Every Man In This Village Is A Liar

Every Man In This Village Is A Liar. Chapter 8: Sacrifice

Background ~ Megan Stack is an American war correspondent who wrote an autobiographical account of her time in the Middle East, “Every Man In This Village Is A Liar”. In relation to chapter 8 ‘Sacrifice’ she focuses on two suicide bombings; the first one killed 9 people on the eve of ‘Eid al-Adha’ which is marked as one of the most significant holidays on the Muslim calendar, It means- The Feast Of Sacrifice. The second bombing took place on Eid al-Adha in Kurdistan, at the headquarters of the 2 main Kurdish parties and killed approximately 100 people.

Key Examples & Quotes Page 105 - Stack witnesses the blood sacrifice of a cow, and we see her reaction after it had been slaughtered - “we kept stepping back delicately, farther and farther, trying to find a spot of dry ground. But the blood grew; it followed us over the soil. It was swallowing everything. Finally I gave up and knew it would stain me too. ” Page 106 -where Stack visits the second Suicide bombing site where around one hundred people died. -“It was getting harder and harder to find a piece of dry ground. ”

Key Ideas These quotes could be examples of inner conflict caused by political conflict and the reactions to conflict. As this chapter explores unavoidable conflict that affects witnesses, bystanders or those who are not directly involved in the conflict. “It was swallowing everything. Finally I gave up and knew it would stain me too. ” - Shows that she has given up hope when trying to avoid it, she is essentially saying that conflict cannot be avoided any longer as she may think that it is inevitable and not worth fighting for any more.

Key Examples & Quotes Page 96 – “Violence is a reprint of itself, an endless copy. I mean to say that by itself, violence is not the point. A bomb, a battle, a bullet is just a hole torn in the fabric of a day. Violence is all of the smashed things left behind, and then the things that grow anyway, defiant. ” Page 98 - “…Violence reared up and smacked their little corner of the universe and nothing was ever the same again. ” Why is violence needed for conflict, What’s the point?

Key Ideas Violence in political conflict is never-ending. Violence can lead to drastic changes, possibly in personality. People who have witnessed violence may feel a lack of agency or hope. They could become traumatised, shy quiet ect… Possibly saying that violence is not the weapon used in conflict but the effects of the weapon? Relates to the idea “there is never an absence of conflict”

Sacrifice? -”This is the freedom of sacrifice, ” he said “it seems we must sacrifice for Iraq’s freedom. First we got rid of a bloody regime, and now we must sacrifice still more blood” – page 107 -”We don’t have anything to sacrifice, we have sacrificed enough. We’ve spent our lives sacrificing. All we do in this country is sacrifice. ” – page 107 -”Animal blood in the morning and human blood by nightfall. The blood was fresh under my feet. ” – page 107