Fanon violence and political resistance

¶ … Fanon" by John Edgar Wideman and "Wretched of the Earth" by Frantz Fanon. Specifically it will discuss physical violence in the two works. Violence, especially physical violence such as torture, figures prominently in these two works. Fanon himself promotes violence as a way to fight against colonization of one country by another, and Wideman's book uses violence for its shock value (as in the severed head), almost as a tribute to Fanon's support of violence. Violence is prominent in both works, because we live in a violent society, and violence is what gets our attention.

Wideman's work shows the violence of the inner city, where he grew up, and shows the effects of it on his family. His brother is incarcerated for murder, and violence permeates the work, which he means as a tribute to Frantz Fanon. Fanon actively promoted violence as a way for colonial territories to gain their freedom from their colonizers. He writes, "The native who decides to put the program into practice, and to become its moving force, is ready for violence at all times" (Fanon 37). Historians believe that Fanon's words did incite some colonies to revolt, and that they at least in part helped create Algeria's war for independence against France. Fanon actually fought in that war, against France, who he had fought for in another war.

Wideman writes a book about Fanon and his exploits, and violence plays heavily throughout the book. His brother says, "I mean, the way it is today the hands don't speak no more. Squabbling. Fighting. Grabbing. Hands hate each other in a way, you could say. Trying to strangle the one neck they own. People so stuck up in they own little worlds they forget they live in the same body and got to depend on the same two hands" (Wideman 176). This sums up our society today. It is violent, especially in the inner cities, where only the strong survive and violence is extremely commonplace. We have evolved into a society that says it does not condone violence, and yet, we have become increasingly violent.

Both books portray somewhat of an indifference to everyday violence, another disturbing aspect of our society. Wideman continues, "The guy doesn't hear chippers whomping overhead. Couldn't care less about the choppers' mission, the mission of terrorists, the bodies squirming in agony or hunger or smoldering beside a highway or suffocating in elevators filling up with smoke" (Wideman 22-23). The violence is often graphic, but like society, readers can skim over it and ignore it, making it less sensational and becoming indifferent to it, no matter how violent it really is.

The news reports the violence in gory detail, another element of Wideman's book. He writes, "In the company of other viewers, I'm reminded how narrowly we've escaped disaster. Only a few minutes of viewing required to learn that many others on the crowded planet didn't get through the night" (Wideman 66). Our news channels, and our fascination with news (why else would there be so many 24-hour news stations on television?) show that violence, although it is repellent, also fascinates society in some way, and that is why so much of it is reported in newspapers and other media.

Today, we live with violence but we do not condone it. However, Fanon did condone violence; he believed it benefited society in certain situations. He writes, "Violence alone, violence committed by the people, violence organized and educated by its leaders, makes it possible for the masses to understand social truths and gives the key to them" (Fanon 147). Today, this might seem like a frightening thought, but at the time Fanon wrote this book, violence was about the only way that people could gain their independence. That is illustrated not only in Algeria, but here in the United States, when the radical Black Panther movement sprang up to help African-Americans gain their Civil Rights. Often, the only way a group gains its freedom is through violent means, whether we like it or not, and that is why Fanon promotes this kind of social violence in his work.

Fanon's work is a call to action, a non-fictional account of how to throw off the colonial chains and gain freedom, while Wideman's work is a blend of fiction and memoir. They are two very different books that share the common theme of violence. In Wideman's work, the violence almost seems gratuitous at times, placed there to shock the reader and get Fanon's point across at the same time. It is not really a pleasant book to read, and it is made more difficult by Wideman's writing style, which includes rambling long-winded sentences that are difficult to decipher. Fanon's work is more straightforward and easier to read, although his message may be more disturbing. He believes social change relies on violence, and people believe his writings did incite violence in many areas. The violence did affect changes to society, so his beliefs may have had some merit, as hard as they are to read.