Introduction
Throughout the world, there is an abundance of contrasting opinions and definitions relating to the word violence. Of the many popular choices, the World Health Organization defines it as follows: “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation.” When people hear the word violence, they automatically assume that it is only a physical manifestation. This assumption made by a majority of people around the world is not only preposterous, but also very far from the truth. It is true that violence can be physical and extremely perilous under certain circumstances, but this presence of violence is not its only form. There are in fact many forms of violence that can ultimately be broken down into other categories, some of which we will discuss that includes verbal violence and internal violence.
Verbal violence can occur at any time and can transpire spontaneously with no prior warning. Verbal violence is something that frequently gets over-looked because it is not seen as a serious problem. The truth of the matter is that it is a serious problem in our society and can be far worse than regular physical violence. The common saying that words never hurt is completely false because words do hurt and often scars the soul of the victim. There are countless incidents that prove the notion that words do hurt and these incidents can be seen virtually everywhere in the media. These countless incidents deal with the conflict of cyber bullying and this has been an ongoing problem ever since technology has advanced. Cyber bullying is really difficult to stop because in most cases the bullies feel they can get away with hurting another individuals without getting caught since their identity remains anonymous. Cyber bullying goes hand in hand with verbal violence because severe damage is created through the utilization of words and not through physical means. According to Cyber bullying statistics from the I-SAFE foundation, “over 25 percent of adolescents and teens have been bullied repeatedly through their cell phones or the Internet.” This is a significant amount of individuals and portrays how serious verbal violence is as a whole.
The other form of violence is a self-internalized type of violence and it occurs when an individual possesses self-esteem issues. The lack of self-esteem causes them to hate themselves and this can be worse than physical violence itself. The main reason why this is worse than regular physical violence it is because you are your worst enemy in this type of violence. All the damage is being caused by you and not by somebody else which makes it extremely difficult to resolve. Self- internalized violence is just like verbal violence because it is also rarely discussed or exposed to society as a major issue. The individuals who suffer from this type of violence possess the notion that they are inferior which makes them feel they are not good enough by the standards of their society. When they feel inferior, they start to internalize a bad image about themselves therefore putting themselves in a never-ending vicious cycle. A lot of these individuals wish there circumstances were different but never appreciate who they really are because they do not know how to. “A study of more than 3,000 adolescent girls showed that seven out of 10 believe that they are not good enough.” Again, this is a significant number and shows that even though many people are not aware of self-loathing and is a problem considered under the radar, does not mean it is not an enormous issue. Verbal abuse can sometimes make self-loathing a reality among many individuals and demonstrates the direct relationship these two types of violence have with each other.
In Nicole’s piece, she uses the novel of Frankenstein to reflect upon how neglect can play a significant role in relation to violence. Frankenstein helps the reader to understand that violence goes beyond what the frame of mind believes when relating to violence. Neglect can form into almost any type of violence. One of which we are bringing to the forefront is an internalized experience of violence. The monster has experienced neglect from his creator for a long enough period of time that he eventually questions himself as well as his creator. The monster not only begins to internalize this violence but also puts it on display for his creator to see.
In Lashawn’s essay, she talks about how altering appearances to blend into another culture can be viewed as an internalized experience of violence. In American Born Chinese, Gene Luen Yang writes Jin Wang in a way that makes it seem like Jin’s life goal is to be accepted as “normal’ in his middle school. Even though he was born and raised in America, Jin Wang is not accepted as a Chinese American. Instead he is treated like he is “fresh off the boat” and doesn’t have any sense. That un-acceptance causes him to start hating himself and all that makes him Chinese.
In Jeffrey Acosta’s essay, he expresses how American Born Chinese serves as a good example of a non-physical type of violence that is present throughout the text. He sheds light to how the author, Gene Luen Yang, uses visuals to express the theme of internalized violence throughout the story. In his close-reading paper, Jeffrey describes and walks us through different incidents that take place in the text where Yang uses particular techniques to get his message across. Yang uses much consistency and precise expressions throughout his graphic novel in order to articulate that internal violence is just as important as physical violence.
In Yhan’s close reading paper, he decided to talk about verbal violence and how one of the main characters Cholly initiated all the negative stuff that occurred to the BreedLove family. Physical violence is definitely present within this novel and even though he touched on it briefly it is still important to mention. However, that does not mean he failed to mention other forms of violence present within this paper. Racism is a strong element that keeps on reoccurring throughout the novel and it goes hand in hand with verbal violence. Pecola is constantly made fun of by members of her own race and she finds it extremely difficult to get accustomed to. It almost seems as the rest of the community uses her as a scapegoat in order to feel better about them and feel more beautiful. It’s evident that even though physical violence was present within this novel, verbal violence affected the characters the worst in the most negative way.
Rushjeet decided to use his close reading paper instead of his other paper because this paper best reflects the thesis statement of our group project. In his whole paper he discusses three different incidents of self-loathing. The major reason why he picked these three incidents was because he wanted to prove that internalized violence negatively affected the characters in the novel in a way physical violence could not. Many people like to believe that physical violence is the worst type of violence, but that is certainly not the case all the time. Internalized violence is inescapable because the conflict resonates within a person unlike physical violence, which may occur by another individual. With physical violence, the person may have a better chance of escaping and that’s why he believes internalized violence is much worse. Internalized violence is not often spoken about and that’s why he decided to discuss it in this project because it is important to be aware of.
Even though physical violence is a problem in our world, we cannot forget how important it is to be aware of both verbal and internalized violence. Understanding these two components will allow an individual to know what it really means to be violent. If a person looks at violence just from a physical perspective then this will serve as an obstacle because violence possesses more than one component. Three pieces of literature that tackle at least one of these components are Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, and The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. The major reason why the authors tackle the theme of violence in different ways it is because the authors are attempting to teach the reader that there is more than one type of violence present within this world and further illustrate the point that physical violence did not negatively affect their characters as verbal and internal violence did.