It is often said that history has a way of repeating itself. The age old war of battling oppression can be seen on every continent. Ones fight from oppression is often gruesome, long suffering and unthinkable to endure. When I think of oppressed people, my own heritage comes to mind. My mind creates imagery of slavery, Jim crow laws and the journey of African Americans for equality. I think of the genocide in Darfur and the hideous acts of hate that left thousands of Rwandan descendants broken, defeated and martyred. I was completely ignorant to the fact that a similar class struggle and status quo conflict ever occured between England and Ireland.
The seargeant and the ballad singer represent the thin line between whats legally and morally right. We all have our norms, mores and paradigms of the way we view the world. What one is passionate about may be a direct conflict with what is legally expected of them to do.
Two of the most profound parts of this play look at the concrete fact of: You never know where life will take you. The man says, "Its a queer world, seargeant, and its little any mother knows when she sees her child creeping on the floor what might happen to it before it has gone through its life, or who will be who in the end." This statement forced the sergeant to meditate on his own life and reflect on the fact that he could be the one uprising for freedom. Thus, creating his ethical/moral dillema and legal obligation. We can ponder all day about whether the right decesion was made. The piece illuminates how the sergeant questions himself at the end. His doubt shows a vulnerability to the audience and makes his feelings tangilbe. Its safe to say we all have felt that tug when choosing between two contradicting obligations.
My abstract eye leaves me asking every one this: What would you be willing to risk to stand for what you whole-heartedly believe in?
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2 comments:
I think Jackie makes a valid point. We could debate for hours on what we think was right or wrong. So lets look at her last question/point.
"My abstract eye leaves me asking every one this: What would you be willing to risk to stand for what you whole-heartedly believe in?"
I have thought about many situations in my life that are meaning full and important to me. Health care and insurance for same sex partners. Equal rights for same sex partners. Pro choice for Rape victims. Help for Rape victims and hate crimes. But i can not deep down condone violence to prove or get what we want and need. Having been a victim I don't think it does anything but perpetuate the cycle.
I can not image what it must be like for those who have had it worse off then myself. But to come to murder or brutality is another question all together.
Great post, Jackie. Yes, I think this balance between the law and morality or ethics is an important part of drama in general! (I'm posting this after several weeks of the semester, and just look at all the plays we've read thus far: Medea, As You Like It, Pygmalion--they all have someone who either deliberately transgresses social rules or is trying to learn to follow them.)
Your and Will's parallels between the struggle for Irish independence represented in this play and more current questions of civil rights closer to your own experience are compelling and important. I think this is why drama and theatre have been subject to censorship in so many cultures: they give us the opportunity to question and debate the morality of law-to represent revolutionary ideas in a public way without having to resort to violence. And they encourage audiences to imagine what their reactions would be in similar situations.
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