The novel Children of the New World by Assia Djebar has explicitly and uniquely revealed the aspect of violence so as to sustain the story. Many characters are seen as part of the struggle to liberate the country under French rule, Algeria. In the attempt to revolt against the colonial government, there emerges violence. The struggle for liberation continues and most characters realize that violence is one thing that is bound to live with them for long. They therefore believe in it, seeing it as the only road to liberation.
Touma is one character who views violence as a normal thing. While others fear it and shake because of it, this character treats violence with indifference. Touma, the daughter of French widow acquires good European education and their culture and becomes an independent woman. It is at the café that she realises the true nature of violence. Here, she encounters violence from Arabs who rapes her. The way she responds to this act shows how much she is frustrated with life. It is the violence in the country that makes her to believe that she enjoys being raped. Frustrations make her irrational. She views rape, contrary to the known, that these men rape her as a show of respect. The writer says, “Touma likes being raped this way by these men: she sees it as a form of respect” (p.90).
This respect that she sees from an awkward view is perhaps due to her disengagement from the Arab women norms. Being without veil on her is a symbol of freedom according to her which is not the case. By being without veil, she exposes herself to the predicaments of the entire struggle. She becomes more vulnerable since does not get the protection that other women in land are offered during the resistance. Here, Touma can therefore be seen as a character who has given in to violence. Since women are vulnerable at times of war, veil is seen as a protective garment by them. Touma’s resistance to protection shows that she no longer fears violence. She hates not only the veil but the Arabs as well. Perhaps she hates Arab community because of their strict rules on veil. She asserts “Arabs, I hate them” (p.91). This heightens the conflict between her and her society.
While some women characters fear violence and take no role in the struggle, Touma accepts violence through collaborating with the enemies of liberation. She gets into a romantic relationship with the police officer who part of the oppressors. Police men are the perpetrators of violence since they engage in killing of the resisting individuals. She also works with the French administration that is responsible for the violence since they do not want to let go the land. She spies on her own people, report them to the authority and let them battered and even killed. Touma is therefore seen as antithesis of Arab woman, both in actions and philosophy of life. Through associating with the unwanted side she demonstrate that violence has no major impact on her conscience; that she does not care about the effort made by her people to bring freedom to the land and therefore peace. The consequence of her actions is seen in the death of Saidi, a café owner who was tortured and killed in prison. She reported him to the authority. Touma gets motivated by violence and this is why spies on her entire community.
The selfishness of Touma does not only hurt her community but also her family. Her brother, for example gets infuriated by his sister’s social and political orientation that he leaves his work in order to free up his conscience. He sees the betrayal of his sister to the community as a family betrayal and as a result, he decides to murder her so that the family could be saved of the curses from the community. He says, “ I was sullied, I cleansed myself” (p.189). The killing of Touma by his brother shows the height of violence in the novel. In this case, her brother uses a form of violence to echo the massive violence in Algeria this time. Worth noting is that shortly after the death of Touma, the struggle for liberation is terminated, the freedom is won by the Algerians and the violence comes to an end.
Martinez is another character whose life is attached to violence in the novel. He is a captain at thirty eight years. He expects his social status to rise due to continuing war. This is because since he has knowledge of the locals, their political inclination as well as those that are suspected to be dangerous to the authority; he will definitely be favoured by the authority. The war (violence) continues and his life continues to be better, so he believes. The writer says, “The more the war goes on the more they’ll need him and his consummate knowledge of local population, politicised and suspect elements in the region” (p.96).
Martinez believes that through helping the French in war against the local resistance, his own life improves socially, politically and economically. It is through encouraging violence that he anticipates success in his life. His main goal in the novel is to become the commissioner before reaching forty years. The deaths of those who are tortured by the authority does not matter to him, the anger he stirs among people Algerians does not bother him. What he knows is that his life depends entirely on him and that not even the force of the struggle should make him hesitate in his way to success.
His quest for violence makes him hates Hakim who is the protégé of Chief Jean. Chief Jean is his senior who disapproves his proposal to continue using violence in the land. He thinks that it looks naïve to stop using violence in the war. According to Martinez, violence is the only means that can be used in Algeria during this period of war, and that other means could just turn ineffective. The writer says, “It’s naïve, he thinks, to persist in not using violence; violence before anything else, overt violence, is the only policy that pays off in this country” (p.96).
Saidi, a Baghdad Café operator, meets his death in the hands of violence and struggle for liberation in the novel. He is arrested as a rebel that is not true. His Café, Baghdad Café which is doing so well rivals the French hotel, Palais d’orient which is in the same town though in a different street. Here, violence is seen as a phenomenon that decides individuals’ fate in the novel. Saidi’s case is an antithesis of Martinez and Touma’s. While the latter believe in violence as a means of getting their lives back, the former avoids violence and unfortunately meets his death. Violence therefore means good life according to Captain Martinez but according to Saidi, it means loss of life.
Saidi dies because he has been accused of having raped a woman for three days. This is a pure allegation because the French authority wants him out of their way. This is revealed by women in the street who say that Saidi has always been antagonising the authority. They say “Saidi has always been a hothead” (p.103). Saidi’s death here reveals two things about violence in Algeria during the period of struggle. First, that execution done by French administration is not done openly. This is because of the fear of being attacked by the locals. It shows that through resistance, freedom becomes possible. The secondly, it shows how oppressive the alien government is to the local people. The French authority uses threats, allegations and torture as core elements of violence. To some point, his death shows unpreparedness of Algerians to completely end their years of oppression under the high-handed French.
In an attempt to bring into focus the effects of violence, Djebar has used the character Cherifa, the Youssef’s wife to show how important women are in the struggle for liberation. During the time of war, she helps Youssef, her husband; and Ali, her brother who are part of the struggle to escape from the hostility and torture of the colonisers. In this case, she assists in reducing more deaths and torture. The aspect of violence therefore has been demonstrated successfully through manipulation of characters’ presentation. Their presentation as having conflicting view struggle and violence gives “the new” world an insightful view of violence.
Djebar, Assia. Children of the New World. U.S: The Feminist Press, 2005