Entry 2 Response : )

Q: What concepts in the Sawi culture intrigued/reviled/saddened/angered/surprised you?

The Sawi culture completely shocked me when I began reading this book. I had heard of cannibalism before but, reading this novel really opened my eyes to actual events that took place not that long ago. What I still cannot comprehend is the fact that things like this have actually occurred in my grandparents lifetime. It seems uncomprehensible to imagine people living in such a state of unawareness and seclusion in a world full of advancement, technology, internet, and transportation. Not living the life that I am accustomed would have such an impact on your life, especially if you were brought up in a cannibalistic tribe like the Sawi. 
So many aspects of the Sawi culture were new and different to me. It is hard to understand exactly why people do what they do. Where did this customs first begin and why? 

One thing that intrigued me about the Sawi culture was the giving of one's "body" to another to form "trust". This act is evident on Page 22 when Kauwan gives Yae a piece of his hair in order to build a deeper bond with him, in a sense, "build a friendship". I found it to be very symbolic that one person would give a piece of themselves to another person to represent a bond between them. In todays culture this gesture would seem very out of place and on the border line of crazy but, to the Sawi people it took as a token which could be used to curse them or to keep it unharmed to represent their friendship. 

Another major aspect of the Sawi mindset that really disturbed was the fact that their main objective/way of thinking is betrayal. It disturbed me to think that people you think are your friends and even relatives might betray you and consequently get eaten. After reading the first 5 chapters of the book I was really shocked and disturbed about their culture and mind set. Page 31 really impacted my viewpoint of the Sawi tribe and their idealistic view of betrayal, "It was an old Sawi expression, terse, deadly, which expressed in three words one of the deepest undercurrents of Sawi culture - the idealization of treachery."

  I found myself asking a lot of questions about how a group of people could accept what they were doing as right? Wouldn't going against your own conscience automatically trigger something in your mind that what you're doing is wrong? 
Moreover the significance of legends and traditions played a major role in the Sawi culture. From things like not drinking straight from the river to avoid evil spirits (Pg. 26) to the deeper relationships between the in-laws (Pg. 57) to refining/using Sawi traditions to betray men and become a "legend maker" (Pg 56). All of the customs of the Sawi seem so eccentric and abnormal that it is hard to believe that people could live in such a state of seclusion and not be aware of the world around them or the fact that what they having been doing for hundreds of years is wrong. 

While looking for pictures online for this blog post, I came across an interesting poem about a tribe in the region where this story takes place. I thought it would be interesting to post it as well because it directly relates to the daily lives of the people in a tribe and as the story progresses, I think that this poem will reflect similar emotions that tribe men and women felt during this change in time.