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

Picture Says 1000 words

Through this documentary, we have seen the power of pictures and how they can say so much about one moment in the fabric of time. The pictures that were taken at Abu Ghraib say many things, some of them were true, and some of them were not. The famous scarecrow picture seems as though he has electrical cables attached to him. However, we find out through explanation that these were not even plugged in and were merely used to scare the prisoner. Some of the photos do say exactly what they seem to say: the prisoners were being sexually harassed and abused to obtain information that many of them didn't have. It is a lesson to all of us to be careful of what we are taking pictures of and to be careful of how people may perceive what is happening. A picture can say a lot of things, the truth isn't always one of them.

http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/power-images-creating-myths-our-time

Conformity Issues

While we view this standard operating procedure one of the things I keep thinking is that many of these people are found caught up in informational social influence and normative social influence. I am just learning about these things in my psychology class and now they are greatly applying in this situation. Informational social influence is the influence other people have on us because we ant to be right. Normative social influence is the influence other people have on us because we want them to like us. We see this taking place with many people who were involved in this procedure. Mostly the women are found doing things such as taking pictures and doing things they know are wrong but someone told them to do it so they do it anyways. A man also came in one day and claimed that because of the nice person he is he just did what they said cause he basically wanted to fit in with other U.S soldiers.

The following Youtube video shows both these types of conformity is a very much less harmful way but shows how people will do things just because others are or because they just want to fit in because they think it is the right thing to do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPsg6ldzUnc&feature=related

Abu Ghraib and the Stanford Prison Experiment Parallels

Upon watching Standard Operating Procedure it seemed to me as if Abu Ghraib was a real life example of both the Stanford Prison experiment and the Milgram experiment. Both experiments ultimately studied the effects of authority their results closely matched the events that occurred in Abu Ghraib. Both Abu Ghraib and the Stanford experiment took place in a prison setting where there were prisoners and officers with little to no presence of higher ups regulation. In both cases the officers succumbed to the power they had and in the simplest way of putting it, abused it. Similar to the officers in the Stanford Experiment the personalities of the officers at Abu Ghraib were most likely affected by situational attribution. In this case the situation the offers were in had a major impact on the way they acted and not necessarily their true inner selves. A lot of the actions of the Abu Ghraib officers could be explained by cognitive dissonance, which was another point brought up by the Stanford experiment. The uncomfortable situations that many of the officers might have faced caused them to shift their thinking process and accept that what they were doing was acceptable. This plays in line with the idea of the power of authority as lower ranking officers might have originally been uncomfortable with the tortures but after time they might have created a tolerance and forced them to believe that what they were doing was okay.

This website draws further parallelism between the Abu Ghraib events and the Stanford and Milgram experiments:

http://maletomalefeeling.com/abughraib.html

Remorse?

When we looked at the pictures in class of the prisoners of Abu Ghraib, what disturbed me the most were the pictures in which American soldiers posed with them. Lynnde England giving the thumbs-up sign next to the corpse and the man who had the prisoner's head pulled back like a deer were particularly horrifying because she could have been standing next to a prize-winning pie at the state fair, and he could have been celebrating his first deer hunt. It made me wonder whether they should be believed if they say the things they did were out of control, or even if they feel any remorse for the torture they inflicted on the prisoners.

I found this interesting article about England that was written two years after the Abu Ghraib scandal had been brought to light. After reading it, I still have mixed feelings about her, but I can't decide whether or not she feels true remorse for what she did. Sometimes it seems like she's still trying to play the victim--"I was only in the photos for a split second of time"--but it is also clear that she realizes her life will never be the same. Take a look and decide for yourself.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/29/national/main5121230.shtml

Responsibility and Chance

After watching half of the Abu Ghraib video, two things have really stuck out in my mind. The two subjects are responsibility and chance. It seems in the video, as if no one wants to take responsibility for what happened. The soldiers say "it was the MI" who were doing it, the MI say they were told to do those things. At the same time, I think it's impossible to blame them solely because what are the chances that all of the soldiers that were told to watch over Abu Ghraib were all evil people who enjoyed torturing people? It's very unlikely.

When thinking about both of those terms and how they intertwine, it makes me think there seems to be one problem; when you give people power without rules, humanity goes out the window and power takes its place. In the video, some of the guards said they saw what was going on and the commanders and people in power told them not to say anything and mind their own business. If there is an institution where someone has the power to make another "be quiet", anything can happen. The whole idea of this hierarchy and it being in a prison, reminds me of the Stanford Prison experiment.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

Abu Ghraib

Before being introduced to the pictures and interviews of Abu Ghraib, I truly had no idea of what to expect. On the first day of viewing the pictures of the event, I was completely caught off guard. There were soldiers taking pictures of Iraqi individuals and/or dead corpses. Personally, it looked like some type of setup, but in reality I found it quite disturbing that the American soldiers were responsible for torturing these people for several reasons. First of all, using the tactics they did to find responses to certain circumstances were irrelevant, such as putting hot sauce stained bags over their heads, placing leashes around their necks, etc. Where is the morality in this instance?

Being commanded to do your duty does not mean that what you have to do is always right. For the American soldiers, there is no excuses to the harm and humiliation they have caused to the Iraqi people. Furthermore, learning about this event has piqued my interest to explore more about the topic. Here is one of the links I checked out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9yxdKolSkg&feature=related

Standard Operating Procedure: Nazi Soldier Syndrome?

The video confessions of the Abu Ghraib soldiers was very similar to what the Nazi soldiers said. The Nazi soldiers always said that they did the things they did because they were just following orders. It was the same for the Abu Ghraib soldiers. They did it because everyone else, mainly the authority figures, did it or they were ordered to do it, like paying the music really loud to keep the prisoners awake. It was strange how it worked out. The new people followed along but some higher authority figure who was visiting noticed that something was wrong. Why do people do that? The website that I looked at says that this behavior results from the imbalance of power, and people are to willing to give themselves to a job.

However, the girl who wrote the letters knew how horrible eveything looked but she did not speak up. This showed that the soldiers had the urge to follow orders but also not to question them. When things are not questioned, the truth is not seen or found and people will continue to think or do wrong.

This also reminds me of the movie An American Crime that has this crazy mother who tells her children it is ok to abuse this girl they are supposed to be caring for. Then the neighborhood kids come to the house to abuse her too. They all responded in court that they did not know why they did those things or did not get help.

People seem to take authority figures as their dictator over their souls. Conscience is blocked and sympathy is lost. The only thing that matters is keeping their job and reputation with their bosses.

Really Good Website: It lookes at different scenerios of power influencing people's decisions including Abu Ghraib soldiers.
http://www.kon.org/urc/v6/patros.html

The Single Story at Abu Ghraib (Prison Experiment)

While watching Standard Operating Procedure I found it interesting how much information was not interrupted through the pictures. The story we interrupted through the pictures was the humiliation presented and the unethical actions that soldiers may have taken. The film present the need for information, the reason behind these actions. We find out that these actions where in fact not done by every soldier. Mainly the younger and uneducated soldiers where the ones that resorted to these forms of humiliation and torture. They were given orders to soften the prisoners up but they were not interrogating the right people. Instead, they were treating innocent civilians bad. Civilians that were in the wrong place at the wrong time. I compared the actions in the prison similar to those in the Stanford Prison Experiment. How when presented with a authoritative and evil situation people will act that way. Even the most sensitive and nice people will act with authority and if their authority is not respected they will force their authority through torture, humiliation, and fear.

http://www.prisonexp.org/

Lynndie England and female bullies

After looking at the disturbing photos in class on Friday, I was reminded of a video I saw on the news a few years ago. It was a high school Lacrosse team I believe, and the senior girls were beating up on the freshman. They made the girls kneel in front of them while they threw food at them, kicked them, hit them, and to make it worse, they recorded the whole thing. I remember being so shocked and disgusted, but what bothered me the most was the fact that these were girls doing this. It's very stereotypical of me, but I had never really thought of girls being violent, only guys. I had the same feeling as we looked at the photos in class. In the photo I first saw, England looked like a young boy to me, definitely not a girl. And after hearing that the person I saw was female, I got that sick feeling again. Girls are typically viewed as sweet, innocent. To see a happy girl smiling so happily next to a frozen dead corpse, it just didn't sit right with me. I decided to look up other videos and was amazed to find that this isn't a rare occurrence. Girls are violent, and just like guys, they enjoy it. We've talked about animal instincts in class before, and while these girls are not acting like human, I don't see their actions as animalistic either.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/24009077/ns/today-today_people/t/teens-videotape-beating-revenge-online-posts/

Lynndie England and Abu Ghraib

While researching more on Abu Ghraib I also decided on researching more on Lynndie England. She was the girl posing in a majority of the photos. I found an interview that CBS News had with her and she talks about how she was given specific orders to "soften up" war prisoners before they were interrogated. I find this interesting, that even though England claims she was given direct orders she poses in each of her pictures. Smiling and grinning, I would say that England was enjoying her time taking these pictures. She looks as if she were taking these pictures and planning on posting them on her Facebook. Even if she was given direct orders why would she taking take these pictures for display? This unethical judgement by England and her superiors have been reviewed by many. Yes interrogation is a must during time of conflict. It gives information that is needed but the method that information is gathered is much more sensitive case.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=617137n

Abu Ghraib photos:

The photos we observed in class seemed like incomplete literature to me. Looking at one photo, I would describe it like this:

There was a dressed blue and black corse, most likely male, lying on a cot. There is a white woman dressed in military uniform who looks like she may be American. She is leaning towards the body and facing camera with a thumb up and a smile. She looks like she is taking pride in getting her picture taken with the corpse, who may an enemy to her.

But I had no idea about anymore of the picture. If the picture was titled with "Ice Man" I would add to my description that the corpse is the Ice Man. If I knew the background story of Abu Ghraib, I would say, "the woman is American and the Ice Man is a tortured prisoner from the Middle East. He was frozen after being tortured to death." And there could be more to say about the Ice Man and what the military did and the morals of the military. Then, the picture could be worth a thousand words, so they say. But just having the photo without any other description or knowledge can hardly produce 100 words and it leaves the observer in the dark.

People can know what is happening in some pictures but I think that is because they already have seen something similar read a description before that matches a photo or they can relate to the photo. A picture I see often is easy for me to give most or all of the story:

A kid is standing on a chair or something tall in front of a counter. He is reaching for a jar on the counter. He probably would get in trouble if he were caught.

I see this and I think the kid is getting a cookie because I know cookie jars are kept on the counter and I have seen pictures like this before. I also know that if the kid was allowed to have a cookie, the mom or dad would be handing it to the kid instead of the kid standing on something.

Website: It's long but describes the investigation and some of the photos we looked at in class. Also, it says that these photos give more description to people but the photos do not tell everything about the military involvement or reasons for doing what they did.
http://www.salon.com/2006/03/14/introduction_2/

In the majority of books read this year rape has been used as a convenient and free weapon against women, men, and children. The act takes away almost all power from the victim and gives the rapist ultimate authority. It encompasses an addiction to both power and sex. This combination creates a complete lack of shared empathy and a need to indulge ones desires. The victims are subjected to the short term physical pain of forced intercourse and most have to deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

In Death and the Maiden, Paulina seems to show signs of PSTD because of her "triggers", or details that take her back to her rape such as the Gerado's voice, and infatuation with revenge. Vengeful fantasies blended with flashbacks can cause a person to distort reality. At this point the eyes and ears are not receivers but projectors of what the victim believes they see. Whether or not Roberto was innocent is debatable. What is certain is that rape haunts a victim until their last breath, making them fearful or belligerent when triggers are present.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUH8ZhmEyP8

Are We Really So Fearful?

After reading an article another article by Ariel Dorfman, I can see that his intention with this play is to show people what would a victim do if they were able to take revenge on their culprit. To me this story had a weird plot and as it progressed the story was to me even weirder. Though I thought it was a little odd, it had a lot to say about the affects of violence and torture. As he explains in his article, torture should not be revengeful punishment for people who have perpetrated others. He makes a good point about America punishing prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. He says that America should be ashamed that we allow ourselves to stoop down to the level of those people who torture. With this play, I think his point was that people should never degrade themselves to seek revenge.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092201303.html

Death and the Maiden: character analysis

First, I want to talk about some thoughts I had. (1) Did Gerrldo really tell Roberto the true details that Paulina claimed she told in lies? Is she crazy and told the whole truth to Gerardo but thinks she didn't? or Did Roberto really change it so it was true? (2) I'm wondering if Gerardo was really in on it and he already knew Roberto from before. And maybe the whole thing was a test to see if Paulina would give up his name under pressure? But given the author's theme he was creating, it doesn't seem likely and the author does not hint on this enough but it would be an interesting twist. (3) I like Paulina's character. It's dramatic and crazy and a little creepy (especially when she turns to look at Roberto at the end when she hadn't seen him before).

Here's my analysis:

Before reading the afterward, I was thinking about the focus the author was placing on each character. There are only three characters that are seen in the play, and Ariel explains in the afterward taht it took him years to create all three characters. These characters would represent each part of the society in Chile when it is becoming a democracy. Paulina is the part of society consisting of the people who have found the chance or opportunity to get revenge for what was done to them. When Chile decided to become a democracy, people were thinking that they would get justice or revenge like Paulina thinks. Roberto represents just someone who revenge is taken out on, caused by the people who take advantage of the country's attempt to have more justice. Then Gerardo is the outside party who wants who is trying to make the situation obey the justice that the state wants to create.

I think the author did not tell the audience right out if Roberto was guilty or not because he is saying that people like Paulina will accuse them anyway if Robertos remind the Paulinas in any way of their attackers. And because of the democracy, the Paulinas will believe they should take revenge and they will take revenge just to have the matter resolved within them.

Website: It describes the character conflicts and roles.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-synopsis/death-and-the-maiden/