’Brien 38). Hence, violence is portrayed as a social norm in the O’Brien narrative.
Violence resulting from social concern is also portrayed in How to Read Like a Professor when Adela goes to the caves and gets badly bruised. Society wanted the cave to symbolize something, but it was not sensible. The fear is evident in this quote, “That I fear is another matter. We want it to mean something, don’t we?” (Foster 106). It is a social norm to fall down the hills and get bruises, making violence a social concern and cultural acceptance. When the society was trying to figure out why she fell, it gets a clear insight, when the author states “Maybe she doesn’t have an encounter with something at all” (Foster 108). Hence, based on how to Read like a Professor and The Things They Carried, violence can result from social norms.
Shirley Jackson, in The Lottery, portrays historic concern as a source of violence. She conveys this message in different elements. The narratives portray the theme of violence being placed in the hands of many children. Violence is well seen in this text “Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones” (Jackson 1). The context clearly shows that society involves violence and justifies the action with the mentality that since everyone is doing it, violence is morally right.
It is portrayed throughout the narrative when the people follow orders without questioning them. It is also seen when the community does not question why the punishment for winning the lottery was stoning the winner. It is illustrated “Although the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones” (Jackson 7). The same is portrayed in How to Read Like a Professor when society thinks that the ancestors punished Adela in her attempt to be Indian. The theme is evident when Foster states “There is also the suggestion that Indian herself threatens her since all the people aside from Adela and herself in the cave are Indians” (108).
Lastly, Mallam Sile by Mohammed Ali portrays the negation of violence through spirituality. Mallam Sile paints an appositive image of Islam’s religion concerning violence. Sile states that “God is the one who brings illness, and he is the only true healer” (Ali 152). The community took advantage of his poor eyesight by buying fake currency and banning notes to purchase his products. Mallam justified their act when he posits that “he believed that it was hunger –and not mischief –that had led the rascals to cheat him.” Since Mallam Sile considers it “inhuman to refuse a hungry person food” (Ali 155). Mallam’s persistence in his religion makes him withhold his stand even when the customers refuse to pay. After the reopening of the shop, he warned his wife. The author states “…stay out of that boy’s way. He is dangerous, and if he has decided not to pay, please let him keep the amount” (Ali 182). Hence, Mallam’s Sile character shows that violence can be caused and mitigated by spiritual crises. It is also highlighted in How to Read Like a Professor when the caves are viewed as primitive and essential elements of nature. It states, “We might be reminded of Plato who in the Parable of the caves gives us an image of the cave as a consciousness and perception” (Foster 107). It refrains society to believe that the caves cause Adele to fall and carry spiritual meaning.
In conclusion, violence is a cause of psychological dilemmas, historical and social concerns. These concerns have been illustrated through analyzing How to Read Literature Like a Professor, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, and The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. However, Mallam Sile by Mohammed Ali has illustrated that spirituality acts as a negation of violence. In general, the three texts all give the reasons, causes, and how to tackle violence in society. The texts are informative because a reader can understand violence in a broader view, such as the reasons that lead one to war.
Works Cited
Ali, Mohammed. The Prophet of Zongo Street. Amistad, 2006.
Foster, Thomas C. How to Read Literature like A Professor. Harpercollins, 2013.
Jackson, Shirley. The Lottery. Robinson, 1988.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Vision Australia Information and Library Service, 2008.