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Published Jul 30, 2007
In this graphic portrayal of innocents caught in the crossfire of rebel factions
in civil war-torn West Africa, hordes of terrified people leave their homes on
foot, relentlessly pursued by the rebels - in this case a group called Mata
Mata, their cause narrated by sixteen-year old Johnny Mad Dog.
While marching his quasi-soldiers from place to place and indiscriminately
killing so-called traitors, the young men loot and rape with impunity, proud
of their manly prowess, oblivious to those they destroy. The carnage is
everywhere, death stalking the streets with each fetish-wearing youth with a
rifle in his hands.
Johnny Mad Dog postures as an intellectual, but his arrogance far exceeds
his native intelligence. He is as brutal as any seasoned veteran, rationalizing
the random violence, spouting policy about "the previous government and its
leader, enemies of the people and democracy, a genocidal regime... I think
that's what we'd been told to say."
In sharp contrast, sixteen-year old Laokole leaves the family hut with her
brother and legless mother in a wheelbarrow, the children taking turns
pushing. Along the way, the brother, Fofo, is separated from his sister and
mother. Laokole considers the futility of her plight, even "why a woman
should limit the number of her own children: because the fewer children you
had, the more easily you could flee in times of war and looting."
Nowhere is safe in this world turned upside-down by the rebels, soldiers and
bandits, all interchangeable, young and old run to ground: "no one is too old
to flee death." Everyone carries their most prized possessions; for Laokole
and Fofo it is their mother.
In alternating chapters, Laokole and Johnny Mad Dog maneuver through the
unremitting destruction that is total chaos. By contrasting the lives of the
two teenagers, the author paints a stunning picture of depravity versus
courage. Laokole is the voice of humanity, while Johnny Mad Dog is
corrupted by power, depraved by senseless murders, excusing his own
brutality: "I know, I know, my kind heart is going to get me in serious
trouble."
The refugees hope their plight will be covered in the media, that somewhere
in the world someone will care, but nothing is mentioned on American TV.
The European stations report briefly, “images I’ve seen a thousand times on
programs about Rwanda, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Central African
Republic and eastern Zaire.” Africa is seen on the screen as a vast refugee
camp, “the ragged, wandering hordes.”
This painful, but important novel gives voice to the massacre of innocents,
over ten thousand deaths, half a million displaced persons and refugees, a
humanitarian catastrophe. “How can you have hope in a country when the
road to power is littered with corpses?” The haunting voice of this young
woman tells the haunting tale of millions abandoned to their fate. Will the
world respond to this genocidal nightmare?
In this graphic portrayal of innocents caught in the crossfire of rebel factions
in civil war-torn West Africa, hordes of terrified people leave their homes on
foot, relentlessly pursued by the rebels - in this case a group called Mata
Mata, their cause narrated by sixteen-year old Johnny Mad Dog.
While marching his quasi-soldiers from place to place and indiscriminately
killing so-called traitors, the young men loot and rape with impunity, proud
of their manly prowess, oblivious to those they destroy. The carnage is
everywhere, death stalking the streets with each fetish-wearing youth with a
rifle in his hands.
Johnny Mad Dog postures as an intellectual, but his arrogance far exceeds
his native intelligence. He is as brutal as any seasoned veteran, rationalizing
the random violence, spouting policy about "the previous government and its
leader, enemies of the people and democracy, a genocidal regime... I think
that's what we'd been told to say."
In sharp contrast, sixteen-year old Laokole leaves the family hut with her
brother and legless mother in a wheelbarrow, the children taking turns
pushing. Along the way, the brother, Fofo, is separated from his sister and
mother. Laokole considers the futility of her plight, even "why a woman
should limit the number of her own children: because the fewer children you
had, the more easily you could flee in times of war and looting."
Nowhere is safe in this world turned upside-down by the rebels, soldiers and
bandits, all interchangeable, young and old run to ground: "no one is too old
to flee death." Everyone carries their most prized possessions; for Laokole
and Fofo it is their mother.
In alternating chapters, Laokole and Johnny Mad Dog maneuver through the
unremitting destruction that is total chaos. By contrasting the lives of the
two teenagers, the author paints a stunning picture of depravity versus
courage. Laokole is the voice of humanity, while Johnny Mad Dog is
corrupted by power, depraved by senseless murders, excusing his own
brutality: "I know, I know, my kind heart is going to get me in serious
trouble."
The refugees hope their plight will be covered in the media, that somewhere
in the world someone will care, but nothing is mentioned on American TV.
The European stations report briefly, “images I’ve seen a thousand times on
programs about Rwanda, Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Central African
Republic and eastern Zaire.” Africa is seen on the screen as a vast refugee
camp, “the ragged, wandering hordes.”
This painful, but important novel gives voice to the massacre of innocents,
over ten thousand deaths, half a million displaced persons and refugees, a
humanitarian catastrophe. “How can you have hope in a country when the
road to power is littered with corpses?” The haunting voice of this young
woman tells the haunting tale of millions abandoned to their fate. Will the
world respond to this genocidal nightmare?
"Johnny Mad Dog - Emmanuel Dongala" (book review)
http://www.curledup.com/johnnyma.htm
http://www.curledup.com/johnnyma.htm
Oleg Zhivetin
Poem Reader
Poem Reader
