Theme Of Violence In The Wretched Of The Earth

Examining the role of violence in the struggle for African liberation
During the struggle for African liberation, violence was evident in the following works: The Battle of Algiers and Frantz Fanon’s Wretched of the Earth. In the film The Battle of Algiers, in almost every single scene there is a violent act, whether it is against the French or against the Algerian people. The film makes the violent aspect extremely clear and does not leave various details out partly since the filmmaker wanted to show people what was going on and that someone needed to put a stop to it. In the Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon also makes it known about what is going on by focusing on the people colonized and struggling to find liberation. He uses incredibly …show more content…
They made people evacuate buildings and if they hid or would not obey, they would be punished. In one of the first scenes, they show an Algerian man playing cards in the street, he sees the French and starts to run, however he runs into the wrong crowd and becomes severely beaten, but not before throwing a few punches himself. People were put into bunks in rooms similar to concentration camps. A major theme in the film was police violence. This was brought on as they thought the police were the main cause of the violence in the first place. If anybody threatened the police, they would hunt them down. The French would not allow police violence and needed to find a way to stop it. Alcohol and prostitution were two major problems at this time. The French would not put up with that so they punished offenders and repeat offenders were killed. The heavy use of violence was even influenced by children. In one scene, they show children beating on an elderly man and pushing him down the stairs. At this point of time, terror reigned through the streets. The Algerian people had enough so they went on the attack against the French. They would act nonchalant and then would fire a gun on any French person …show more content…
Frantz himself believed that violence was necessary. He said, “…decolonization is always a violent event.” He states that the main reason for violence is vengeance, the idea that what one person does to another, the same incidents would be reciprocated. This quote portrays that, “But let us return to this atmospheric violence, this violence rippling under the skin.” The book also explores the idea that the colonized are usually to blame for the outbreak of violence, when in reality they were just fighting for their freedom. These two quotes portray the violence which was about to happen, “The masses give free reign to their bloodthirsty instincts” and “The colonized who spontaneously invested their violence in the colossal task…” Even in this quote, it is clear that freedom and decolonization will not happen without violence, “Everybody therefore has violence on their minds and the question is not so much responding to violence with more violence but rather how to diffuse the crisis.” In the end, Frantz Fanon’s book The Wretched of the Earth painted a dreadfully violent picture and Frantz believed that in order to one day have peace, you must have violence. Violence was necessary and that is how and why they now have the freedom that they