In “The Body In Pain”, Elaine Scarry makes it clear that
torture consists of three main things: the infliction of pain, the
objectification of subjective attributes of pain, and the transformation of
pain into power. First of all, in torture, pain is almost always accompanied by
interrogation. This is so the torturer has a way of justifying the
“world-destroying” level of pain he/she inflicts onto the prisoner. The
objectification of pain is done through the torturer’s weapons, actions, and
words. Throughout the torture process, physical objects surrounding the prisoner
(such as a chair, door, or room) become weapons and eventually lose their
original purpose. Institutions, primarily the court and medicine, are also
transformed into sources of torture. At last, language is perverted and
converted into, what Scarry considers, the most expansive method of the objectification
of pain. What Scarry seems to convey in this passage is that the prisoner
literally exists in “a world of pain” when being tortured. In this realm of
torture, all aspects of the prisoner’s world are attributed to pain. We should
sympathize with the prisoner, in this case, because every personal aspect of
the prisoner’s life (friends, family, native country) is destroyed, and because
those things cease to exist, “betrayal” of those things is, essentially,
impossible. This brings us to the third component of torture because it seems
that through torture, the prisoner’s pain is actually mistakenly perceived as
the regime’s agency. Instead of recognizing the prisoner’s pain, we see the
regime’s power—the power to wrench from the prisoner a confession that is, in
fact, the regime’s words—and are unable to feel sympathy for the prisoner,
which is a very convoluted turn of events, indeed.
Nancy-
ReplyDeleteI think you have accurately captured Scarry's message within "The Body In Pain" in her focus throughout the text on torture's ability to destroy one's existence. Torture’s dismantling power produces the unmaking of one's self, world, language. I found many parallels between this proposed concept and Sartre's "The Wall,” a work referenced within Scarry's work.
The narrator of "The Wall," not long after discovering he will be executed the following morning, begins to loose himself throughout the night. Due to this mental torture of “dying before being dead” or having time to know and accept one’s own death, the narrator follows Scarry's proposed “loss of one’s self” concept almost exactly. I found this example of his loss of world and self even stronger than how Scarry describes it in that there was no physical torture, only the terror of having time to both imagine and work out all the details of one’s own death. The narrator suggests in many ways that he no longer has any worldly ties. First, in regards to his lover, there is a point in time when he no longer wishes to have the chance or have the doctor deliver a letter in order to say goodbye. Another instance occurs when he silently considers his reasoning behind not confessing his friend's hiding location. He now believes that neither his life nor his friend’s life holds more value, but reasons that least his friend still has some sense of loyalty to Spain remaining. This one aspect, his loyalty to Spain and intact world, makes his life, in the eyes of the narrator, worth living.
You did a wonderful job and picking out the ideas Scarry found most important. I absolutely agree with interrogation and pain being paired together at the same time to have a form of justification. The torturer could cause extreme levels of physical and psychological pain to the prisoner without penalty because he/she is doing it to find the answers they seek. I really like that you mentioned medicine being transformed into torture. I was very surprised while reading "The Body in Pain" because I would not have originally pictured a doctor as someone to cause pain. It's shocking to see something as simple as a doctor healing a prisoner being turned into torture because that then allows the prisoner to be tortured again.
ReplyDeleteLike the people who commented before me, I agree that you did a great job summarizing Scarry's central ideas! I think it's interesting that you highlighted Scarry's point about pain being all consuming for the victim of torture. Specifically, you mention her example of everyday objects becoming agents of pain, which reminded me of how Tom and the narrator from The Wall started seeing the bench as an object of pain instead of just a bench. This makes me think that both pain and death have the power to completely overwhelm our sense of life, literally transforming life into a world of pain or a world of death. And like you and Scarry point out, this power is not reflective of the power of whoever is inflicting the pain or death threat, as exemplified by the non-compliance of the narrator after he believes he is going to die for a night. Rather, the power seems to come from the notion of pain or death itself. However, I question why this power seems to suddenly surface when we go our entire lives knowing that pain and death are imminent. Is it that we are forgetful of their coming, or do we somehow have a stronger power when we believe that we have the choice to avoid the two? And can we return to normal life once their power has overtaken us, even for a few hours? The Wall suggests that we cannot, as the narrator continues to lose interest in life after spending a night in fear, but others seem to eventually recover from immense pain.
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