Etgar Keret's short story "Cocked and Locked" is about the interactions between an Israeli soldier on border watch duty, and a member of Hamas. In the story, we see the Israeli soldier being continually harassed by his antagonist, the agent of Hamas. As tensions rise between the two, we begin to see Keret's take on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and his apparent view of terrorists.
Keret's story seems to suggest that Israeli's and Arabs are the same; they're all people. But when push comes to shove, the winner is really the bigger asshole. A soldier and a terrorist are exactly the same in regards to their abilities to thoroughly degrade and/or hurt another human being, so the difference lies in how they are responsible with their obvious power. When it becomes difficult to discern what "responsibility" means, the difference then lies in who can maintain their own integrity. When even that ability fades away, the difference at this point lies in their respective willingness to impose their will on the other.
I recommend this story because it dissects what it means to be "the bigger person" in a confrontation. While it seems to be a commentary on Israeli society and Israelis in general, showing for instance, how Israelis love an argument but hate to lose an argument, it really speaks as more of a commentary on human nature. For the Israeli in the story to allow his antagonist to get the better of him would be to disgrace himself so he lowers himself to the same level, and brutalizes his Arab antagonist. This is powerful statement on Keret's opinion about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict: At some level, we're all horrible people, and the winner will be the one who strikes first.
I think that what you said is very true, and it makes me think a lot about how much power I could have. Being an activist against gun violence, I see that it is difficult to stop this unless one person is more extreme like you said.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy the types of stories that delves into human nature. I really enjoy how Keret puts the Israeli and the Arab on the same level, just two human beings. When you do this, so many new perspectives can be reached and that's evident in your analysis of the story. Although it may be somewhat of a comment of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, it seems to also just be a story of two men who can't get along, and in many ways that's touching.
ReplyDeleteI think it is always better to try and be the bigger person in any situation. I agree that (from my experience) Israelis love a good argument but have losing, which as Jacob said is simply human nature. I want to hope that the only striking that will occur eventually will be verbal rather than physical, because I don’t think violence will ever be the answer.
ReplyDelete-Rachael Coleman
I think what you've said about this story makes a lot of sense, we're all people when it comes down to the wire and I think that's something important that we only see every once in a while. The Arab Israeli conflict is really just an argument of two opinions, if we look at the big picture then you could accurately compare that to any two people having an argument about what to make for dinner. The bottom line is that we're all people and no matter what, no one person is better than another. This is why I especially enjoyed how Keret placed each side at the same and on a singular level. When you do that, it opens your eyes to so many things you didn't think of or hadn't seen prior and with that a rather large new window of opportunity.
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