Thursday, February 23, 2012

Violence

In both readings, violence is used as a means to carry out justice. I believe that it is necessary for justice to occur, even if it is through violence. If a person is guilty of heinous crimes, beyond any reasonable doubt, but hides behind corruption and escapes the law, then the women in these stories had no choice. They were forced to kill the men because a corrupt and classist society left them with no other option. If the women in Kasturba Nagar had not killed Akku Yadav, he would have gotten away with murder, rape, torture, and countless other atrocities. The system would not have brought justice for any of the victims, and Akku Yadav could have gone out and terrorized even more people. In The Hunt, Mary stopped Tehsildar from attempting to rape other women and from 'raping' the villages again for sal wood in the coming years. In both cases, the men were undoubtably guilty, but because of their status and the status of the people they targeted, they would get away with it. The women provided the only justice that they could, which was death.
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2 comments:

  1. Corey SteinbergFebruary 24, 2012 at 8:53 AM

    I agree with James. The women in these stories really didn't have another option. There were being terrorized from someone who probably wouldn't stop, and so they did what they had to do in order to restore peace to their villages. In Half The Sky, the legal system was corrupted, and if the women had not taken action Akku Yaduv would have been back to his old ways in no time. In The Hunt, raping a woman was punishable by death, so Tehsildar got what he deserved, and Mary had every right to kill him.

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  2. Sonia FeldmanFebruary 24, 2012 at 9:52 AM

    While, as in my post I express that I agree that violence can be necessary, I think your approach is too black and white. Yes those crimes are heinous but is violence the answer to every crime? What about theft? What about lying? Are you advocating an eye for an eye? Would death for rape be an eye for an eye? I think this issue requires more nuance than simply, yes violence carries out justice.

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