I found the Sawi culture centered on cannibalism intriguing and somewhat grotesque at the same time. The Sawi traditions portrayed in the first two chapters of the Peace Child was mind-blowing and hard to accept as reality. It was hard to fathom by a couple of pages, which made it totally unthinkable to witness these customs in reality.
I find the mindset of the Sawi entirely intriguing. The vast difference between the values I know and those of the Sawi makes these primitive tribes people even more outlandish and alien. The fact that they respect headhunters who "fatten friendship for the slaughter" is unacceptable in the modern world. This concept keeps me thinking: how can they live when nobody around them is reliable? How can they live with the constant fear of being betrayed? But somehow they do live and live with relationships such as family and friends. It is difficult for me to understand how the Sawi differentiate between real friends and pretentious friends, making their way of life even more confusing but remarkable.
Although interesting in fascinating ways, the Sawi customs are sometimes grotesque to the point of repulsion. The tradition of presenting a victim's jawbone to a woman to wear smashed a single word into my head: evil. This close entwining of evil and the Sawi culture makes the people hard to embrace and pitiful.
However, no matter how the difference the Sawi and my culture may seem, even if their culture is primitively evil, it seems to me that as the novel progresses and Don Richardson reveals the truths about these people, there is good deep within their beings. The Sawi, in my eyes are a people of dark beauty cast in shadows: devastatingly beautiful but dangerously bloodcurdling at the same time.
3 comments:
December 4, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Hye Jin,
"it seems to me that as the novel progresses and Don Richardson reveals the truths about these people, there is good deep within their beings."
I think this is an interesting observation and I think right no. Sure, Richardson does view many aspects of their culture as spiritually dark and evil, but at the same time he knows and believes that God has placed some sort of key in their culture that will unlock the gospel for them. This key, is not finding a way to manipulate the people, but a way of showing them that within their own culture and their own belief system, God has placed the key to the Gospel. Once they realize that they have been waiting for Jesus, the ultimate peace Child, they realize that this is what they and their ancestors have been looking for. You really should read "Eternity in their Hearts." This will help you better understand where Richardson is coming from.
December 4, 2008 at 10:00 PM
Hey Hyejin:)
I answered the same question as you and what you responded is similar to my post: disgusted by their cannibalistic culture. I saw them as "having no opportunity of changing," but I really like your idea of thinking that they also have beauty and goodness in their nature. I think your broad idea is very essential for this society in order to support the missionaries who risk their own lives for the people who can't hear about Jesus.
January 19, 2009 at 4:07 PM
Yes, Grace. I agree, they do possess some good because God created them in His image. I am just so amazed at how God used Don, to find the answer which brought about change in their culture. What makes it more wonderful, is that God used their own culture to change their hearts.Mrs.Mc.
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