Death Without Weeping Analysis

This essay will examine some of the fundamental structures which make up ‘cultures of terror’ and how these structures dictate life within in violent societies. The primary focus will be on Taussig’s examination of the rubber stations through Casement’s reports in Shamanism, Colonialism, and the Wild Man. Particular attention will be paid to the role played by the muchachos within the ‘society’ of the rubber stations and how their function in the society is essential in maintaining the power hierarchy through terror. Throughout my argument I will also draw parallels between Taussig’s work and Nancy Scheper-Hughes ethnography Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everyday Life in Brazil. Both works provide insight into violence as a part of
As discussed above “cultures of terror are nourished by the intermingling of silence and myth” (1987:8). Conjecture and fantasy spark paranoia and a fear of rebellion which becomes “obsessional” (1993:224). In the case of the rubber stations colonial myth fuelled the beliefs about the ‘wild’ and ‘savage’ forest. Scheper-Hughes outlines how the shanty town, Bom Jesus, sparks “perceptions of the community as a ruthless, unstable, amoral place” (1993:216). Regimes of terror must normalise extreme violence in order to work. Taussig refers to the “banality of the cruelty” and Scheper-Hughes ethnography is entitled the “everyday violence” (1987:476-477 and Scheper-Hughes1993). The violence is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ it will occur, and when it does occur it usually happens in a particular way. Casement refers a priest who speaks of whipping as a “custom” Indians do not themselves wish to relinquish, stating that they appear “tranquil, even joyful” after being whipped (1987:42). The absolute absurdity of this account need not be pointed out however despite its absurdity it may well be a true account from the eyes of the priest. The Indians he saw may very well have expressed joy which appeared genuine but their doing so was an effort to prevent further abuse not as any genuine feelings of attachment to the “custom.” Indians preformed their parts in order to endure the minimum violence
The fact is those who could be relied upon to criticise and invalidate the violence were ultimately “unable to establish contact with the population” (1987:470) Their voices were drowned in a paradoxical ocean of evidence created by the believers of its reflection. Scheper-Hughes could not possibly begin to fight the beliefs so ingrained in the people of Bom Jesus, and their beliefs and fears while in some ways misguided were in no way unjustified. The story she relates of attempting to convince a critically ill child to be allowed be brought to the hospital, a place of officialdom the child has been thought to fear because of those who enter and subsequently vanish, is the perfect example of this (1993:234). It is difficult to counter these beliefs when these people have seen for themselves the result of violence by death squads who, are like doctors in their eyes, are mysterious, semi-official actors with potentially disturbing agendas. In the rubber stations whisperings about cannibalism could not be quelled nor conclusively verified. It would seem based on the various sources Casement consulted that there were some instances of cannibalism but the evidence begs further questions as to who instigated such acts, the Indians or muchachos themselves or the colonial