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Revision as of 13:24, 20 August 2020
, 13:24, 20 August 2020no edit summary
And what about the other side? What happens to a boy who is living in a society defined by the belief its violent response to dissent is patriotic and just? Alan's toxic masculinity - what is it? A fault in Alan? Or a fault in Alan's society? Or has gaming inured him to real-life violence? I didn't like Alan but I felt for him. Plagued by feelings of inadequacy, his job in the drone program gave him self worth for fleeting moments but made him behave in awful ways towards others just like those awful MRA activists today with their Pepe the Frog avatars. Jingoism does not create healthy young men.
The most obvious comparison is that Sutcliffe's Strip is a cipher cypher for the Gaza Strip and the control exerted over it by the Israeli authorities. I believe the author visited the OPT while researching this book. And it will give pause for thought on that thorny topic for all readers, whatever their preconceptions. But it also makes me think about what it must have been like living in Belfast during the Troubles. Or about the consequences of Western interventions in the MENA region, which have left vast swathes of territory effectively ungoverned and therefore created similar dangerous environments for young people to grow up in. Surely we can find better solutions?
''We See Everything'' is as beautifully written as it is chilling. The main characters are all searching for meaning and love and beauty in the most terrible of circumstances. And, amid the horror and the tragedy, they do manage to find them, if only for brief whiles. I think we have to cling to that, don't you?
Recommended for all thoughtful, serious readers. You might also like to try [[Whatever Makes You Happy by William Sutcliffe]].
[[The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan]] is another powerful story about what it means to be a young person in a war zone.
