Pride of Baghdad

Holy eff was that intense. I mean, I knew it was going to be. I read the back of the book before starting it, so I knew they’d die in the end. And I had talked to Rebecca about it and she said the same thing, that is was thoroughly depressing. But I was still taken aback. Like…I really wasn’t expecting that rape scene at all, let alone in the first 10 or so pages. And when the giraffe’s head explodes…or the lion that’s been tied up and de-clawed/de-fanged. That’s some heavy stuff – and all the worse because it’s so obviously an allegory for humans. Although, I think (and this could just be my own personal desensitizing) that using the animals to tell this kind of story makes it seem even more brutal, because when you look at an animal, you tend to think of it as a pure, natural, innocent being, even if it’s a predator. That’s not in any way to say that humans deserve violence any more than animals, but…this is a hard concept to put into words. I guess what I mean is that as a human, you have an understanding of other people’s psyches enough to realize (or at least make an educated guess about) what’s going on if they’re attacking you, and possibly formulate a way to get out of the situation/anticipate what might be coming next/etc. An animal doesn’t have these same ways of defending itself, especially against something like guns (not that an unarmed person would either, but they at least know what a gun is). Maybe that doesn’t make sense to anyone but me. Either way, the animals here are representing humans on one level, and I think the innocence of the animal psyche (if you can call it that) combined with this representation – as well as the very quick pace of all the action – makes it just about the most horrifying thing I’ve read. It will be interesting to delve into this more in class, but right now I’m still reeling from the initial reaction.