Violence for Pleasure

Vicky Hatakeyama

Week 6: Response to “I am a Man with a Heart”

Reading this article, I was startled especially by the last paragraph where his father in his dream shoots the narrator.  Although it did not actually happen, it is traumatizing to think of someone you trust to attack you like that.  This thought of the narrator most likely emerged due to the fact that he is guilty of the job that he is required to do, which is to type out write-ups.  This job “assists in lengthening the prisoner’s incarnation,” making him only feel worse about himself.  He claims that he “run[s] from guilt…run[s] from reality, and run[s] to escape.”  Seeing the sight of tragedy in his mind before seeing the signs that lead up to such violence or death that no one sees makes him concerned as well.  He believes that the “greater waste is when death becomes entertainment for the living.”  I cannot agree to this statement even more.  In this society, some people kill others for their own pleasure, even though they know that they will be imprisoned for such actions.  As long as they do it for their satisfaction, they are most of the time okay with it, even if it requires mass serial killing or murder.  Reading this story, it has influenced me to reflect more on what has caused these kinds of inhumane ideology.

 

Question: For vengeance or one’s pleasure, is killing the opponent always necessary? Why do some people choose to act violently rather than solve the problem through nonviolence?