Abuse In Hope And Other Dangerous Pursuits

George Orwell once said, “Of pain, you could wish only one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain, there are no heroes.” Often the world we live in not at all what we planned for it to be. Some would say that abuse stems from being weak while other would explain that abuse comes from the lack of having control. Domestic violence happens to be a situation where a spouse uses fear, bullying and threatening strategies to gain power against their spouse. An abuser may act jealous, controlling and possessive that then results in mental, physical and verbal abuse that can tear a person down. In the amazing novel Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami, it is a short vivid story …show more content…
In her mission to flee her country in Morocco to Spain, she believes that this would benefit her children in a way for them to succeed and have a fair chance at a far better life. It was clear that Halima was very used to Maati’s ways and is the excessive amount of rage that became so terrifying to read. The day that the abuse went to the next level was never an exception because of the amount of pure rage that he always showed. Unfortunately, the fight later led to an extreme attack against Halima. In this story it describes the vivid imagery of him putting his hands on her and her feeling towards what was happening he, “hit her face and knocked her to the side, the air suddenly out her lungs.” Halima was put in a position where she felt mass helplessness as no ones were there to help her through this unusual pain. The author, Lalami uses a very graphic approach to take the reader on an emotional ride as if they were present when this was taking place. During this brawl, it discusses how she tried to run away from him but so aggressively he, “kicked her so hard that his shoe flew over her head.” Through this imagery the amount of despair became massive and after it was all said and done she looked in her mirror and noticed the “clear imprints on the side of her neck and jaw.” I …show more content…
While some explain family to be happy, cheerful and constantly giving reassurance, I on the other didn’t know what that was like. Many people don’t understand the amount of courage it takes to stand up for what you believe in, even when the only people you know and love turn away. My father was an alcoholic and drug addict and when he was home most of the time he was abusive. With my dad being an alcoholic there were many events in my life where I witnessed my father blacking out, not knowing his next move; my mother was a victim of domestic violence and was scared to ever speak her mind. There was a night where my dad had far too many beers and my mom was drinking as well. An argument began because my dad feared my mother was cheating on him. My little sister made a comment about how my mom would “drink coffee and sit at the computer smoking a cigarette and talking to random guys on Facebook.” When my dad heard that he totally lost his mind and punched a hole in the wall and pushed my mom where she ran into the wall. The fight began to escalate as words were shared and then fists started to fly, where my mom became a human punching bag. The one thing I will never forget is the black and blue eye bruising that appeared in no time and the excessive amount of blood gushing out of her mouth. As I tried to defend my mom, he then began to hit me as well. The amount of hopelessness