John Conroy’s Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life is an example of how an outsider can provide reliable analysis regarding how communal violence has consumed Northern Ireland. Through his detailed descriptions of paramilitary organizations and the “law and order” of Belfast, Conroy provides a unique journalistic viewpoint of an area often plagued by inaccurate examinations. Therefore, I disagree with the statement that outsiders are always ill-equipped to provide an explanation for communal tension. Rather, I argue that by living within the Belfast ghetto community, Conroy was able to recognize the complexities of life in Northern Ireland, resulting in him providing an accurate explanation for the violence that plagued the Belfast community.
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On page 11, Conroy begins to explain how when he arrived in Northern Ireland, he had planned on staying in a “neutral area” in the city of Belfast. However, after spending multiple days in Clonard with a boarder named Mrs. Barbour, Conroy realized that staying in the ghetto would allow him to gain a better understanding of the tension he was investigating. This is significant to the stance of Conroy being equipped to tell the story of violence within Northern Ireland because Conroy avoided falling into the trap of living in the nice, metropolitan areas that most journalists flocked to. Conroy’s choice to live in a ghetto allowed him to obtain the information he was writing about in a more authentic way. By living in an area that was by all means deemed unsafe, Conroy did not have to create stories from his imagination to write about or stage photographs. His immersion into the culture of Northern Ireland made him less of an outsider in terms of ability to gain information, but he still could use his outsider perspective in analyzing what he …show more content…
Conroy said, “There was indeed law and, as a result, a strange but certain order” (69). His understanding of the purpose of kneecappings shows that his analysis into the culture of Northern Ireland has provided him with the ability to understand the complexity of the community. On page 92, Conroy explains that to outsiders, the act of kneecapping may seem barbaric. However, he explains that within the community, there was a sort of dignity in being kneecapped, as it often did not lead to death. Conroy goes onto explain that the real benefit to the non-lethal punishment was that the kneecapped individual served as a reminder to the community to behave, or else they would be at the mercy of the IRA. Conroy’s examination of kneecapping allows the reader to see that he doesn’t let his outsider perception prevent him from understanding a different method of law enforcement. Rather, Conroy is able to understand the community he’s in by immersing himself into the
On page 11, Conroy begins to explain how when he arrived in Northern Ireland, he had planned on staying in a “neutral area” in the city of Belfast. However, after spending multiple days in Clonard with a boarder named Mrs. Barbour, Conroy realized that staying in the ghetto would allow him to gain a better understanding of the tension he was investigating. This is significant to the stance of Conroy being equipped to tell the story of violence within Northern Ireland because Conroy avoided falling into the trap of living in the nice, metropolitan areas that most journalists flocked to. Conroy’s choice to live in a ghetto allowed him to obtain the information he was writing about in a more authentic way. By living in an area that was by all means deemed unsafe, Conroy did not have to create stories from his imagination to write about or stage photographs. His immersion into the culture of Northern Ireland made him less of an outsider in terms of ability to gain information, but he still could use his outsider perspective in analyzing what he …show more content…
Conroy said, “There was indeed law and, as a result, a strange but certain order” (69). His understanding of the purpose of kneecappings shows that his analysis into the culture of Northern Ireland has provided him with the ability to understand the complexity of the community. On page 92, Conroy explains that to outsiders, the act of kneecapping may seem barbaric. However, he explains that within the community, there was a sort of dignity in being kneecapped, as it often did not lead to death. Conroy goes onto explain that the real benefit to the non-lethal punishment was that the kneecapped individual served as a reminder to the community to behave, or else they would be at the mercy of the IRA. Conroy’s examination of kneecapping allows the reader to see that he doesn’t let his outsider perception prevent him from understanding a different method of law enforcement. Rather, Conroy is able to understand the community he’s in by immersing himself into the