In the past, there have been various occurrences of genocide, where people killed a large number of others thinking that they were below human beings. For instance, in the interview, it was mentioned that a Japanese war veteran was only able to kill others during the war thinking that they were animals or below humans, however, if he thought of them as human beings, he wouldn’t have been able to do it. Likewise, in the book Night, the Nazis refer to the Jews as rats and dogs, subsequently, they dehumanize the Jews which makes it easier for them to kill them. In the book, Wiesel mentions that the Nazis have no mercy for children as well, therefore, it presents how the dehumanization of people opens up doors to cruelty and genocide, which is also shown in the interview.

Transformation (4)

Before entering the concentration camp, Eliezer had deep faith in God, however, during his experience in the concentration camp and by witnessing the injustice to children, women, and the elderly, he doubts the justice of God, considering that the Jewish have not done anything wrong to deserve such cruel actions by the Nazis. Many people believe in god due to their miracles and justice, however, from what Eliezer has experienced, he does not witness justice to the children, women and elderly, therefore, he ‘doubted [God’s] absolute justice’. Through the descriptions of the situation, Wiesel evokes pathos in the audience where he makes them realize that the cruelties experienced by the minorities are inhumane and are unjust, especially for those who strongly believe in God, therefore, Wiesel makes the audience also feel the need to doubt the justice of God. As Eliezer is slowly reducing his beliefs in his culture, he is also loosing a crucial aspect of his identity.

Inhumanity (2)

During the Holocaust, the officers tattooed numbers onto the Jews instead of their names to refer to each Jew almost as an object or a slave, where they are not allowed to express their identity. Considering that a person’s name is a significant aspect of their identity, the identity of the Jews was replaced. For instance, Eliezer “became A-2713. From then on, [he] had no other name”. Through the numerical names of the Jews, they were dehumanized, almost treated as objects. Moreover,  when Eliezer confronts God that he has betrayed his adamant devotees by allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned. Through the confrontational tone, Wiesel makes the audience realize the inhumane actions that children, women and the elderly are experiencing just because they are unable to do manual labor.

The global issue associated with Esty’s seeming inability to bear children is the societal expectations of women in a patriarchal society, a society run by men in which women are meant to complete household chores, give birth to many children, and take care of them.  The scene in which Yanky asks Esty regarding the reason she is facing problems, the room is quite dark and gloomy, therefore, setting the mood, as well as representing Esty’s emotions of pain, and misery when Yanky compares her to his brothers’ wives. Esty herself is also unaware of the reason she experiences pain and her inability to conceive, therefore, further evoking her emotions of sadness and misery. Through, Yanky’s stern and authoritative tone, his power and frustration are portrayed as he is unable to be pleasured because of the pain Esty experiences and he is unable to impregnate her.

Additionally, when Yanky’s mother arrives, Esty is shocked that she is at her house to give her advice about making ‘a man feel like a king in bed” and Esty agrees with her. However, when Esty asks whether giving her husband importance and making him feel like a King would make her a queen. Yanky’s mother responds with a smirk and further provides advice, therefore, emphasizing the male-dominating society in which they must be the powerful one in the relationship, and the women should obey and entertain her husband at all times.

Through this scene, the audience can witness that the perspective of the patriarchal society is given the privilege in which people holding the same values and beliefs are given the privilege as they abide by the societal expectations of their culture and society.

I have chosen images A and C. The similarity between these scenes is that they both portray the issue of freedom. The first image is captured when Esty is in Berlin, riding a taxi to her mother’s home. In this shot, the majority of the image is covered in greenery which can symbolize a fresh environment. Additionally, the golden angel in the shot symbolizes the freedom she now has where she can fly away and conquer her dreams in Berlin. Through this image, a comparison is brought between the environment in Brooklyn and the environment in Berlin, in which she was suffocating in Brooklyn whereas she is now able to freely roam around and follow her passions without having to worry about strict societal norms. In the next scene, there is a flashback to when she got to know that the matchmaker has someone in mind. There is a sudden change in mood and tone in which when Esty questions the matchmaker about the boy, the matchmaker responds in a suppressing tone that she does not have the freedom to pick her soulmate or question the man she could potentially marry. The matchmaker also responds in a way as if Esty was questioning her ability to bring a good match. Although Esty seems somewhat excited, her facial expressions and response to the expectations of the behavior of women foreshadow her unhappiness. Throughout these scenes, soft and solemn music is being played in order to set the mood of dismay, sadness, and regret.

During his stay in Manila, Changez turns on the television and sees the towers of the World Trade Center collapse ‘and then [he] smiled,’ and confesses it to the American. Changez’s feelings of satisfaction at the towers collapsing portray that he does not consider himself as an American as he previously mentions in the book. Additionally, through the use of a sarcastic tone, it seems like he wants to enrage the American by describing his smile and satisfaction, and as a result of this, the American refused to give the beggar money due to his anger at Changez’s insensitivity. Changez compares the footage of 9/11 and the Middle East and exposes the American hypocrisy. I believe that this is a turning point in the book as before chapter 5, he praises America and identifies himself as a ‘New Yorker’ and believes that he belongs in America, however, during 9/11, his true feelings about America is revealed.

“identity is formed in the ‘interaction’ between self and society” – Stuart Hall

In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Mohsin Hamid reveals Changez’s identity through his interactions with the society in Lahore, Princeton University, and New York. Through his interactions with Lahore, the audience realizes his love for Pakistan. Additionally, when Erica invites Changez to her house and her father offends aspects of Pakistan, Changez answered him back in order to defend his country from the stereotypes and assumptions as Pakistan is a big part of his identity. His interactions with New York and Princeton University as well as his feelings about these places reveal to the audience that these places are strongly associated with his identity as well since he mentions in the book that he feels like a ‘New Yorker’.

The poem, ‘Delilah’, by Carol Ann Duffy revolves around the biblical myth of Samson and Delilah. In the bible, Delilah was bribed by the Philistines to figure out the source of Samson’s power. Subsequently, she trapped him in her love and later betrayed him by cutting his hair, his source of power, in order to weaken him and make him vulnerable so that he could be captured by the Philestines.

Duffy not only portrays the power dynamic between Samson and Delilah, but also characterizes Delilah as equally powerful.  For instance in the first stanza, Samson wishes that Delilah teaches him ‘how to care’ and when Duffy tries to explain it, Samson immediately ‘reached for his beer’ and started bragging about his accomplishments and power. Duffy portrays the informality of Samson, further representing men in society, through the imagery of reaching to his beer because, it displays that Samson in reality is not interested in learning where he takes the conversation about being vulnerable and filled with emotions as casual and insignificant. This idea is further developed when he talks about his accomplishments instead of listening to Delilah, as it depicts his pride in himself, his accomplishments and power. Additionally, since Samson interrupts Delilah, Duffy portrays that women are always quieted in situations where they can share their expertise, because in a male-dominated society, it is normally seen that women teaching men is considered to be degrading. Moreover, while Samson describes his accomplishments, Duffy’s use of rhyming words emphasizes on the idea of violence, and strength which is normally associated with a man’s accomplishments in which they have to power to destroy their enemies and their power. However, Duffy, later contradicts this ideology of men as the only beings having strength and power through the imagery of Delilah ‘sharpen[ing her] scissors’, and cutting his hair to drain and destroy his power. The image of a women sharpening scissors is quite striking in the eyes of the society they lived in, and therefore Duffy cleverly contradicts the stereotype of women, and indicates that men are not the only ones that hold the power to destroy someones life and power.

Anthony Bourdain, an American Chef, reflects on the representations of Mexicans in his post through the repetition of the pronoun ‘we’, the use of personal anecdotes as well as pathos. Through the repetition of ‘we’, Bourdain highlights the collective perspective and actions taken by Americans in response to Mexican people and food. For instance, the first paragraph introduces Mexican food and its commonality in American Society as well as the need of Mexicans in the American society in terms of cleaning the house, cooking for them, and looking after their children, therefore, portraying the cultural integration of Mexico as well as the necessity of Mexicans in the US despite the ‘hypocritical attitude towards immigration’ and racial injustices. Additionally, Bourdain shares his experiences with Mexicans. For instance, when Bourdain visited the ‘small towns [in Mexico] populated mostly by women’, he shares about their kind nature and their long days ‘waiting for calls from their husbands, sons and brothers who have left to work in [the Americans’] kitchens in the cities of the North’. Through this personal anecdote, Bourdain arouses empathy for the Mexicans who work hard and are away from their family in order to work with and for Americans. Moreover, through this anecdote, Bourdain’s use of pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience, therefore, making the audience understand the trouble Mexicans have to go through, further representing the lives of Mexicans in the US. 

Carol Ann Duffy uses various different types of tones in order to portray Mrs. Sisyphus’ feelings about her husband. For instance, Duffy reveals her feelings of anger and annoyance for her husband through the use of a furious tone in the first line of the poem, ‘That’s him pushing the stone up the hill, the jerk’. Through the use of ‘jerk’, Duffy displays that Mrs. Sisyphus is comfortable with referring to her husband with insulting names (such as ‘jerk’ and ‘dork’), therefore, portraying the lack of intimacy in their relationship as well as the fact that she does not respect her husband. Duffy uses another type of tone, which is an aggressive tone when Mrs. Sisyphus says, ‘He’s a dork’. This is to emphasize the neglect, thus, hinting at the loss of intimacy between them. Moreover, towards the end of the poem, Duffy uses a desolate tone when Mrs. Sisyphus, ‘lies alone in the dark, feeling like Noah’s wife did, when he hammered away at the Ark’. This suggests that Mrs. Sisyphus, herself feels isolated and neglected by her husband due to the actions he takes. Through the use of different tones, Duffy reveals the neglect from both sides of the relationship, therefore, portraying that both are unhappy with their relationship and one part of it is just the lack of intimacy.

When the inmates were interviewed, they revealed the expectations of men in their household and, therefore, depicting societal expectations that led to a path of violence and negativity, subsequently, making them criminals. The editors sequence the shots of the inmates in a way in which one inmate starts off by telling the interviewee the most common and known expectations of men and slowly build-up to the more serious issues that boys/men experience in order to meet these expectations and if not possible, they have to resort to violence in order to solve their problems and feel powerful. Since there are frequent shots of the same group of inmates revealing the different expectations, it displays that there are many societal expectations of men and issues faced by men in order to meet these expectations. At the end of this interview, the scene is ended with the last shot fading out, thus, leaving the audience time to digest the consequences of these expectations and how continuing to pressure boys to comply with these expectations can seriously harm their well-being and future. Through these cinematographic effects, the documentary successfully makes use of the interview where it is able to send a message across to the audience regarding the severity of the issue.