What is maturity?

English historian John Finley wrote that, "Maturity of mind is the capacity to endure uncertainty," which I believe is an excellent definition to apply to Aleksander Hemon's Love and Obstacles. The nerve-wracking scramble for female affection, as other bloggers have pointed out, is a test of maturity that leads him into some gray areas riddled with doubt mitigated by his faith in the effectiveness of the "pill." The image I see clearest in the story is of a young man who is uncertain about himself, where a quest for sexual gratification mirrors a metaphysical search for identity. But when he is beaten and kicked by Franc and his woman chasing ends, the first thing he thinks of is his home, his regular family life, and his breakfast - comforting thoughts, but perhaps indicative of a reflex urge to return to certainty? How long did he endure? Was his pill perhaps symbolic of a lingering childhood optimism that finally gets washed away or was it like the freezer that malfunctions at the end of the story, rendering his journey moot?

Thoughts on Sbrenica

When reading on the atrocities that occurred at Sbrenica and the ineffectiveness of the UN to address leader Ratko Mladic, it got me thinking about how international institutions, though well-intentioned, consistently enable wars like these through their collective silence. One would wonder that if a leader's actions are publicly condemned, why would he still be allowed to participate in international circles and continue to receive politeness instead of protest? This reminds me of how a country can denounce one thing while still feeding their economy - a casual look-the-other-way, if you will...consider Equatoguinean President Nguema Obiang, who has been long cited by the U.S. for violation of human rights and political fairness, yet continues to receive support for his government-backed oil companies.

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/7221.htm

Sanctions for abusers of human rights should be swift and absolute, and should, for all reasons, involve a dissolution from international trade and communication. Could Mladic have been stopped? I feel he could have been.

Aleksandar Hemon writes of Sarajevo

I was browsing Aleksandar Hemon's website, www.aleksanderhemon.com, and found one of his recent projects entitled, Nowhere Man, which I encourage everyone to visit. It contains a series of photographs and short entries of prose and poetry that are based on locations, like Sarajevo and my hometown of Chicago. His entry on the the buildings of Sarajevo, Not Buildings, was particularly chilling and a stern departure from the comical nature of Love and Obstacles, and presented a significant case against wartime violence with a slight nihilistic slant.

Humor and the Graphic Novel

One thing that I noticed while reading Persepolis was that owing to the work's visual content, the work was generally funnier than standard texts; I think this is because though humor is conceptive, it is also physical, it is also visual. This is the same principle that makes one laugh at a video reel of John Cleese doing funny walks but one barely snorts at a description of his outrageous postures. Had Satrapi placed the same tale in any other medium without visual context, I doubt the fragile humor would be well sustained. Perhaps this also speaks to the ability of the graphic novel format to "carnivalize" normal representations and make them more palatable to our senses. A good example of this is the graphic adaptation of Shakespeare's controversial Merchant of Venice by Gareth Hines, who carefully places the characters in deliberate postures to convey a certain degree of levity previously unnoticed. Take for example the following image:

The Chase

When the narrator of Love and Obstacles chased the two girls down the street at first I thought it was naive, desperate, and comical. Like most of this thoughts about relationships and sex he was as misguided as he could be. A few days later I listened to speaker from True North talk about sexual violence. I thought about all of examples I read over the semester as walked back to my dorm. After re-reading that piece of the story again I wondered what would've happened had he reached the two girls? What if in his drunken and desperate state he became violent in order to lose the virginity he was ashamed of? If this happened how would it affect his actions in the future? The same story that caused me to laugh and shake my head now became more unsettling. I realized that the narrator could've started down a path to become a rapist similar to the ones mentioned in the previous books we've read. Who knows how many of those men had the same urges and acted on them.

Below is a link to True North, a shelter and aid for people in abusive relationships.
http://www.truenorthofcolumbia.org/sexual_violence.php

Parents

Marji's parents in Persepolis allowed her to express herself everywhere. At home she was allowed to sit in on conversations and at times contribute. They defended her argumentative attitude when she caused disruptions at school. She was even sent to Vienna so her self-expression could be fostered. At a time when oppression was mainstreamed Marji's parents made room for her to voice her opinion. I feel that it is healthy for any teenager/young adult to be open with their thoughts. The mistakes and achievements that come from it are worth the wisdom that's gained. Marji's parents were not thinking of how she could become a successful child but how she could grow into a strong adult.

This link promotes the idea that free expression early in life is an important part of becoming a stable adult.
http://www.cse.nd.edu/~skuntz/FoodForThought/FiveEmotions.txt

An Apology

After 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were murdered what does an apology mean? Women who were pulled away from their fathers, brothers, sons, and companions will always suffer. The decimation of an economy leaves those willing to stay with little to purchase. As foreign forces stood idle neighbors were killing one another and burning each others homes. I do not fully relate to any of these situations, but an apology still holds value. If it's scoffed at by the generation that survived, then so be it. But for the Muslims growing up in Serbia, and the youth around the world, it is a sign of acceptance. The majority of the government admitting shame for being absent when their people were in danger. A short statement that requires an removal of pride and employment of empathy gives people hope. Not necessarily a gratifying sense of optimism but a chance that the future will be better.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8594625.stm

Judy Bernstein

Throughout our discussion of "They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky", we often addressed the validity of Judy Bernstein's representation of what the Lost Boys went through. I searched for about an hour for any reviews that addressed this idea in detail and couldn't find one. I just thought it was kind of interesting we found the need to question this, but that I was unable to find any information of anyone else questioning this as well.

Although, I did come upon an article addressing the definition of "creative non-fiction": http://www.creativenonfiction.org/thejournal/whatiscnf.htm .

Often, we spoke about Judy Bernstein illustrating the boys' experiences in a different way than they actually happened. However, as stated in the article, creative non-fiction authors simply present events that actually happened "..more interesting and often, more accessible." Therefore, I think we ridiculed Judy Bernstein a tad much. Although I do think it is justifiable to question the validity of Bernstein's literature, I do not believe what she has written is in any way, false. I now believe she conveyed the boys' experiences in a thought provoking and illustrative manner.

Power of Photography

After watching the videos on the Abu Ghraib incidents, I began to analyze the power photography has. I came upon this article containing a video of an author presenting her transcripts to an audience along with a slideshow of photographs: http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2010/04/the-storytelling-power-of-photography.html .

As I watched the presentation of the author, I found myself fully engaged the whole time. And it needed no fancy presentation or even advanced vocabulary. My main focus remained on the photographs. And after seeing each photograph, new emotions were evoked in me. This is very similar to how I felt when I watched the Abu Ghraib videos. The ability for a single photograph to capture a whole event in time is incredible. And I had not realized this ability until after watching the Abu Ghraib video and coming upon this article.

Underage Prostitution and Somaly Mam

http://www.riverfronttimes.com/2011-11-03/news/commercial-sexual-exploitation-of-children-john-jay-college-ric-curtis-meredith-dank-underage-prostitution-sex-trafficking-minors/

I read this article a little bit after we read the Road of Lost Innocence, and thought it was a very interesting contrast to the book. For anyone interested, the article is about a study done on underage prostitution in New York City that shows that the myth of the teenage sex worker (a teen girl controlled and sometimes even held captive by a pimp) is, at least in NYC, largely just a myth. I thought this was interesting in light of the messages sent by Somaly Mam. It seemed to me that she promoted this stereotype of victimized girls, brainwashed by society and helpless (until Somaly rescues them.) And while it is a touchy subject, obviously this is a real problem and Somaly is helping a lot of people, I thought it interesting to read a different perspective on the issue. I know this comes a while after we read the Road of Lost Innocence, but it is an interesting article, and gives us another story of underage prostitution (if we want to avoid the danger of a single story.)

Love and Obstacles

In the story Love and Obstacles we talked at length about the symbolic connection the author was trying to make between the teenager trying to lose his virginity, and the idea of war and independence in the region of Yugoslavia. At first when I read the story, I was thinking to myself "Why am I reading about a boy trying to lose his virginity?" but as I continued to read I started to pick up the subtle connections between the teenager's journey and the region's journey. I think also maybe what the author was trying to do, was to show the absurdity of life and war. For instance one day all the kid can think about is sex and his desires, and then a war or conflict comes about and all of that changes in an instant. Similarly the author does this with the freezer at the end of the story. He shows how at one time a freezer maybe so important and then the next minute it is useless.

Here is an article showing the absurdity of war in different movies and films
http://arashworld.blogspot.com/2011/04/symbols-revealing-absurdity-of-war-in.html

Without a Mirror

"But the beauty of youth is that reality never quells desire." That is a quote from the narrator of Love and Obstacles. As a 17 year old he is captive to his passion for adventure and the idea of sex. Once he reaches Murska Sobota, far removed the guidance of his parents, he tries to fulfill his desire with drinks and uninterested women. Throughout the story he is only concerned with himself. The narrator never makes an honest effort to see how his desires would affect others or how he would be viewed. In the end after he is beaten and returns home he gained a new perspective. The narrator realized there were obstacles (age, ignorance, immaturity etc.) that prevented him from getting what he wanted. His recognition of reality calmed his cravings and made him more appreciative and humble.


This is an article about the aspects of teenage angst from The Independent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/the-truth-about-teen-angst-1646351.html

L&O; Youth in a War Zone

The main reason I thought the story "Love and Obstacles" was so compelling and well-written was because the author was clearly able to deliver his point that no matter where young people grow up, they will go through exactly the same phases their parents and grandparents did before them when they were the same age. Lust, rebellion, and spontaneous forays into uncharted waters are what young people live for. It is quite easy for the protagonist in this story to turn an otherwise monotonous journey to secure the purchase of a family freezer into a drunken adventure in which he plays the role of the desperate teenage boy seeking physical gratification. He writes down every scenic detail he can find in the world around him; his need to document every aspect of his life and creatively use every plot twist as poetic inspiration shows his unquenchable thirst for life, and his refusal to let anyone else tell him how to live it. He is determined to make his own mistakes, and to have the time of his life while doing it.

Although the author makes it clear that this young man's journey is by no means a safe one--he encounters some thugs on the train and the town he stays in is run-down and not at all modern or secure--the boy is excited rather than anxious at this sense of danger, for it makes the journey all the more intriguing.

Unfortunately, not all youth were able to experience their late teenage years quite so freely. Growing up in Srebrenica during the massacre robbed the children who survived of their childhood innocence, and forever changed their lives in ways adults aren't able to understand.

Although "Love and Obstacles" ends when the war begins, it can be assumed that the boy's life was never the same after the war started; all we know from this excerpt is that the electricity was cut off and all the food in the beloved freezer rotted.

Here is a link to an interview with a young woman who grew up in Srebrenica; she knows that the Srebrenica massacre will be a part of her for as long as she lives.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/06/03/18232186.html

Genocide--Who is to Blame?

In hindsight, it is appalling that a genocide operation was able to execute over 8,000 Muslims, running smoothly without any outside interference or opposition. It is even more disturbing that this took place a mere 40 years after the Nazi genocide exterminated over 6 million Jewish people. Fifteen years after the Bosnian genocide took place, citizens are still aghast that neither the United Nations nor the Dutch soldiers stationed in Bosnia did anything to prevent the Serbians from stampeding into Bosnia and ruthlessly murdering Bosnian Muslims as though they were poisonous creatures that needed to be wiped out.

Over a decade later, the mourning continues in Bosnia. Citizens have still not recovered from the loss of their loved ones, and many are still irate at the thought that if perhaps someone had interfered in time, their loved ones might still be alive. Why didn't the soldiers or the UN do anything to stop these horrible killings? Are they truly to blame, or was there anything the Bosnian citizens could have done? What really allows a genocide to happen? Can blaming a specific group of people or holding the government accountable fully explain why the genocide took place with almost no resistance? Hopefully, providing answers to these types of questions will help prevent another mass gathering to mourn loved ones whose blood was shed fighting someone else's war.

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Thousands-Mourn-on-15th-Anniversary-of-Srebrenica-Massacre-98194039.html

The Evolution of Evil

During the massacre at Srebrenica, the Serbs slaughtered almost ten thousand men and boys in Bosnia-Herzegovina. One of those men was Emir Suljagic's father, who suffered greatly before being killed in the horrible mass defiling of human life that occurred in the summer of 1995. Emir survived, but now has a mission--to create a museum that will remind future generations of what happened at Srebrenica and will serve as a tribute to those who were killed so their families will know they will not be forgotten.

In this video, Emir talks about why it is important to recognize the fact that genocide is still happening today. He explains that the nature of genocide has changed from the Holocaust of World War II and says that action must be taken if we are to live in a world where genocide is not allowed to exist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Opab3PY30

Love and Obstacles

In "Love and Obstacles," the author examines the unique relationship young people have to the world around them. There is a large gap between the world as it is and the world that young people live in, which is mostly comprised of their own imaginations. Although the main character's parents try to force the young man to develop some practicality, he resists this as much as he can and instead pursues his own goals to recklessly experience the world and discover the lustful urges of desire.

I found an interesting link that suggests teens who experiment with so-called "risky" behaviors, such as this 17-year-old does, actually have more mature brains than those who play it safe. This relates directly back to the story because being a rebellious teenager is something everyone who has gone through such a phase can relate to; it's all part of the struggle of growing up.

http://www.newser.com/story/68427/reckless-teens-have-more-mature-brains.html

Yugoslav wars

The Yugolslav wars was a series of wars fought from 1991 to 1995. These wars were typically ethnic conflicts between the Serbs and Croats/Bosniaks and is generally considered to be the deadliest European conflict since WWII. According toInternational Center for Transitional Justice, the Yugoslav Wars resulted in deaths of 140,000 people.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

Author's background

The author of "Love and Obstacles", Aleksandar Hemon, was born in Yugoslavia and became a published writer at the age of 26. He has lived in the U.S since 1992 when he became stranded here at the outbreak of the War in Bosnia. All of his books have to do with either the Yugoslavia wars, or Bosnia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandar_Hemon

Shot Through The Heart

"Love and Obstacles" and Serbrenica: Ten Years On are both interesting stories about the Bosnian Genocide. In both stories th reader is able to see the perspective of victims who had to leave and stayed in Serbrenica during the Bosnian conflict. These stories reminded me of a class that I took in high school about the genocide and for a couple of weeks the class covered the Bosnian Genocide. Reading through the facts about the genocide did not make me realize how real and impacting this event was. It was a film that we watched in class that showed how the people of Sebrenica had lived through these events. The movie was called "Shot Through the Heart" and it is based on a true story. The movie was about two childhood friends who eventually grew up to be olympic sharp-shooters and how they were made into enemies once the Bosnian War started. One of them is recruited by the army to be a sniper and the other is forced to make a decision to leave home because he is Muslim. At the end they both end up having to make a decision whether they should kill each other because of the sides they are on. It is great movie and the things that happen will really make anyone surprised that something like this happened not to long ago.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171741/

Relating Love and Obstacles to the Bosnian War

When I decided to explore Aleksandar Hemon’s motives for writing Love and Obstacles, I discovered that the Bosnian War was of much importance for many of his works. I then did more research to understand how the war began so that I could relate it to the story. I found quite a few similarities when I thought about it. The war started when Slovenia and Croatia declared their independence from the Yugoslav Federated Republic. This event sparked up a conflict that would become very destructive for those involved. This reminded me of the narrator from Love and Obstacles. On his journey alone to obtain a freezer that his father so desperately wanted, the teen decides to take advantage of his situation. He decides that he is going to act independently and eventually start his own life away from his parents. His first experience out on his own landed him with severe consequences. His attempts to find a woman who will take his virginity result in trouble for him when he comes off too strongly in a couple of situations. In the first attempt, he is chased through the streets for following 2 women all around town in pursuit of them. Then, when he sees an American woman in the hotel he is staying in, he offers her a contraceptive pill in hopes that she will get in bed with him. Extremely offended by this, she reports him to the desk clerk of the hotel, who barges into his room and kicks him repeatedly. This mirrors the events of the Bosnian War in that his attempts for independence landed him with consequences. Not only does he fail in his endeavors, but they were all for nothing. Shortly after obtaining the freezer, the power in Sarajevo is cut off and all food items in the freezer thaw and spoil. This event in the story marks the beginning of the war.

A timeline of the events of the war is helpful in relating it to Hemon’s writing:
http://selenasol.com/selena/struggle/bosnia_timeline.html

Reflection: Love & Obstacles

First off, I would have liked to have read a lot more about this story. I understood that it was a short story that I was going to read, but it had a lot of pieces to the puzzle that was missing. When he started out saying, "I contemplated escaping from the compartment: I had a bundle of money and my life to worry about,"(Hemon) I flash-backed to the reading Fattening For Gabon by Uwen Akpan in reference to the children having to practice traveling in tight places for slave trade. It seemed as though he was hiding from his "predators" before learning no one had a hold upon him at the time. The boy seemed to have a sense of longing to be an adult and wanting plenty of interactions with women the way he dreamed of scenarios and desperately held on to the pill he thought would change the circumstances of anything. His curiosity and imagination ran wild getting him into a bit of trouble could have lead to something far worse.

At the end I was disappointed in the ending because I felt it could have provided a lot more details about the freezer he traveled so far to get. I also noticed the author mentioned very briefly about the war which I would have been interested to hear more about and how it impacted his life.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/sep/27/love-and-obstacles-aleksandar-hemon

Love & Obstacles

In the reading of Love & Obstacles, I found a lot of events that took place unconnected which made it sometimes difficult to understand its importance. I found myself recalling the fact that the story itself is based on the notes he once took in his journey from the train ride to Murska Sabota and back home... In the midst of reading this story, I questioned what the significance was of the riddle that was told by the Sarajevan male in the beginning. Sometimes I felt that parts of the riddle reflected some of the notes the young boy took. For example the Sarajevan mentioned in the riddle that something smelled of dung and straw and machine oil- both things were noted exactly among the few instances I caught.

For Alexsandar Hemon to write such a short story, I felt like he left it incomplete for some odd reason. After researching the book a bit, I realized it is part of an actual book. Longing for the reveal for who the boy actually was in the story, I thought it was Alexsandar himself. While I have not found the truth, I read that Hemon was a Sarajevan native...

http://www.alexsandarhemon.com.lando2.html

Former Yugoslavia

I was interested while reading "Love and Obstacles" in the geography of the story. I did some research and the results are difficult to understand. It seems that former Yugoslavia has been split into several nations including Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This story takes place mostly in Slovenia, about ten years prior to the Bosnian genocide. The history leading up to the genocide was very complicated. In some ways I saw it as being similar to the situation in Nigeria. Much of the conflict in Nigeria traces from the false borders drew up in the Berlin Conference, which grouped different ethnic groups together in one "nation." This led to power struggles down the road. Maybe it is the same in Yugoslavia. The different territories and ethnic groups were grouped together after the first world war in 1918, and much of the violence and war seemed to be ethnically driven.

http://www.kosovo.net/serhist2.html

Hope in Srebrenica: ten years on

Srebrenica: ten years on by Ed Vulliarmy tells of his visit to the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia, where eight thousand Muslim men were killed in July 1995. Though many stories are told, gruesome stories of massacres, mass graves, and the desperation of those who survived, what I found most important in the story was the thread of hope apparent in many of those interviewed. Sabaheta Fezic, who lost both her husband and her son, says that she tried to commit suicide after her son was taken, but says "thank God I did not succeed" (5). She spends her days now meeting with other women who have lost the men in their lives, and searching for information on her still missing son. A women named Sija says that "If I cry, I would die of heartbreak, so I don't." (7) Hurtic sums it up perfectly: "we live strange lives... traumatic, but we do it. Because we have to." (11)
This is my favorite part about this article- while Vulliarmy clearly illustrates the horrors of what happened, the focus of the article is not on pointing blame or simply relating the facts of what happened, but on finding hope amidst all the suffering and death that the massacre left behind. What matters now that the dead are dead and survivors have survived is actively working towards rebuilding- identifying bodies, moving Muslims back into Serbian neighborhoods, and educating the public so that future generations will know what happened, and know "that this should never happen again." (13)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_Opab3PY30

Longing for Adulthood

This probably isn't the theme of this story, but what I took from Love and Obstacles was that this boy wants to grow up way too fast. He is only seventeen and he is at that age where teenagers are done being kids and they want to be adults. He is seen getting drunk and wanting to be very sexually active. The narrator believes that his ticket to adulthood is by losing his virginity to the first woman that is willing to have sex with him which is why the contraceptive pill is such a prominent part of the story. This boy is on a mission to help his family, but the purpose of him wanting to go is the adventure of independence, free from his family. However, he realizes that independence and adulthood isn't all it's cracked up to be. He gets beat up for trying to pursue a woman who rejects him, he is called a child by the men that kidnap him for some time, and he has to worry about the receptionist not thinking he's old enough to be at the hotel by himself.

In the end I think the boy realizes he isn't mature or old enough to face the real world out there all alone. Because he lives in another world with his lustful and desirable poems for himself, he shuts himself off from the reality of the world around him. He believed he could handle it, but he couldn't.

http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_wsj-kids_today_are_growing.htm

The Troubles

When I first started reading the two stories I was confused about when and where the stories took place. After some reading it seems they are set around the 80s in northern england during what is considerd the troubles, basically an undeclared war between the protestant brits and the catholic irish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles#Casualties

Fathers hatred

Everything In This Country Must left me confused and amazed. How much the father must have hated soldiers that eventhough the saved his favorite and prized horse, once they left he went to the barn and shot the animal. What was the poor man thinking? Im not ssure about the prices of horses in mid 80s england but here a fully trained draft will bring anywhere from 1000 to $8000 depending on pedigree, conformation, and temperment. The man is also left without what seems to be a very capable plow horse. besides the economic impact the man has lost another piece of his family or atleast thats how my horses are treated. So whaat is the difference between him killing his favorite horse and the soldiers accidently killing his wife and son either way the family shrinks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_horse

From the Page to the Screen

Many popular books are often translated from words on a page into actions that play out on a screen. This transformation from book to film can provide readers and watchers with two different perspectives of the same story. For instance, when I read the Harry Potter books, I pictured certain things in my mind that didn’t match up to the images on the screen. I therefore could compare my ideas to that of the director. I think this strategy is useful when analyzing literature. This opportunity is present to us after having read Everything in this Country Must. I discovered that a short film of a meager 20 minutes has been produced with the assistance of the author, Colum McCann. I think it is beneficial to watch the film. Here is a link to a video of it:

http://vimeo.com/26135598

Secrecy

I found it interesting in Wood how secretive the narrator and his mother must be in this seemingly harmless task of making poles. I think it speaks to the level of tension present in Ireland during the troubles. McCann barely writes of the political/religious issues in the background, yet we as readers are drawn into the story like a conspiracy. The making of poles seems to us like the making of deadly weapons. Oddly enough they are not hiding the job from an enemy or rival. In fact they are working for the "enemy" and hiding the job from the narrator's father.
I found it interesting how McCann chooses not to write about violence or death but something apparently innocent; milling logs. Yet the tension is there, and we see an aspect of war that isn't usually covered in "war novels": that of the family physically untouched by war, but still effected, and in this case split, torn between loyalties and survival.

http://www.linenmemorial.org/

This is an interesting site I found on a memorial dedicated to honoring those who died during the Troubles in Ireland. I thought it would be interesting to compare this memorial to McCann's memorial of the war through his story. You also see the immensity of the death that happened during this war that you don't get from Wood.

Voice in Everything in This Country Must

I was interested in the voice McCann writes in in his story Everything in This Country Must. I thought it sounded eloquent yet strangely childish. It added a surreal quality that draws the reader into the story more so than if it had been written in a straight, matter of fact tone. One thing I noticed in particular about the writing was the use of long, run on sentences with lots of conjunctions. I thought this gave a feeling of immensity, as if the story is too big to fit into neat, organized sentences. Though the straight facts of the story are not all that impressive, the emotional toll that it takes on the narrator and her father is significant. We see this not just in the description of the characters but through the language and the writing. Not everything the narrator writes makes perfect sense, and that combined with the long sentences reminds one of the ramblings of a disillusioned, shellshocked soldier.
This brought up the question to me of who is telling this story. Is it from the perspective of the girl as a fifteen year old, or an adult looking back on her past. I couldn't come to any conclusion, but I was leaning towards the former. The voice seems traumatized, and naive yet perceptive. It seems to be written in a burst of inspiration. Yet it is hard to imagine a fifteen year old poetic enough to write something like, "oh what a small sky for so much rain."

http://www.colummccann.com/interviews/everything.htm

This is an interview with Colum McCann about the writing of Everything in This Country Must. I found it interesting how he describes his writing process and how it relates to the particular voice.

Catholicism vs. Protestants in Ireland

At first I did not understand why the helping of the Protestants in the "Wood" was a big deal. I did further research and learned that there is some sort of feud between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland. In the 1600s the English came and took control of northern Ireland. This part Ireland was soon colonized by mostly Protestants from England. The rest of Ireland is a majority of Catholics. Over time the north became more profound in their industrialization, while the Catholics in the rest of country somewhat suffered. And during the 20th century there are even a few more occasions where the Irish Catholics try to rebel and take back their country, economically, from the British. The boy keeps him and his mother's mission a secret from his father because what they are doing would probably be considered treason to him.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/northireland1.html

War in Ireland

In the story "Everything in this Country Must", there seems to be a lot of tension between the father and the soldiers. Judging by the accents and the summaries of the story, it seems to be during "The Troubles" period in Ireland. During this period, their was much tension between the protestants and the catholics (or the british and the irish). Many irish felt as if Britain was invading their country and they wanted the soldiers out and to create an all irish constitution.

From the readings we have done this semester and from previous knowledge, it seems like most all war stems from religion. Religion is the very thing that people say unite them and spreads peace however it seems to actual just create a gap between groups of people. It is an interesting source of discussion because this class has focused almost completely on war. This is a link to some information about "The Troubles".

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Getting-Past-the-Troubles.html

McCann

I found McCann's style of writing weird but impacting. Both stories have their own little scenario of being in an awkward situation. It makes reader's think of how they would react to the situation that the narrator is in. This was really different compared to the rest of the stories we have read, because we know for a fact that this story is fiction and McCann does not have any authority to really make a story of fiction based off certain events from the past. He does have an Irish background, but it is not sure if he has actually ever experience any of these sort of circumstances. It is said that "Everything in This Country Must" was based off a story from his uncle. I still enjoyed the story and after looking around the internet, it says that most of his stories are like this. They include the themes of loss, remembrance and conflict between different cultures.

http://www.egs.edu/faculty/colum-mccann/biography/

Comic

I think it is interesting that Marjane Satrapi decided to tell her story through a comic book version. Doing a comic book is a very dramatic change versus a regular format. The comic format brings a lot to the table though. I think it gets the sense of humor across better and also sets an almost sarcastic tone throughout the book because comics are normally seen as read by children yet the book is about a very adult issue. Comics are also much more simple than regular stories, where the issue they address is not simple at all. It is extremely complicated.

Comics have changed a lot since they were first published. They used to be mainly about the artwork with the story coming second. In the "gold age" of comics, the story became the most important part, with works like Watchmen. Now, in the modern age, comics are used a lot to demonstrate a sort of dark humor, much like in Persepolis. Here is a link to a short website with some further information about the history of comics:

http://www.sugarbombs.com/comics/cpart4.html

Fighting Iraq vs Iran

During the Iraq/Iran war the to oppossing sides used to different fighting styles. Iraq relied on forighn assistance in the form of jets and modern weapons to fight Iran. What Iran lacked in technology and weapondry it made up for in the number of men sent to the front lines. Irans stratedgy was to basically send over so many people that they overwelmed Iraq. These two fighting styles resulted in 500k casulaties for both sides throughout the war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War

Iran/Iraq War = Modern WWI

Throughout the book the author refers to the war with Iraq. This war is considered by many to have been a modern WWI because of the trench warfare style. Since Iran and Iraq just sat on either side of an open nomans land filled with mines and other devices and took shots at eachother moving the battle lines back and forth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Iraq_War

Keys to Paradise

On page 99 Persepolis talks about how the young boys in Iran were each given a plastic "key to paradise". The reason the boys were given these keys was to symbolize there entrance to heaven by dying in Jihad. The war with Iraq had turned to trench warfare with each side shooting across an open mine field. To get through the mines Iran sent thousands of young boys across the minefield to clear out the mines. It is said not a single child made it across to the other side alive.

http://www.andrewbrel.com/paradisekey/

Islamic Revolution

Persepollis lightens up the seriousness of the Islamic Revolution. The main character Marji is a child who tells the story and tells it as someone would expect a child to interpret the war. The novel makes the revolution seem less dramatic than it actually was. The revolution brought upon unnecessary violence in Iran. But dwelling on that you could really question the motivation of the revolution.

Usually in history we see some sort of revolution happen because of disagreements in politics. The politics of this revolution is questionable. Religion is the main focus of why fundamentalist have started a revolution. Revolutions in the past like the ones in France and Russia have happened because of the reform wanted by the people. Iran however finds that there are flaws in their society. Flaws that concern people's personal rights to do what they feel in respect to their religion. Some of the people felt that traditional islam method were sacred and use authority to make sure that this was kept sacred. The revolution happened because of extremist alternative motives.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1988/jan/21/islamic-revolution/?pagination=false

Persepolis the City

Throughout the book, Marjane mentions several times her [and her people's] connection to Persia. To further emphasize this point, she named the book after the capital of Persia in the ancient world. In 1971, Iranians celebrated the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the Persian [Iranian] monarchy by Cyrus the Great. What is interesting is that this idea of a monarchy continued with Iran for thousands of years, and whenever Marjane became old enough to be aware of her surroundings, she recognized the horrors of her government and the people who wanted to change them even though the previous decade had celebrated such a government. However, even when the people got their change, the government seemed to only get worse. Like Persepolis, a foreign invasion practically destroyed the unity of her country, the government, and the educational system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,500_year_celebration_of_Iran%27s_monarchy

Inevitability of Death

I found the ending of Persepolis interesting. The author manages to escape her war torn home country, and the oppression and violence that she grew up surrounded by. Though her departure is bittersweet, one would expect an ending pointing towards hope for a better future outside of Iran. Yet the ending illustration shows Marji looking back, pressed against the glass partition that separates her from her parents. Her father looks grave, his face dark, as he carries his seemingly unconscious wife.
In the pages leading up to the end I did not expect such a dark ending. But if you follow the patterns of the book it makes sense. Taher sends his son to Holland, and though his son remains safe, Taher tragically dies without ever seeing him again. Satrapi focuses on the death of the father rather than the survival of the son. She grows up in a country that mourns the dead from the war twice a day, and embellishes their funerals and glorifies them as "martyrs." And despite her efforts to "think only of life" (95), I believe that Satrapi falls into the same belief as most of those in Iran- that the inevitability of death prevails over the continuity of life. This belief erases all hope for the future. This helps to explain the unusually dark ending of Persepolis. Though a brighter opportunity awaits Marji, all she can do is look back and mourn the life she thinks she is losing.

http://www.notablebiographies.com/newsmakers2/2006-Ra-Z/Satrapi-Marjane.html

After reading this book, I thought it would be interesting to see what Satrapi did after leaving Iran. As it turns out, she returned to Iran at the age of eighteen.

Prison Culture in Persepolis and Iran Today

There is a lot about prisons and political prisoners in Persepolis. Many opponents of the revolution were arrested in the years following the Iranian Revolution, and the number of prisoners executed increased dramatically from the years under the Shah. On pages 50 and 51 of Persepolis two men describe being tortured in prison: being whipped, having fingernails extracted, burned with an iron, and one man eventually being cut into pieces.
I did some research and apparently not much has changed in the prison system. In 2009 Iran's police chief admitted that people who were arrested for demonstrating after the presidential election were tortured in prison. The Kahrizak detention center in Tehran has been subject of much speculation and was closed after this incident. There were many stories of young prisoners being raped while imprisoned after the demonstrations, and human rights groups say that at least three prisoners have died at Kahrizak after being subject to torture.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/aug/09/iran-protesters-torture-election

When Revolutions Attack

In Persepolis, Marjane and her family are initially very optimistic about the revolution and the hope of deposing the Shah. But it becomes clear that the revolution deviates from the direction that these characters hope. The formation of the Islamic Republic and the leadership of the Ayatollah proves to creates a nation that is just as bad and in many cases worse than its predecessor.

This phenomenon is not exclusive to Iran. The revolutions and civil wars in Russia, Cuba, China, Iraq, Libya, Cambodia, and many other examples have all deposed oppressive or unpopular governments and replaced them with regimes that were/are just as destructive. The population is these countries however seem to be too preoccupied with leaving their old governments that they don't usually realize the danger they are entering by going to these new regimes. The American Revolution could've been hijacked in much the same way. But it's also strange that despite the human rights violations (putting it lightly) in these countries, there has still been support from the people. Today, many people consider Josef Stalin to be the best leader in Russian history despite his tendency to kill and imprison millions of people. This is most likely due to the fear imposed on the opposition and the waves of crackdowns.

Persepolis illustrates a child's view of this national transformation. Marjane experiences the Revolutionary Guards and the censorship and shows how people lived during this period. Her parents, opponents of the Islamic Republic, understand what is going on much more than she does and her perceptions of her parents give her an example of how to think and explains her growth throughout the story.

This article covers the Iranian reaction to Egypt's revolution. The people give credit to Iran itself and it discusses that after 32 years, the Islamic Revolution still has a huge role in Iran's identity and psyche. The article also discusses the absence of opposition groups and foreign diplomats from the celebration.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/110211/iran-egypt-mubarak-ahmadinejad-islamic-revolution

Persepolis: The Effect of the Graphics

It is hard for me to describe how this book has a different effect on me than other books. I read books with illustrations all the time when I was in elementary school. Persepolis has illustrations but it has bad words and disturbing content and it has witty humor that preteens start to get. And it is not much of an adult book because of the comedy it has throughout the book in the illustrations and dialogue.

I really gives that feeling that it is written about the past. The pictures and the words are like memories, to me. When I think of something in the past, I have a glimpse picture of the highlights and how I felt about certain issues. In the book, the author puts pictures of what she saw, pictures of her interpretation of events she heard about, and dialogue that fit her young definite attitude. What I mean by the young definite attitude is that what she heard was the truth to her and that she would defend the truth. The way it is written just seems like what she saw in her head was what she put down. She kept that child-like view on the situation.

Website:
http://uwindsorcomics.blogspot.com/2010/04/comics-bildungsroman-analysing.html

American Hostages in Iran

On page 72 of Persepolis, Marji’s father briefly mentions the occupation of the U.S. Embassy. I decided to do more research to further understand this event. It turns out that Iranian students, in support of the revolution, took more than 60 Americans hostage at the Embassy grounds in Tehran. This relates back to my previous post about the United States involvement and alliance with the Shah. After the efforts of our country, revolutionists saw us as the enemy. In the beginning of this seizure, known as the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the revolutionaries claimed they would hold the Americans hostages until the United States implemented the return of the Shah in order that he could be put on trial. Jimmy Carter, the president at the time, tried different strategies of negotiation in order to free his citizens; he was without luck, however. His Desert One plan fell through and after only a few hours of Ronald Reagan’s new presidency, the hostages were finally freed by the revolutionaries. They hostages had been held for 444 days. Along that period of time, the Iranians did release a few of the hostages. They claimed that the African American women and those who weren’t citizens of the United States were part of minority groups, and therefore did not deserve this treatment. This event was one of the most prominent for our country during this time of Iran’s revolution. The CIA’s involvement with the Shah had landed us a few consequences, but none was ever as influential as this one.

For more information on the Iranian Hostage Crisis, go to:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/carter-hostage-crisis/

Philosophy of Resignation

I thought it was interesting how Satrapi mentions on page 94 the "philosophy of resignation." I researched this a little more and came across an interview with a National Geographic reporter who wrote an article on Iran. She also used the phrase "philosophy of resignation," actually when talking about how people drive so recklessly in Iran and how dangerous the roads were. People drive at high speeds down the wrong side of the road, and mothers walk into streets holding their children by the hand. She attributed this behavior to this philosophy of resignation, the belief that everything is in the hands of Allah, and one can only expect to suffer on earth and gain paradise after death. Perhaps this is why in Persepolis the government puts so much emphasis on mourning the war "martyrs." Maybe this is a way to prove to themselves that resignation is the right path, that life is only pain and death and all that can be hoped for is the afterlife, filled with "food, women, and houses made of gold and diamonds." (persepolis page 100)

http://www.persianmirror.com/Article_det.cfm?id=2170&getArticleCategory=41&getArticleSubCategory=1

Veils Banned in France

In Persepolis, we see how Marji in Iran is forced by Sharia law to wear a veil and how in public she must always be conservative by wearing a veil. Even though this was in 1980, it still applies to many Middle Eastern countries today. However, some western countries have begun to 'fear' the hijab and niqab, especially considering 9/11 and other terrorists attacks. In France, in April it officially banned woman from wearing the niqab. Furthermore, the vast majority of women have been stopped by the police. Yet, two women in the minority, still wearing their niqabs, were fined by the state. Now this has become a huge case in France because of the alleged discrimination in addition to the controversy of whether or not this is also a case of human rights. It is interesting how we see Marji hate wearing the veil, and others like her fighting again that and other aspects of Sharia law yet there are others, who are not forced to wear the veil, consider it be a proud symbol of their religion that is being taken from them [by French law in this particular case].

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/22/niqab-women-fined-french-court

Women and the Islamic Revolution

There are many instances of women getting involved in the Islamic Revolution in the story Persepolis. For example, on page 76, Marjane attends a protest with many other women to defend women’s rights. At the protest, they say, “Guns may shoot and knives may carve, but we won’t wear your silly scarves!” Although they are directly protesting wearing scarves and veils, women were actually protesting freedom. According to an article on libcom.org, women protested under the slogan, “We made the revolution for freedom and got unfreedom.” On March 8, 1979, people gathered in Tehran and marched, requesting the addition of women’s rights into the revolution mix. There were many reasons for the Islamic Revolution. Tension among various groups including fundamentalists, U.S. imperialists, and Marxists also contributed to the revolution. As the tension was quickly growing among these conflicting ideas in Iran, women jumped on board with the protest. Whether it was to protest scarves, like Marjane and the women in Persepolis, or to fight for freedom like those participating in the march on March 8, women played an important and active role in the Islamic Revolution beginning in 1979.

http://libcom.org/library/women-revolution-iran-dunyevskaya

Children's Thoughts of War and Conflict

In class today we talked about about how Marjane was being told and taught different stories from all different sources about the Islamic Revolution and conflict in her home country of Iran. One hand she gets stories and thoughts told to her by her parents, mainly her father and this shapes her mind one way. On the other hand she is being taught something completely different at school which is leading to her confusion about the conflict. I can recall from my own experiences during the 9/11 tragedy, that I felt confused in a similar way to Marjane. Right after 9/11 I remember my parents having their own thoughts about who attacked us, also I remember kids at school had their own ideas and thoughts about what happened which of course came from their parents. The point is that when conflict or tragedy occurs in a country, everybody has their own opinions and ideas on what is actually going on, and kids are so naive and impressionable they for the most partbelieve whatever adults put into their heads. We see this in the story with Marjane, she believes one thing at school and then once she gets home her dad tells her another thing which she begins to believe.

Below is article about Children's reaction's to War and Terrorism
http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/talking_kids_about_terrorism_or_acts_war

The United States & The Islamic Revolution

Anger against the Shah had been developing for many years leading up to the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Having implemented new ideas and completely taken over control by the aid of his secret police, the Shah had lost popularity with many citizens of Iran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became the face of the revolution with his efforts against the Shah; he was eventually sent into exile, only to return and take over after the Shah had fled from the country. A fact that I was completely oblivious to is that the United States was actually a supporter of the Shah. The CIA had actually been a key factor in getting rid of Iran’s prime minister in order for the Shah to gain his position after his earlier exile. These efforts may be shocking, but they were made in order to ensure that Iran would not be overtaken by the Soviet Union and their plans for the spread of Communism during the Cold War. The efforts of our country earned us a few nicknames from Khomeini and his followers, such as “the Great Satan”. This reputation is still familiar to Islam citizens today. Although Khomeini was a representation of revolution and change within the country, through his reign many acts of torture and a lessening of freedom occurred. The country, therefore, did not make much progress in their efforts.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/indepth/upfront/features/index.asp?article=f091806_TP_Iran

Marjane and Ramona

As I continue to read Persepolis, I find that Marjane reminds me a lot of Ramona Quimby from Beverly Cleary's children's books. Both girls are fiesty, rambunctious little girls who speak their mind that produces humor from the reader. This humor is especially endearing because, as readers, we see things they can't. However, what is refreshing is that what these girls say is the raw truth. They both tell it like they see it because they have no bias, no realization of what's actually happening so we see what they see. Marjane's side comments are so humorous, yet so true, like the one where she tells Laly," You must admit that I wasn't completely wrong when I said he was not on a trip." She wasn't wrong, she was on a trip and that is the only thing she cared about what being right. She completely overlooked the fact that her friend's father was tortured because, as little kids, being right is the only thing that matters.

The interesting thing about each girl is that they are both trying to grow up and understand the world around them without losing their own personality. Growing up during the Islamic Revolution, Marjane is surrounded by chaos and bias and is very confused about why their is fighting and which side to take. Ramona's problems, although less prominent, are still very troubling for her and she tries to take on the world around her without losing who she is. Both girls get scolded for speaking their minds and doing things without thinking, but they are both very lovable, refreshing characters who bring a humorous perspective to troubling times.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128689937

Effects of Graphic Novels

While reading the first half of Persepolis, my first graphic novel I have ever read, I have discovered something new. In normal novels you are only presented with words and you have to create the images of the characters, scenery, etc. in your head. In movies you only get the pictures and words and are unable to actually capture the thoughts of each and every character. This graphic novel allows for all of the above to happen. You get pictures, words, facial expressions, and thoughts all in one creating all kinds of stories. Although many people only think that graphic novels are for young kids who read spiderman or batman they can be proven wrong by reading Persepolis or any other graphic novels. The following article describes how graphic novels are one of the best sources of entertainment and bring the best of both worlds in one.

http://drej2522.hubpages.com/hub/graphic-novels-vs-books

Heroes Hurt

In the first half of Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi’s younger self sees a hero as not just someone who stands for a cause but also suffers for it. Knowing that someone went through anguish to achieve a goal enriches their experience and causes us to give respect because the person persevered. If a woman gave birth without pain or struggle would it be as special? If Michael Jordan didn’t have to lose for seven seasons before he won a championship would his story be as compelling? Hell, if we didn’t have to study or go to class for a degree what would really be its value? As we see with Satrapi’s reaction to her uncle, scars are the physical proof that gives a person more right in our minds to tell a story, and therefore more respect.

Know When You'll Walk Out

The soldiers made many mistakes while they were stationed at Abu Ghraib, but one of the worst occurred before they took a step into the prison or joined the army. They committed themselves to a stressful system without having a set of values etched into their characters. Instead, they relied on the military and their superiors to guide their decisions and therefore their morals. In traumatic situations where your life is in danger daily, imprisonment is a result of disobedience, and you have the responsibility of authority it is vital to have a strong sense of self. The soldiers that were interviewed looked back on their experiences with a distant regret but as they performed “standard operating procedures” they knew their actions were wrong. The rationalization for the torture was that soldiers were being killed and that the information the prisoners had would help end it. But how far will someone allow another to guide their moves before they stop? The soldiers didn’t have a definite answer.

Persepolis, Meaning of Title

While reading Persepolis I continued to wonder why the title was Persepolis. The book has talked about a child growing up during the Islamic Revolution. After looking up what Persepolis was, I realized that it was a city located in what is known now as Iran, but was known as Prussia until the 1900s. Persepolis was the capital during the Prussian Empire. I then carefully re-read the introduction to Persepolis and dwelled on why Satrapi named her book Persepolis rather than something that reflected her life or the Islamic Revolution. Maybe Satrapi wanted to reflect on Iran's past, before major changes and the Revolution. Perhaps she wanted to honor her land by what is known of it's time of wealth and glory, during the Prussian Empire. Before it changed and been accused of evil doings. "I believe that an entire nation should not be judged by the wrongdoings of a few extremist" (Satrapi).

http://www.livius.org/pen-pg/persepolis/persepolis.html

Marxism

Marx was a philosopher who described the true nature of capitalism, which he recognised as a class based society. The ruling class, the bourgeoisie, exploit the labor power of the working class, the proletariat, in order to make profit. Without workers there is no profit...just raw materials waiting to be shaped and modelled into saleable commodities. Marx created what is known as the socialist theory that the government should control the economy.

http://www.nolanchart.com/article4246-socialism-and-capitalism.html

Submissive Tendencies

There are many affects war has on a soldier's mental state. One in particular I found static amongst all the war pieces we have read is how submissive these soldiers become. In the Abu Ghraib presentation, multiple soldiers spoke of how easily they obeyed the orders of superior rankings. Whether the soldiers were asking the inferior rankings to take pictures of the tortured peoples or be included in the photographs taken, the soldiers never refused. Similarly, in "All Quiet..." Paul obeyed all orders he was given. At many times throughout the novel, Paul even mentioned not fully understanding what it was he was fighting for, but simply that he was obeying the orders of his superiors. I think it's important to examine how little soldiers begin to think for themselves when put in the atmosphere of war. The power of war to strip soldiers of their free will and individuality is evident in all the war pieces we have read.

All Quiet vs. Abu Ghraib

When watching the Abu Ghraib video, I constantly found myself thinking about the events in "All Quiet On The Western Front". In particular, it was easy to make connections between the affects of war in Abu Ghraib to those included in "All Quiet..". For instance, multiple testimonies from the Abu Ghraib presentations spoke of dead people being taken away in body bags. Rather than presenting this tragic image in an emotionally attached manner, the soldiers spoke about these events in a monotone, matter-of-fact manner. Similarly, in "All Quiet.." Paul spoke about the death of his comrades and of other soldiers in the same manner. Often, he even mentioned how war affected his view of death and made him somewhat numb to the emotional damage death carries. The same can be said for the soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib presentation. Having been surrounded by violence and death for so long, the soldiers became immune the emotional and mental baggage death possesses. For the soldiers in Abu Ghraib and in "All Quiet On The Western Front" death is no longer a threatening occurrence- rather, death is simply part of their everyday routine.

Photographs

One of the most eye-opening aspects of the Abu Ghraib presentation is the power of a photo. Although photographs are normally taken without thought, this presentation emphasizes the importance of thinking before doing (taking pictures). For example, by smiling in some of the photographs, the young woman appears to be participating in the incrimination, violent behavior with the other soldiers. Where in fact, she is simply a bystander that they forced to be involved in the photograph taking. But by only looking at the photo itself, from a completely disconnected point of view, this woman seems to be heartless and violent just as the actual abusers are. Moreover, realizing what image one is presenting when including themselves in a photograph is an important thing to think about. In addition, how are they portraying themselves in the photograph, physically (i.e. body language, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc.). Photographs capture a single moment, but don't quite explain the whole situation.

Lingering Effects

Abu Ghraib is not the only terrorist prison run by Americans. Inmates held at Guantanamo Bay experienced many of the same experiences as the prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Some of the interrogation techniques used at both prisons include sexual humiliation, denial of senses, the sense of sight being the most common, and waterboarding. Inmates at Guatanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib were forced to listen to excessively loud music to induce sleep deprivation. Both of these prisons have come under great scrutiny in the last several years because of these interrogation techniques.

Many people criticize the CIA and military services for using irrelevant techniques on terrorist suspects or for interrogating suspects with not justifiable suspicion. Regardless of the motivation behind these crude interrogation techniques, they have serious impacts on the victims. The article “The Lingering Effects of Torture” by ABC news highlights some of these after-effects. One argument that is made in the article is about the combination of torture methods and how it can increase the long-term effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. A combination of methods might include being slapped, with one’s hands tied behind the back, while wearing a hood that prevented the victim from being able to see. While one of these three may not have significant effects, the combination of all three can drastically increase the likelihood of PTSD. This is clearly evident at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.

We have seen from the video “Standard Operating Procedure” that many of the terrorist suspects had their hands tied behind their backs with sacks over their heads and were subject to various torture methods including sexual humiliation and sleep deprivation. None of the techniques used at these prisons appear to be conducive to the ultimate goal of ending the war on terrorism. Although it may be difficult to identify with the “enemy”, most people would agree that the techniques used by military personnel and the CIA at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib were inhumane and quite unnecessary.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=7986990&page=2#.TsVFwBzKjV0