In the modern world, all of the political priorities are arranged. The USA is the world leader which protects people from the humiliation, cruelty, and terror of the aggressive Islamic countries of the Middle East like Iran, Iraq, or Afghanistan. But nobody knows the real situation in international politics and social relations. The autobiographic novel by Murat Kurnaz Five Years of My Life discovers the hidden side of American-Pakistan relations. This is a story of a nineteen-year-old man, who crossed the Ocean to Pakistan where he got unreasonably imprisoned and was sold to US forces for $3000. The novel depicts the price of blind obedience of the world to American authority. This paper is focused on the experiment on obedience to authority through the depicting and dethronement of the American power, the Global delusion about American authority, and the connection between the state authority and personal dignity.
The novel is full of different details that depict the cynically cruel attitude of the American soldiers towards their prisoners. The protagonist of the paper – Murat experiences the true nature of the American heroes, who are depicted in the Hollywood movies as true heroes, brave, honest and worthy guards of democracy and human rights. They often rescue the terrorists’ victims from the terrible captivity and violence. The Americans expose their prisoners to 24-hours interrogations, beating, and unacceptable conditions of imprisonment.
There is how Murat changes his mind about his opposers: “I thought about the American movies I had seen in Bremen. I used to admire the Americans. Now I was getting to know their true nature. I say that without anger. It’s simply the truth, as I saw and experienced it. I don’t want to insult anyone, and I’m not talking about all Americans. If you examine Americans closely, you realize this – no matter how big or powerful they are. But in movies, they’re always the heroes”. (Karnaz, 89)
This saying manifests the idea of the global delusion about American heroism which is insured by the American cinematography, literature, mass media, and entire lifestyle. The author provides a powerful argument in favor of the blind obedience of the global society to the American authority, which is based on the false image of American soldiers.
This image poisons the minds of millions of young people all over the world and makes them obedient to the American authority as well. Thus, the globe is getting more absorbed by the American false hologram of the deserving fight against terror.
The novel also stresses the fact how the authority of the state institution may influence a person. The American soldiers are getting ruder and crueler with prisoners feeling their impunity and state protection. They make the prisoners get used to the feeling of their upcoming death. The variety of the ways they do it enables us to conclude that the guards feel like Gods due to their unlimited power.
Nevertheless, they are still afraid for their lives, putting masks on the prisoners to avoid any infection or harm: “They (masks) were there to ensure the soldiers’ safety, so we couldn’t bite, scratch, or spit at them. We couldn’t cough any bacteria into their faces, spread any germs, or infect them with a disease”. (Karnaz, 45)
The novel warns the rest of the world about the fatal results of further blind obedience to the global authority and induces the world society to get awakened and see the real political state on the globe. Apart from this, Murat Kurnaz’s account contains the deductive message to the American society, which is already spoilt by excessive power which leads to national degeneration.
Works Cited
Karnaz, Murat. Five Years of My Life. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.