RECONCILIATION

There is a lot to be said about good versus evil. Ezra is a tragic example of the natural struggle to be self-fulfilling and righteous, especially in a psychologically trapping environment. Not all people are capable of resisting the war mentality. They become blood thirsty and, as we see in child soldiers especially, grow to believe in the cause so strongly that they grow to sacrifice themselves completely; already dead. Ezra partly proves my theory that people are inherently good and only some choose to represent it. Within everyone is the capability of locating and acting on emotions. The sociopathic exceptions still are intellectual and aware of the scale of right and wrong. I was inspired by Ezra and his ability to grow away from the rebel army. The first inclination we witness is his search for his family and reunion with his sister, but the internal battle really began when he met his wife. She provided a valuable perspective on the war, having grown up with radical parents who taught her about the state of the government and the people. She was raised a rebel, fighting to clean the blood money and bring it back to the people. Her story undoubtedly contrasts Ezra's, who was kidnapped and trained young, without preconceptions of the war. In school they discussed what they love about their country and in the army they learn that this country has no justice. They are forcefully trained to be ruthless, passionate, killers who will stop for nothing until the revolution succeeds. Child soldiers are victims of a brutal mental struggle. I think that most of them become toy soldiers, victimized by their fetal inhibitions and easily brainwashed. The line between instinct and societal expectations is drawn very thin for these people, but still... a sixteen year old boy somehow manages to create a choice for himself. The first lesson a kidnapped child receives is that “success is only coming through the barrel of a gun”; a disgustingly violent outlook on life, but one that is all too true in the war ridden society. Still, Ezra chooses family and love over the cause, willing to risk his life to disassociate himself from the PRF. I found that to be a beautiful moment of awakening in the human spirit. Even though his life inevitably falls into shambles by the end and he will live the rest of his life with a very large mental burden, I think that the lesson is valuable.

"may the spirit of everyone who's died in this war forgive me"

I would also like to express one thing that lightweight scared me....

The immediate reaction to this war is naturally to oppose it. The soldiers of the Peoples Revolutionary Front are merciless. They are "evil" and sweep the country destroying towns and killing people when they are told. Peaceful factions see them as the enemy, but behind the mask of murder and pillagery is a very nationalist and arguably righteous motive: to regain the natural resources of Africa for the people. This film unwillingly made me conjure the idea that what the PRF was doing as a whole was righteous. I guess it had something to do with my perception of societies who's judicial method of justice is murder by the barrel. I shed my humanitarian ideology and adopted a more cynical, violent outlook on life. As if the only road to success IS through the barrel of a gun. Later I saw that even within the brotherhood there is corruption. The same men who lead the front to take back the diamonds for everyone are keeping them for themselves! This raised a lot of questions about people and the order of the world. Does righteousness exist?