Vengeance is Ours

This article was really interesting because it had many facts regarding an area of the world that seems to still have a raw state of nature to it. Here is a list of things I believed to be thought provoking..

-Daniel had to avenge the death of his Uncle, Soll

-It took 3 years, 29 more killings, and the sacrifice of 300 pigs in order to avenge the death



When I think of avenging someone's death I either think of ancient greek mythology of how it was their responsibility to avenge a relative's death or the Italian mob. While I know avenging someone's death still takes place today, I thought it was quite unnerving that it was mandatory to Daniel and that so many different rules had to be followed. The second figure was astonishing because it took so long and so many had to die in order for Daniel to properly avenge his Uncle's death. Also the fact that 300 pigs were sacrificied, reminded me of greek mythology even more.



-In the 1930's a village was found by anthropologists that still used primative stone tools

-1964, most Highlanders lived in thatched huts, wore grass skirts and no shirts



These two quotes further reitterated the fact that these tribes or clans in this region seemed to be virtually unaffected by the modern age.



-"The original cause of the wars between the Handa and Ombal clans was a pig that ruined a garden."

-most conflicts started over a woman or a pig

-pigs are currency for "buying" women

-pigs are nursed by a woman while she is nursing her baby

The first quote made me feel sorrow for all those who had died for a reason such as this. It kind of makes one realize that maybe all wars begin for reasons that seem miniscual to outsiders. Maybe if everyone thought a little more to see if their reasons to go to war are a good enough reason to fight, maybe there wouldn't be so many wars. Pigs were the currency for buying women, was a disheartening fact but also makes one realize the value these clans put in their pigs.



-After Pearl Harbor, hundreds of thousands of American men volunteered to kill and did kill hundreds of thousands of Japenese

-soldiers were pubically decorated with medals and remembered as heroes

-soldiers who kill suffer post-traumatic stress disorder



This article directly displays that even though modern state societies have seemed to come so far, they are not far from some of the tribes of New Guinea. It's sad that soldiers are put through the things that they are because these societies are contradictory. They tell them to kill but when they come back to their country after the war they are expected to conform back to this society, no wonder they suffer post-traumatic stress disorder.

Overall, this article displayed how the avenging of people's lives can take over one's entire lifetime at times. Revenge is a relateable emotion because in the story about the Polish soldier who never got true revenge for his family is sad because it haunted him for the rest of his life. What is the right way to handle these situations. It's not right to avenge everyone because then life is in constant warfare everyone needs to watch their backs. Governments should do more to ensure that wrongdoers get punished for wrongs they have commited so that families can rest easier.