Friday, May 1, 2020

Frantz Fanon free essay sample

Frantz Fanon was a deeply involved and diligent philosopher who recognized the separation and relations between the oppressed and the oppressors as well as the fight for freedom. He specifically speaks on Algeria as the colonized, facing the French who were the colonizers. Fanon was writing mainly during the 1940’ s-60 when decolonization was becoming popular. Fanon was greatly involved in the decolonization struggle, and in his book The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon explains and observes the ways in which the colonized shall attempt to declare their rights from the colonizers. Fanon believed that the only way for the colonized to earn their independence, they would have to violently rebel against the colonizers. The famous movie or book series, The Hunger Games, highlights the same struggle Fanon explains between the oppressed and the oppressors. A nation called Panem consists of 12 districts of people and one ruling Capitol. At one point in their history, the oppressed people of Panem rose and violently rebelled against the Capitol; however, the Capitol overcame this challenge and overpowered the districts. Each year, as a reminder of this rebellion and a reminder of the overbearing power the Capitol has, the Capitol holds the Hunger Games. As Fanon may see it, this annual fight to the death between 24 teenagers serves as a reminder for the oppressed or colonized to â€Å"†¦remain in [their] place and not overstep its limits† (Fanon, p. 144), like they had done once before. These 12 districts are already in bad living conditions, in which they are not provided with the means to adequately provide for themselves and their families. Every instance in which they get food from the Capitol, their name is entered into the reaping one more time. Katniss Everdeen is a teen from District 12, who hunts. This is very risky, for if a member of he Capitol catches her, the punishments would be infinite. Katniss is a tribute from District 12 who volunteered herself in the spot of her younger sister, whose name was originally drawn. Katniss and Peeta, the other tribute from District 12 defy Fanon’s philosophy that violence is the necessary action in order to gain independence from the oppressor. An example from The Hunger Games when Katniss challenges the authority of the oppressor is when Rue, another young tribute, dies. In this instance usually the dead tributes are taken up into the hovercraft and forgotten about; however, here, Katniss displays her respect, care, and honor for Rue by singing to her, and once she did die, Katniss covered Rue’s body with flowers to display the respect that the Capitol does not pay. Katniss defies the uniformity of forgetting about the dead, and even in this dangerous situation in which Katniss could have easily been killed had someone found her with Rue, she remained herself and didn’t allow the colonizers to change her behavior, causing her to leave Rue. Similarly, Peeta even says to Katniss during the movie that if he is going to die, he wants to die himself, and he does not want colonizers and the Capitol to change him. Fanon would definitely agree with Katniss and Peeta’s decision to not be brainwashed and changed by the colonizers for he deems it necessary to challenge the oppression and stand up for what they believe. These games are rather disturbing in which these young teenagers are, â€Å"†¦reduced to the status of [animals]† (Fanon, p. 144). All of the tributes are personally trained and then thrown into the arena to fight for their lives. This can be seen as a violation of the UDHR right in that no one shall suffer cruel or degrading treatment, in which the tributes are suffering both. In the end of the movie, Katniss kills the last tribute, Kato, leaving her and Peeta as the dual victors from District 12. Before they begin celebrating, the Capitol diminishes the rule that was previously in place, which allowed for two winners from the same district, and returned to the original rule in which only one tribute shall be crowned victor. Neither Katniss nor Peeta gave in to the controlling and evil plans of the Capitol, which called for either of them to turn on the other, and Katniss unselfishly suggested that they both eat the poisonous Nightlock berries, leaving no victor. Here they both demonstrate great courage and passion, as they are about to eat the berries when the Capitol gives in and allows them both to be victorious. Katniss and Peeta defy that violence is necessary to gain their independence as Fanon suggests. Rather than violently fighting until one of them remains, they understand that if this were to happen the Capitol would have been pleased; however, instead Peeta and Katniss use peace and intellect to first act on what would strongly annoy the Capitol, having no winner, forcing the Capitol to have the final decision, two winners or no winners. Living under the totalitarian rule of the Capitol, participating in these games in which, the most important key to survival is to kill, Katniss and Peeta definitively defied Fanon and provided a strong, symbolic message to all of the districts and the Capitol that change was headed its way. Frantz Fanon and Mohandas Gandhi shared similar goals of gaining national independence; however, their ways of obtaining that independence were tremendously different. Gandhi’s approach for gaining independence for India was taken by a path of patience, while Fanon strived to gain independence for Algeria through violence. Fanon believed that violence was the only way to get the colonizers’ attention. â€Å"†¦Colonialism is not a machine capable of thinking, a body endowed with reason. It is naked violence and only gives in when confronted with greater violence† (Fanon, p. 46). Gandhi, on the other hand believed non-violence was to be used as duty and discipline, and strategy and goal. â€Å"But I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gandhi, p. 96) Gandhi â€Å"†¦longs for freedom from the English yoke† (Gandhi, p. 101). Gandhi believed in Satyagraha, which â€Å"does not inflict pain on the adversary,† but is â€Å"a pure soul-force,† that â€Å"burns with the flame of love† (Gandhi, p. 91). I believe that Fanon wants the same things as Gandhi wants, only towards the French. While Gandhi did not hurt anyone, he showed his passion for this independence in the protests he was involved in, and most importantly his march. Gandhi used complete nonviolence and ended up obtaining the independence he was looking for. Fanon seemed to only believe in using violence, stronger than the French were imposing already, in order to overpower the French. His passion was in his anger, not the patience Gandhi portrayed. There is a significant correlation between Fanon’s ideologies and The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that is very recognizable as well. The UDHR was accepted by the United Nations in 1948 and conveys all of the rights of which human beings are entitled to around the world. The UDHR expresses its’ central law in which all men are created equal. Frantz Fanon and The Wretched of the Earth, offers a framework for the abolishment of colonial, or rather white rule. In the UDHR, Article 2 states, â€Å"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms†¦without distinction of any kinds, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other option, national or social origin, property, birth or other status† (UDHR, p. 32). Fanon would agree with this article; however, his understanding is that, â€Å"†¦what divides this world is first and foremost what species, what race one belongs to† (Fanon, p. 144). Fanon is describing that although Article 2 explains there shall be no discrimination, we live in a world where the division of power, money and other economic resources commonly rev olve around discrimination. Fanon also believes in justified violence, meaning, if under the circumstances, a country or person be mistreated, they should be allowed to fight back with violence. Articles 4 and 5 of the UDHR state that no human shall be held in slavery and no one shall undergo torturous or degrading treatment. Once again, the UDHR has exemplified an ideal society; however, Fanon points out that the oppressors often display, â€Å"†¦racial hatred, slavery, exploitation, and above all, the bloodless genocide† (Fanon, p. 147), just as the French caused to the Algerians. Fanon would ultimately agree that the UDHR is right. It is the ideal life of a human being that the people ignore none of these rights; however, when it is encountered and these rights are ignored, necessary violence is just. In my own opinion, Frantz Fanon offers some worthy ideologies worth focusing on; however, I moreover agree with the way in which Katniss, rather than taking action using violence and simply acting on her passion, displays rebellion, because I feel it had a greater impact to The Capitol, and to the rest of the fellow oppressed as well. The main message I get from all three disciplines is simply to find a voice, whether it is through violence, non-violence, or taking action by rebelling, each discipline causes a striking moment in which the oppressor is challenged. However it may be, the oppressed needs to find their voice and take action for what they truly believe and care for.

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