DunSan Child: Who or what is the peace child to me?

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Who or what is the peace child to me?

- Choose a representative passage from this novel that holds particular significance to you. Type it in and comment on its significance.

On page 31..

It was an old Sawi expression, terse, deadly, which expressed in three words one of the deepest undercurrents of Sawi culture - the idealization of treachery. It told Yae that the men of Haenam had intended to kill him from the beginning, but being confident he would return again and again, they had decided on a long delayed execution. To have killed Yae in the early stages would have been to settle for a commonplace murder which anyone unskilled in treachery could have accomplished.
"But to sustain the deception of friendship over a period of months and then consummate it as they were now doing called for that special sophistication in treachery which was the elixir of Sawi legends."
This quote was very significant to me since it showed how treachery was considered as the most honorable act in Sawi culture. By practicing treachery, the Sawi were fulfilling an ancient ideal. The act of treachery is not acceptable in our society today, but back in the Sawi culture, it seems to be "good" to practice treachery. Why would the Sawi consider treachery as an honorable act? Besides being a long part of their culture, I think treachery is considered honorable since it takes time and deceptive skills in order to perform treachery. In a culture that is filled with war and cautiousness, fattening someone with friendship and deceiving them might show the ability and cleverness of the one who performed treachery. Just like gaining honor when a warrior slays another warrior in war, treachery might be a prize of pride for them.

posted by Justin An @ 4:58 PM

2 Comments:

At January 24, 2007 at 10:01 PM, African Globe Trotters. said…

You clearly empathize with the Sawi. Your post shows insight. Keep galvanizing your readers! Mrs.Mc
At January 30, 2007 at 11:28 PM, Deep said…

I completely agree with the idea that the Sawi regarded treachery as their ultimate ideal. If we compare ourselves with the Sawi,we can also see this as a smiliarity between the two. Treachery continues to penetrate the fundamental basis of human society corrupting the human mind and soul, thereby reducing us to the base levels of ferocity and eccentricity we have risen from ! Great work...