“Self-harm is an expression of abject despair but in detention, it’s sometimes more than that. Because refugees are objectified and dehumanized…because they are reduced to incarcerated bodies…to harm themselves is to defy the system that locks them away.”
This comic was incredibly heart-wrenching and provided an insight into immigration detention centers that I hadn’t been aware of. One of the things that startled me was the concept of self-harm as a form of defiance. Though I do know of other instances where protesters engaged in self-harm as a form of defiance, such as Mahatma Gandhi or in the civil rights era which was successful to varying degrees, the notion is so counter-intuitive and so against natural tendencies that, to me, it is unfathomable.
The image of the man with the stapled mouth illustrates the sort of defiance the refugees may be engaged in and the types of symbolism, oppression, repression, etc. that may be intended by such self-harm. I found the captions explaining the self-harm unsatisfactory, and my first instinct was to criticize the self-harm for confirming and even reinforcing the notions of those objectifying and dehumanizing them that their bodies were not valuable enough to not be harmed. However, looking at it again and attempting to understand it, I can see it as an attempt to force attention to be paid to them, to use the symbolism to criticize their treatment in the detention center, and to garner sympathy and publicity for their plight.
Hi Mohammed,
This passage was the most disturbing work I have ever read in this class and is in the top three of the most disturbing things I have read in my college career. This passage made me feel like I was suffering with the inmates, even though the migrant camp is 10,000 miles and five years away. Living through such a depraved system, as Ahmed describes it, will make your brain not think right and compel you to make some unorthodox decisions like harming yourself, just to get out of this villainy.
-Zachary Rosman
Hey Zack. I agree, reading that was really tough because it made you reflect on the conditions they must be in and their mindset to resort to self-harm. I tried to rationalize the self-harm in my blog post but it is something that is wholly inexplicable. The only parallel I could draw with the detention center was concentration camps, especially after seeing the scene with the guards laughing as a refugee died from a heart attack or the guard yelling that she had a right to touch whoever she wanted in the center. This is shocking considering these people left their home countries seeking asylum only to be treated, in some ways, worse than they had been treated in their home countries.
I agree with your analysis completely. I think that, while the self-harm did more physical damage to the detainees than the detention center itself, the message beneath the surface of these scars actually displays a sense of resilience that defensive actions could never produce. It is not that their body parts are not valuable but that their plight is greater than the pain they feel injuring these valuable things. Self-harm is also a way for detainees to stand in solidarity with each other against their horrible treatment. It can be assumed that many of these immigrants may not speak the same language as each other and, therefore, may not have the clearest line of communication. So, a universal language like self-harm bridges this gap to send a message of unity.