The Revolution Slinky of Pain and Anger - Sarah Britsch

After Tizita’s fall, Sara takes her to see Emama Seble for some unconventional healing.  In the process, Sara begins to feel intense pain in herself where Emama Seble presses on Tizita’s body.  In explanation of the literal physical connection of pain between Sara and Tizita, Emama Seble declared, “You’re doing this to her….  You’re suffocating the life that’s trying to grow.  You’re too angry” (102). This passage seems to be directly analogous of the revolution in its current state.  As with the connection between Sara and Tizita, the connection between the revolution and the revolutionists acts a bit like a Slinky, each fueling and reacting to the other.  Sara’s anger is the cause of Tizita’s pain, which intensifies the pain, which then deepens the anger.  In the same way, the anger of the revolutionists – which is caused by the pain in the nation – is spurring the pain in Ethiopia to even deeper levels.  The nation is attempting to grow and build on what has already been established, but the revolutionists believe their anger is justified and continue to push their cause.  In Sara’s case, she could not allow Tizita to heal until she was aware of her own anger.  In the case of the revolution, there cannot be an end to the cycle until the revolutionists collectively become aware of the pain-anger connection.  In their retaliation against the government, they are only hurting themselves, which causes them to retaliate further.  In both cases, the main concern is whether the connection can be realized and – once it is realized – those who are angry are able to back down enough to allow the other party to heal.