Tag Archives: my testimony

Staying is Dying, but Leaving is Dying

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In this clip, the viewer may be shocked at the cheerfulness and the cheerful tone that the refugees have when recounting their trip and the difficulties they faced, such as 200 people dying in the Sahara and having to drink their own urine to survive, on their way to Lampedusa. However, the cheerfulness and optimistic tone displayed in this scene is because the Nigerian refugees have accepted the reality that they may very likely die on their way to Lampeduas. In her book We Refugees, Hannah Arendt discusses how the Jewish refugees’ cheerfulness and optimism stemmed from an acceptance of death. This is similar the Nigerian refugees seen in this clip. The Nigerian refugee speaking in this clip states that “it is risky in life not to take a risk, because life itself is a risk.” The refugees use the fact that life is a risk as validation for accepting the 200 deaths of their companions in the desert, and for their own possible deaths on their trip to Lampedusa. Traveling to Lampedusa from Nigeria through Libya and the Sahara was risky and most likely many would die, but at the same time, it was a greater risk to stay in Nigeria and had a more likely chance of dying. Essentially, death was a real possibility for the refugees not matter what risk they chose, so they accepted the possibility of death and decided to head to Lampedusa.

The Duality of the Soul

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This clip depicts refugees singing together about their torment and pain as they remain in a state of transit in an attempt to flee their persecutors. Despite the director’s attempt to use this scene early in the film to paint the refugees as victims, this scene remains the most powerful depiction of humanity within the film. French philosopher Simone Weil, who starved to death while living under German occupation, believed that suffering causes the soul to cry out in two distinct voices. One voice which cries for relief, and the other which surrenders to the whims of a higher power. This scene is a beautiful and powerful depiction of the duality of the human spirit which Weil describes. These people are singing of their suffering to air their pain, but they do not beg for relief or for an answer. Through their painful song we see both a desire for an end to the suffering and insecurity, but we also see an acceptance of circumstance, and truth being felt by everyone who is singing. There are other scenes where people act more “normal”, but this is the only scene where people aren’t trying to ignore their circumstances, or ignoring their neighbors, or being depicted as helpless. Only in this scene do we see a deeper level to humanity, and emotional truth.

Popova, Maria. “How to Make Use of Our Suffering: Simone Weil on Ameliorating Our Experience of Pain, Hunger, Fatigue, and All That Makes the Soul Cry.” Brain Pickings, 14 Aug. 2016, www.brainpickings.org/2015/05/12/simone-weil-pain/.