Mimetic Violence in The Road - Essay Example

They work towards getting what they desire, and when they eventually get it, it becomes apparent that they seem to desire the possessor of the object also, not just the object. The second stage is Mimetic Rivalry. At this stage, the desire becomes so strong that it begins to reveals its violent side. At the Skandalon or Scandal stage, the violence has become so immense that it is capable of disrupting the life of an entire community. The situation becomes so scandalous that it becomes very difficult for the players to give up.

Scapegoating stage, the fourth, is where a victim is picked and blamed for the sad turn of events. This is the stage where peacekeeping finally fails. Then the final stage which is known as Sacred Violence comes; the scapegoat is punished, most times killed, supposedly at the command of a god. But this doesn’t end the violence. It gives rise to persistent mimetic violence. There are different types of mimetic violence but one feature common to all is that the minority in the society are often the scapegoats.

In some cases, it is the women. In others, it is the poor. Generally, the scapegoats are those that are not considered to be indispensable in the society. Examples of Mimetic Violence The examples of mimetic violence abound. A typical example is when politicians contest for elective offices. All the stages of that come before mimetic violence are all experienced. Even though in some climes, people are not killed during electioneering, the level of competition still reflects mimetic violence. However, in many places like Africa, during political strife, the mimetic stages eventually arrive at the level of violence.

Another example of Mimetic Violence is that which is encountered is found in William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet.” Mimetic violence also develops to its final stages in the play. Hamlet and his Uncle, Claudius, try to skim out each other (for the prize – the throne). The situation at the end becomes very bloody as both of them get killed. However, it seems Hamlet remains the hero while Claudius is the scapegoat. Examples and Usage of Mimetic Violence in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road Before much analysis is done on how mimetic violence plays itself out in the novel, it must be clearly stated that the third person narrator in the novel uses such expression like “the man”, “the father” and “the boy” to refer to the fact that the characters represent any member of the human society.

Hence, all the characters are involved in mimetic violence in at least one stage. One of the earliest revelations of mimetic violence in the novel is depicted when the boy and his father leave their original home to embark on a journey because they needed to survive. The fact that the circumstance in their original place had ceased to be welcoming reveals the high play of mimetic violence. Recognizing how hopeless their situation is, the man’s wife commits suicide; that is mimetic violence.

One cannot but wonder why it is the woman that had to sacrifice her life. Why is it not the man that had to commit suicide? That question should actually be directed at the author. The choice of the woman as the one to commit suicide is a depiction of how the people who are considered to be less important than others are the