The boy who is wearing a cap shocked me with terror. How can a boy who looks much younger than me contribute to a horrible murder! Seeing this picture, I remember a story of North Korea that children learn subtration and addition through war. The normal math question for them is "if there were 10 soldiers in the beginning and later 5 0f them were shot to death, how many soldiers are still alive?" Those children in North Korea are also exposed to severe propaganda initiated by the government. They believe South Korean started the Korean War and almost seem to believe democracy leads to poverty.
The boy also reminds me of Benson in "They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky".
As soon as Benson arrives at the Ethiopian camp, he laments over the camp's situation, thinking "It was not what I had expected. The elders had told us there would be schools and thousands of people and that we would be safe" (Deng 86). Benson seems to have been excited by the fact that he might get a chance to be educated. However, his hope disperses in the air of cruel reality.
I think the boy in the picture feels the same way Benson does. He might be grieving over the situation that limits his prospect.
2 comments:
Hannah,
Children in America really don't realize how lucky they are to have the education and opportunity to do with their lives what they want. These lost boys come to America looking for just those things. There's a video - God Grew Tired of Us - taken from a book of the same title, that might be of interest to you. I expect the story line is similar to the one you read in class.
Mrs. Cavellier (Mr. Cavellier's MOTHER, not wife!!)
The fact that North Korean children are taught subtraction this way is abhorrent. Is this something that is reliable, or is it something that South Koreans are told about their "neighbors to the north"--remember, propaganda can work both ways.
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