Good Example Of Book Review On A Nature Of Violence

The following paper focuses on Chapter One: A Foreign Country from The Better Angels of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker and a documentary called Power of Nightmare. The topic of both chapter and movie discuss the use of violence in civilization for as long as one can record. The chapter from the book broke down various stages throughout history starting back from mummified bodies from the prehistoric times all the way to the 20th century. Evidence of brutal violence in human beings is evident for as far back as one can explore. The movie continues the theme of violence; however, the examination of the United States use of barbaric violence for fear and war are documented.
As I read the book, I felt shocked and disgusted at the horrendous torture and abuse that enemies brought upon one another regardless of whether it was during the Homeric Greek era, Biblical times, or in modern Europe. Women were used as sexual tokens in many of these phases of history during the exchange for power for most all groups. Unimaginable torture was common practice for the majority of the people during the various stages of times past. A gruesome example in the book mentions “Saint Barbara namesake of the beautiful California, was hung upside down by her ankles while soldiers ripped her body with iron claws, amputated her breasts, burned the wounds with hot irons, and beat her head with iron clubs” (Pinker, 2011). It was only after the 19th century that the western world, America in particular, began to realize that such violence is not acceptable. The fighting and violence still went on, just not in the same way that was customary in many of the other periods.
The documentary sort of picks up where chapter one of the book ends bringing the focus to 20th century America. The methods used by the U.S. government against the people of countries that posed a threat were reminiscent of the awful torment seen in the past. Much more can be discussed about the movie and the chapter from the book, but with just a brief review one can see that mankind has not been able to avoid violence. People must question whether this violence is as much a part of the human nature as killing is among animals in the wild because it seems to be the case

Works Cited

Pinker, Steven. "A Foreign Country". The Better Angels of Our Nation. New York: Penguin
Books. 2011.
The Power of Nightmares. Perf. Adam Curtis. Prod. BBC. 2004. Video. 2015. <
https://archive.org/details/ThePowerOfNightmares-E pisode1BabyItsColdOutside >
.