Violence in the book of The Farming Bones by Edwidge Dantica and John Essay

Violence in the book of The Farming Bones by Edwidge Dantica and John Crow's Devil, by Marlon James - Essay Example John Crow’s devil is set against a religious backdrop in a fictional town of Gibbeah in Jamaica, which is known to be a very religious society. The plot revolves around two main protagonists; the first is an alcoholic priest, who is referred to in the story as the â€Å"Rum preacher†, whereas the other character is the exact antithesis of the â€Å"Rum preacher† in his teachings and beliefs, and is called the â€Å"Apostle York†. The events of the story takes place five years before the Jamaicans finally got independence and clearly sheds light on the violent aspect of society which was motivated by religious matters. The story is told from the perspective of two young women, Lucinda and a widow; both these women have strange soft corners for the Young apostle York and the um Preacher, respectively. The Rum Preacher, who appears to be highly sinful on the surface as a result of his alcoholism, is later evicted from the church by the Apostle York, who is on a mission to tear down the kingdom of Satan. He referred to the Rum preacher as a ‘spawn of the devil’. ... The violence that erupts as a result of the Apostle York’s preaching can be deemed psychological as well. This is vastly because the fear that had been instilled in them resulted in dire circumstances for all of then as there was no concept of redemption amongst the people, the society became highly dichotomized into sinners and the righteous. (James, 2005) The violence sheds light on Jamaican society as well and the rampant superstitious ideology that pervades the mind of almost every Jamaican individual. There are various ideas about witchcraft and devilry, and similar to the events that transpired during the notorious ‘Salem witch hunt’, many people were slaughtered under the suspicion of partaking in witchcraft or fraternizing with the devil. At one point, the rum preacher, who had sworn vengeance against the Apostle, is confronted by angry villagers with a mission to exterminate all that are known to be transgressing the commands of the lord, which were actua lly triggered by individuals suffering form internal conflicts of their own as they were struggling to find their sexual identity. Marlon James added a beautiful psychological perspective to this in the light of Freudian conflicts that individuals face at certain points in their life. The author has given a new dimension to carnage and religious fanaticism to explain the behavior and the violent acts that were carried out by the people against the sinners. The book carries number of references to the actual 1970’s massacre that took place in Jamaica and hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in the violent surge that shook the country and its people. However, the