Violence in the Suburbs of Paris Essay -- Comparative, La Haine, Tea i

Despair in Tea in the Harem and La HaineThe film La Haine and the book Tea in the Harem both take place in the suburbs of Paris, a place where brutality reigns and hope perishes. La Haine focuses on the lives of trinity young men, Vinz, Said, and Hubert, while Tea in the Harem looks closely at two men, Majid and Pat. All these characters are deeply troubled, involved in drugs and worshippers of alcohol. They are rough, given over to violence. Their lives are burdened by despondency, and hopelessness guides them and those around them. In fact, both the book and the film heavily explore the theme of despair. Despair is portrayed as a ruiner as it crushes, condemns, and kills. It causes women to sell their bodies and men to turn to drink. There is little escape from this crushing force. Education and friendship present themselves as rescuers, save most characters in La Haine and Tea in the Harem choose instead to turn to vices, like drugs and sex. This only adds to the anguish in th e suburbs though. In the end, this hertz of sex, drugs, violence, and despair overwhelms the characters and causes them to capitulate to a destructive, depression-filled life. The end of Tea in the Harem, however, isnt entirely devoid of optimism. For Pat and Majid, friendship competency just offer them enough perkiness to survive. For the characters in La Haine though, all looks grim. The amount of violence prevalent in the suburbs of Paris is never glossed over in La Haine and Tea in the Harem. In Tea in the Harem, one of the first images presented to the reader is of the older residents of the neighborhood buying dogs and training them to sic any intimidating figures, including youths. La Haine ends and begins with a gunshot. The occupants of t... ...s blase and turns to violence or drink or sex or drugs to relieve the pain. After his short vacation, he wakes up and sees hes still in the banlieues. Hes still unhappy, hes still desperate. The cycle repeats itself again and a gain, and death looks sweeter and sweeter. The despair settles, and happiness becomes an impossible ideal. In La Haine, this despair leads to death and more violence. Tea in the Harem, however, offers one slight redemption friendship. At the end of the book, Majid gets arrested, and Pat manages to get away. As the cop car with Majid drives up the road, though, Pat emerges and hands himself over to the police. Although these two men are surrounded by heartache, they find some promise in each other, and this just might be their final escape. For the rest of the residents of the suburbs of Paris, though, despair will haunt them and linger.