good people in an evil time
Jessica Power Assignment #4
5/03/07
Response Paper 4: Good people In An Evil Time
How far would you go to help someone you didn’t know in a dangerous situation? What if it meant sacrificing your own life? Would you help that someone if they were supposed to be your “enemy”? These are some of the questions answered in Svetlana Broz’s book Good People In An Evil Time. Broz is a cardiologist who was born in Belgrade in 1955. During the Bosnian War from 1991 to 1996, all newspapers seemed to report on was the devastating effects of the war and the horrors of those being killed. Broz says, after hearing only about the evils of war from newspapers and close friends, “Believing that there was nothing human in that madness, I started going to the combat zones, first as a doctor, to see if I might be to be of help to those who were suffering” (Broz lix). There, people began telling her stories of heroic acts that happened to them during the war. Inspired by these stories, Broz went out with a tape recorder and interviewed many people from all three ethnic groups. When she was done she compiled those testimonies into her book as proof that even though the war seemed to be tearing the humanity from people, there were those who stood up in the face of evil and risked everything to help others in need.
The war started in June 1991 when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. By September Yugoslavia had withdrawn its army from Slovenia and a new war had broken out between Croats and rebel Serbs. Yugoslavia joined the side of
the Serbs, while Bosnia itself was spilt in half by Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats. This was also a war between the religious groups of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims. During the war, people who had been friends found themselves separated by ethnicity and religion.
The testimonies taken during this chaotic time in Bosnia showed multiple acts of kindness varying from easing someone’s pain to sacrificing one’s own life to save another. For example, in one story titled Captain Mica, a Croat man, his son, and 35 of his friends were taken prisoner by Serbian fighters. The men were then beaten, starved, and yelled at for months, even though the Serbian Captain Mica had ordered his soldiers not to hurt them. At one point, the 35 prisoners were sent for an exchange. The Croat man was told to walk across a long field to the other side holding a white flag. The exchange would be all 35 prisoners for one Serbian prisoner. The man was told that if he didn’t come back the soldiers would slit his son’s throat. When the man reached the other side, the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina was willing to save only him. But the man wouldn’t let them, knowing that if he left with them his son would be killed. When he got back he was thrown in the bus with his son and friends and sent back to their imprisonment. A few months later, Captain Mica came and handed all 35 men over to Bosnia where they would be safe (Broz 16-22). This story of multiple heroic deeds shows that people of both sides of the war, including soldiers and their captives, could show great compassion.
It is strange then to think that when the Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted, the 11 college students chosen to be “guards” became ruthless and merciless within the first two days of the experiment. As some guards admitted, “I watched them tear at each other on orders given by us” and “I practically considered the prisoners cattle” (Zimbardo 393). The “prisoners” were 10 fellow college students who were put in a mock prison and treated like criminals. The experiment was supposed to last for two weeks, but because of the maliciousness and violence shown by the guards on the prisoners the experiment was terminated after only six days. It is interesting to think that in a fake situation, people would willingly abuse others to that extent, but in the Bosnian War when things were truly dangerous people showed an unlimited amount of courage and heroism.
In her article “Courage Under Fire” from Greater Good Magazine, Broz attributes these acts of heroism to “moral value and education”. “These people served as genuine examples of the goodness, compassion, humanity, and civil courage that continued to exist in these times of evil. They broke free from the identity of the bystander, that person who chooses to look away, to ignore, and to silently accept the suffering of others. Instead, these human beings provided compelling examples of upstanders, people who stick to their moral convictions and norms, and demonstrate great civil courage through their acts, even in a situation as horrific as the Bosnian war.” (Broz, Courage Under Fire)
In a similar article from Greater Good Magazine, Zeno Franco and Philip G. Zimbardo discuss what makes an ordinary person a hero. The article “The Banality of Heroism” suggests that heroism can be seen throughout history, even during war. While most people seem to avoid and ignore situations where others are being hurt, there are a few people who are willing to defend what is right and help those suffering. Although there is no answer for what makes one person more heroic than the next, Zimbardo and Franco suggest that instilling morals in children is a good place to start. They use stories like Beowulf and the Iliad as good examples for children of heroes who fought to save people, even when it meant risking their own safety.
What I have taken from Good People In An Evil Time and the Greater Good Articles is a deeper faith in humanity. When you turn on the news these days or read the newspaper all you hear about is the violence, hatred, and suffering. You rarely hear of heroic acts, and even if you do the news still prefers to focus on the villain. The heroes you see in theaters are men in costumes flying through the air, not ordinary people reaching out to those in need. In the 2005 film King Kong directed by Peter Jackson, a character named Kyle Chandler played Bruce Baxter, a cheesy action movie star. At one point in the movie, when faced with real danger, Baxter says, “Hey pal, wake up. Heroes don’t look like me, not in the real world. In the real world they’ve got bad teeth, a bald spot, and a beer gut. I’m just an actor with a gun who’s lost his way. Be seeing you.” It’s good to see that in modern movies they are starting to show that the real heroes are those that risk their lives in the face of evil (or large gorillas) to save or help those who need protection. This book has shown me for the first time the real accounts of those people.
Work Cited
Broz, Svetlana. Good People In An Evil Time: Portraits of Complicity and Resistance in the Bosnian War. Other Press LLC. New York, NY. 2004. Pgs xv-515.
Zimbardo, Philip G. The Stanford Prison Experiment. Behrens, Laurence. Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edit. 2008 Pgs 389 -400.
Broz, Svetlana. "Courage Under Fire." Greater Good Fall/Winter 2006 -2007. 3 May 2007.
Franco, Zeno. Zimbardo, Philip G. “The Banality of Heroism” Greater Good Fall/Winter 2006 -2007. 3 May 2007
5/03/07
Response Paper 4: Good people In An Evil Time
How far would you go to help someone you didn’t know in a dangerous situation? What if it meant sacrificing your own life? Would you help that someone if they were supposed to be your “enemy”? These are some of the questions answered in Svetlana Broz’s book Good People In An Evil Time. Broz is a cardiologist who was born in Belgrade in 1955. During the Bosnian War from 1991 to 1996, all newspapers seemed to report on was the devastating effects of the war and the horrors of those being killed. Broz says, after hearing only about the evils of war from newspapers and close friends, “Believing that there was nothing human in that madness, I started going to the combat zones, first as a doctor, to see if I might be to be of help to those who were suffering” (Broz lix). There, people began telling her stories of heroic acts that happened to them during the war. Inspired by these stories, Broz went out with a tape recorder and interviewed many people from all three ethnic groups. When she was done she compiled those testimonies into her book as proof that even though the war seemed to be tearing the humanity from people, there were those who stood up in the face of evil and risked everything to help others in need.
The war started in June 1991 when Slovenia and Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia. By September Yugoslavia had withdrawn its army from Slovenia and a new war had broken out between Croats and rebel Serbs. Yugoslavia joined the side of
the Serbs, while Bosnia itself was spilt in half by Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats. This was also a war between the religious groups of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims. During the war, people who had been friends found themselves separated by ethnicity and religion.
The testimonies taken during this chaotic time in Bosnia showed multiple acts of kindness varying from easing someone’s pain to sacrificing one’s own life to save another. For example, in one story titled Captain Mica, a Croat man, his son, and 35 of his friends were taken prisoner by Serbian fighters. The men were then beaten, starved, and yelled at for months, even though the Serbian Captain Mica had ordered his soldiers not to hurt them. At one point, the 35 prisoners were sent for an exchange. The Croat man was told to walk across a long field to the other side holding a white flag. The exchange would be all 35 prisoners for one Serbian prisoner. The man was told that if he didn’t come back the soldiers would slit his son’s throat. When the man reached the other side, the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina was willing to save only him. But the man wouldn’t let them, knowing that if he left with them his son would be killed. When he got back he was thrown in the bus with his son and friends and sent back to their imprisonment. A few months later, Captain Mica came and handed all 35 men over to Bosnia where they would be safe (Broz 16-22). This story of multiple heroic deeds shows that people of both sides of the war, including soldiers and their captives, could show great compassion.
It is strange then to think that when the Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted, the 11 college students chosen to be “guards” became ruthless and merciless within the first two days of the experiment. As some guards admitted, “I watched them tear at each other on orders given by us” and “I practically considered the prisoners cattle” (Zimbardo 393). The “prisoners” were 10 fellow college students who were put in a mock prison and treated like criminals. The experiment was supposed to last for two weeks, but because of the maliciousness and violence shown by the guards on the prisoners the experiment was terminated after only six days. It is interesting to think that in a fake situation, people would willingly abuse others to that extent, but in the Bosnian War when things were truly dangerous people showed an unlimited amount of courage and heroism.
In her article “Courage Under Fire” from Greater Good Magazine, Broz attributes these acts of heroism to “moral value and education”. “These people served as genuine examples of the goodness, compassion, humanity, and civil courage that continued to exist in these times of evil. They broke free from the identity of the bystander, that person who chooses to look away, to ignore, and to silently accept the suffering of others. Instead, these human beings provided compelling examples of upstanders, people who stick to their moral convictions and norms, and demonstrate great civil courage through their acts, even in a situation as horrific as the Bosnian war.” (Broz, Courage Under Fire)
In a similar article from Greater Good Magazine, Zeno Franco and Philip G. Zimbardo discuss what makes an ordinary person a hero. The article “The Banality of Heroism” suggests that heroism can be seen throughout history, even during war. While most people seem to avoid and ignore situations where others are being hurt, there are a few people who are willing to defend what is right and help those suffering. Although there is no answer for what makes one person more heroic than the next, Zimbardo and Franco suggest that instilling morals in children is a good place to start. They use stories like Beowulf and the Iliad as good examples for children of heroes who fought to save people, even when it meant risking their own safety.
What I have taken from Good People In An Evil Time and the Greater Good Articles is a deeper faith in humanity. When you turn on the news these days or read the newspaper all you hear about is the violence, hatred, and suffering. You rarely hear of heroic acts, and even if you do the news still prefers to focus on the villain. The heroes you see in theaters are men in costumes flying through the air, not ordinary people reaching out to those in need. In the 2005 film King Kong directed by Peter Jackson, a character named Kyle Chandler played Bruce Baxter, a cheesy action movie star. At one point in the movie, when faced with real danger, Baxter says, “Hey pal, wake up. Heroes don’t look like me, not in the real world. In the real world they’ve got bad teeth, a bald spot, and a beer gut. I’m just an actor with a gun who’s lost his way. Be seeing you.” It’s good to see that in modern movies they are starting to show that the real heroes are those that risk their lives in the face of evil (or large gorillas) to save or help those who need protection. This book has shown me for the first time the real accounts of those people.
Work Cited
Broz, Svetlana. Good People In An Evil Time: Portraits of Complicity and Resistance in the Bosnian War. Other Press LLC. New York, NY. 2004. Pgs xv-515.
Zimbardo, Philip G. The Stanford Prison Experiment. Behrens, Laurence. Rosen, Leonard J. Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. Tenth edit. 2008 Pgs 389 -400.
Broz, Svetlana. "Courage Under Fire." Greater Good Fall/Winter 2006 -2007. 3 May 2007
Franco, Zeno. Zimbardo, Philip G. “The Banality of Heroism” Greater Good Fall/Winter 2006 -2007. 3 May 2007
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home