{This is in response to a photo prompt from Friday Fictioneers. The photo, above, reminded me of the many historical symbols, that have been absconded with, by the far, far right. I imagined a gathering of such like-minded individuals, suddenly coming upon the defacement of their own borrowed symbolism. All errors are my own. And this fictional scene is, in no way, meant to support or justify such views, which I find abhorrent. Thank you for the prompt, and thank you for reading!}
The camp encircles a limbless tree. Cut sheer. Head-height.
All ‘round its naked torso, swirl warrior images, carved in relief. In the firelight, they dance a holy dance.
Who can remember its creator? Yet, its message speaks to all.
Thor’s hammer. Zeus’s lightning bolts. Viking runes. Greek helmets. Amulets. Hatchets. Swastikas.
Proclaiming, with a hodgepodge of myth: War is glory. Victory is certain, for the Righteous Cause.
What’s this, on the far side? Orange graffiti, defiling graffiti? Lewd words and images? An up-raised finger?
What can they be thinking, spewing such hatred?
At the march tomorrow, better bring a knife.
Very interesting!
Thanks Lisa!
I like how you included many gods of war. They always seem to win out over peaceful ones, don’t they? I like where you took this. Going out of our comfort zone is often just what we need.
Thanks Alicia! I was guided by what I saw in the image and by the article I mentioned in the comments, on misappropriated medieval imagery.
The perspective of loathing hatred of hatred is interesting but very realistic… they still see themselves as the victims (which is part of their strength)… all they need is a modern Horst Wessel..
I looked him up cause i wasnt familiar with that name. Looks like he was treated as a martyr by the Nazis before they came to power and after they came to power, the Communist who murdered him was removed from prison, where he had been sentenced to six years, and was shot by the Nazis. Lovely.
Really interesting take on the prompt, Andrea. I read it then read the comments and re-read it. Great work.
Thank you so much Jilly. A good word from you means a lot.
I am six days into a political fast. I’m seriously thinking of extending it to a month. It’s like doing a body cleanse. Getting all the ugliness out of my head, heart, and soul.
Fine idea. ?
Raised to believe war is glory – we will find (create?) a righteous cause…
But whoa! We get up in arms over graffiti – which spews the same message, only cruder. Our world is screwed up, isn’t it?
Excellent and interesting take on the prompt, Andrea!
Thank you Dale! And thank you for noticing the graffitti irony. The mere act of transforming nature into art, by whatever means, including carving, is a type of assault on property possessed by Nature, and could, in its broadest sense, be considered a kind of “graffiti .” So, spray-painting on top of that is “graffiti defiling graffiti…”
Exactly! In the Graffiti art world… I just learned that someone who “tags” an existing work of graffiti art is “throwing up” on the first person’s art…
Extremely violent symbolism – an an interesting take.
Symbols can be powerful, but it takes people acting on them, to produce violence. ?
Dear Andrea,
Although this feels medieval, it also has a hint of what’s going on in our insane world today. Well written. Poetic and evocative.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you Rochelle. Medieval–primeval–evil. It never goes away, does it?
Somewhat contradictory message. They are celebrating lightning bolt, hammer, amulet, at the same time they are upset with graffiti and want to carry a knife!
Yes Abhijit. This voice may well be what they call an unreliable narrator. At the very least, he is blissfully unaware of his own hypocrisy.
I think the anti-liqour people used to carry hatchets. Nice job of showing how they worship their ideology.
Yes, Russell, I have seen old newsreels showing them splitting casks open during US Prohibition . A similar kind of zeal. And i like the way you describe it. ?
As long as your cause is “righteous” it’s perfectly fine to slaughter your way across the world… Nice one!
Beware the True Believer. ?
Oh and by the way, im sure the narrator considered the knife to be for self-defense.
I guess that’s a peace march they’re going to bring a knife to. This prompt has ertainly brought out a lot of social commentary. Well done.
Haha. I was thinking more along the lines of a white supremacist march.
I follow a blog that for a long time wrote about the appropriation of medieval symbols by far right movements in recent times.
Heres a sample:
https://www.publicmedievalist.com/schrodinger/
It talks about “Schroedinger’s medievalisms”, that is, symbols appropriated by white supremacists but facially neutral and often used by non-white supremacists for completely harmless and unpolitical purposes.
Like Schroedingers cat, which can be considered both alive and dead at the same time, these symbols (such as Thor’s hammer, Celtic tattoos etc) can be considered both racially charged and not so much, at the same time.
The author goes on to point out that part of the power of appropriation is to make their numbers seem higher. Another “advantage” is being able to show their support for their cause within the group, and yet in general society, being able to “fly under the radar.”
I like the angle you took on the prompt Andrea and I’m pleased you overcame the discomfort of writing from a point of view that you don’t share. It made for a well-written and thought-provoking piece.
Thanks JS!
thank JS. Very interesting photo you picked. I wonder what the actual location was, and the impetus for the creation of this carving. Do you know?
Thank you Andrea. The tree is outside a small (and very good) museum. Although the tree trunk looks healthy, my understanding is that it was one of a number of trees that were diseased and had to be made safe. Rather than remove this one altogether, the curator called in the artist to decorate the salvaged trunk with historical motifs. I thought the work in progress that I photographed looked great, but I’m keen to go back and see how it turned out. It’s possible I was sensitised to the potential for crime in the area, as there was a drug-related murder about 200 yards away, a few days earlier.
(For someone who enjoys flash fiction, I can go on a bit. Sorry!)
Interesting take and it reminded me of a rally I saw on TV – last year –
Hmmm
Yes I think there were aftertastes of Charlottesville here. ?
?
Not a potion I’d care to partake in too often, Neil!
I can see how the events of the night before got translated into this. An interesting alchemy
Interesting take. It is a good exercise to write about characters who have opposing views to our own sometimes.
Thanks Iain, that’s true.
This exercise was sufficiently uncomfortable for me, that I found it impossible to nail a particular character, rather than an anonymous voice, to this ideology.
My point, I think, is that too many of us are susceptible, not to adopting this particular extremist philosophy, but to demonizing and taunting the “other,” whoever that other may be, in a continuous and often escalating back and forth, rather than seeking common ground.
Of course, this rather pessimistic point of view is likely the direct result of staying up too late, watching election returns, after an extremely polarized midterm season. ?
Interesting take on the photo prompt! Well done, Andrea.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
Thanks Susan!