Am I the only person to think that there are far too many memorials for those that died in conflict? I wish there were more places devoted to considering peace.
I have spent most of the week thinking, reading and talking about violence and terrorism. It started with Stephen King. I finished reading his new novel – Under the Dome, and whilst it was an action packed page-turner, as promised by the blurb on the cover, I was a trifle bored with it by the end. Mr King, as I’m sure most of his fans already know, has rather an intense interest in the blood, guts and bodily fluids of violence and death. He is also not afraid to kill innocent victims in his books, including children and dogs, that most authors tend to arrange to be conveniently rescued in some heroic action scene. By the end of his book I felt kind of exhausted by the huge body count, it ran to over 1000 at least; which rather blighted the so called “happy ending.”
I could not in a million years, ever imagine writing anything like this, even if there is a healthy commercial market for it. But each to his own, as they say. I did enjoy reading his autobiography though – On Writing and would recommend that to any aspiring novelist.
During the last few weeks of the school holidays I have spent some time with my two stepsons, and my own son, visiting places in Dublin, mostly related to sport and shopping, but with the occasional trip to somewhere historic. All three boys are now a little wiser about some of Ireland’s history and to some degree, how it impacts on daily life today. They have also heard the recent stories on the news about attempts to blow up cars in Northern Ireland and a thwarted attempt to blow up a house with a hand grenade, a little closer to home, and they are understandably nervous about these events. It is very hard to explain why people feel so much sustained hatred for each other that they wish to kill each other.
We have also seen some rather scary and threatening graffiti, the purpose of which is to scare off the Queen, who is visiting Ireland soon. I am fully aware of the brutal and disgusting things that the British did to the Irish in the past, but even armed with this knowledge, I still cannot find a satisfactory explanation for why a group of angry young men would want to harm, what is in effect, an old granny. I am not a big fan of the Royal Family, but that is a step too far.
The conversation then turned to Al Qaida, and the complex reasons behind the conflict that has led to other acts of terrorism. The boys are flying home on Saturday and voiced their concerns about something happening to the plane. I think I have persuaded them that Al Qaida terrorists have probably not heard of Doncaster Airport and that they will definitely arrive home safely. But it is a little sad to have such conversations with children. For all that they love action films and video games where animated soldiers are blown to smithereens (they are banned in this household but I know full well they have played them), it is impossible to explain the full and awful horror of sustained pure hatred.
I am sure that at some time or other, even if it was just during our childhood, we have all wanted to reach out and slap someone, push the school bully over in the playground, punch the witch who ran off with our husband, or curse at someone who nearly caused a motorway pile up. But that kind of anger is short-lived. I can also imagine beating the crap out of anyone who threatened my family or friends, but even then, it would be in the heat of the moment. I cannot imagine waging a vendetta against them, their family, their entire race or country, for the rest of my life, and for generations after me. This kind of hatred and bitterness is hard to imagine in anyone, and yet it exists, and worse still, it is often carefully nurtured and given the dishonest approval of religion.
I am not a religious person in any sense, in fact I am an atheist, but I have read both the Bible and the Koran, and I seem to recall that murder was clearly and expressly forbidden in both texts. Apparently God will be the judge of who was right or wrong, and will deal out the punishments accordingly. As far as I can tell hell is not going to be anywhere near big enough to hold everyone, and no doubt that explains why the Second Coming predicted in Revelations is taking a while longer than expected. No doubt Lucifer is struggling with getting planning permission for the extension to his place.
There are many people who think that violent in films, TV, books and video games can fuel a tendency towards violence. This may be so for some vulnerable people, but it appears to be human nature to imagine this kind of horror, in order to be able to write the books, screenplays and design the games in the first place.
Terrorists, war-mongers, mass murderers and petty criminals alike, all possess an imagination that allows them to dream up their hideous plans to kill and maim their victims. Human beings created the vast array of weaponry that exists on the planet, and will even use items not originally designed for such stunts, like planes or cars. Politically correct parents who refuse to let their children play with toy guns, or watch anything more violent than Tom and Jerry, are often astounded when their child fashions a toy gun out of Lego bricks, a squash racquet or even a fish finger, or lobs an "armed" Satsuma into the war zone. Children are inventive too!
It is the saddest thing to think that the wonderful imaginations that we are blessed with that allows us to create wonderful architecture, life saving medical procedures, works of art or great literature, and travel to other planets, is also the same imagination that allows us to dream up ever more wicked ways of hurting each other.
Anyway, I hope that Al Qaida has indeed never heard of any destination in Yorkshire, and that the IRA, (real and imagined) and the Ulster Defence bods finally learn to get along and let Ireland live up to its deserved reputation as a friendly nation. But I’m not holding my breath.
In the meantime I am hoping Monica Ali's In the Kitchen will be slightly less gory.
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