Stanisław Barszczak, The wheelbarrow boy (to be continued)
The main theme of the story is the premise that from one innocent act, a chain of cataclysmic events can follow… So, a Japanese businessman, Hashimoto Wataya gives a rifle to his Yemeni tour guide as a thank-you. This is a nice thing to do, and perfectly innocent. The Yemeni knows that his neighbor is having trouble with jackals killing his goats. He sells him the rifle to protect the herd, and therefore his livelihood. Then the goat herder asks his sons to protect the herd. They get bored and start shooting at rocks to see if the gun really does have the distance and range their neighbor claimed. The gun does indeed have the advertised range. A bullet hits a tour bus, an American woman is shot and an international incident occurs. There is a place close to West Sana’a. Nacib and Noemi are inside. In trying to escape, out of fear, Yussef and Ahmed, the two young men and their father Abdullah are almost killed in a shoot out. The Japanese businessman is suspected of arms dealing. The American tourist and her husband are delayed in Yemeni and their children’s nanny is unable to leave in time for her son’s wedding in Mexico. They are experiencing a breakdown in communication. Richard and Susan Jones are not dealing well, if at all, with their grief following the death of their third child, from S.I.D.S. They are grieving inwardly, rather than together. They cannot express their feelings, and possibly can’t interpret them for themselves, let alone share them with their spouse. This turns to anger and hostility until all beneficial and positive communication has broken down… A similar experience is happening in Japan, where Chieko and her father are barely communicating after the death of Chieko’s mother. She also feels that her father is in some way to blame for her mother’s suicide (possibly another example of two people unable to communicate). Chieko struggles with communication because she is deaf. She cannot express her grief to her father, and he is unable to express his grief in any way that she can understand. Their inability to communicate leads Chieko to feel that she needs a father figure, because she has no longer got one.Yasujiro also does not know how to grieve the loss of his wife, or the loss of his relationship with his daughter. He is also grieving for the loss of the relationship he believed that he had with his wife… The situation in Yemeni is made significantly worse by the fact that relations between the Saudi Arabia and Yemeni are tense and difficult. Understandably, having shots rain down on a tour bus filled with American tourist appears to be a terrorist act. The two countries work together to catch the perpetrators quickly… The authorities in Japan also come into play; as the Japanese police quickly question Hashimoto, assuming him to be an arms dealer. They are cooperative and keen to assist because of their good working relationship with both governments… One moment before the “terrorist incident” Noemi had asked Nacib: What about you? How many wives do you have? – I can only afford one, Nacib answered… Chain of events follows. Yussef, when he is apprehended by the police said like this: – I killed the American, I was the only one who shot at you. They did nothing… nothing. Kill me, but save my brother, he did nothing… nothing. Save my brother… he did nothing. Yussef’s panic shows how out of control his situation has become. What started out as two bored young men trying to disprove the capacity of a rifle ends up with a police shoot out and an injured American tourist. From his words here it can be seen that Yussef actually believes that Susan Jones is dead, rather than injured. He thinks that he has killed an American tourist, which is why he assumes that he will be receiving the death penalty. His brother has been badly injured in the police shoot out, having been shot in both the leg and the back. Yussef loves his family and does not want his actions to impact them or cause them to be punished, or worse. At the same time in Tijuana is a wedding. The children of Jonses are riding a car. My mom says Mexico is dangerous, Mike said. Yes, it’s full of Mexicans, Santiago said. Conversation between Mike Jones and Amelia’s nephew, Santiago follows. This conversation takes place when Amelia has decided to take the children to Tijuana with her for her son’s wedding, rather than missing it. From his words we can understand that Mike is nervous of the trip . He has been warned by his mother about going over the border and her warnings seem to have worked. The ironic thing in this conversation is that the trip is not particularly dangerous for Mike and his sister Debbie, but is dangerous for Amelia and ends up in her being deported to Mexico… The tourists from a bus are waiting the emmergency. Nacib asked Noemi: – Why did we come here? -What do you mean? I thought you would like it, Noemi said. -Really. Why are we here? -To forget everything. To be alone. Alone, Noemi replied… The American woman, Susan is not enjoying the trip even before she is shot. She now second guesses their decision to come to Yemeni at all. Richard wanted them to go somewhere that would make them concentrate on each other and try to put the death of their baby out of their mind, but it is not working, and on top of that, they are now in danger, feeling as though they are the potential targets of a terrorist attack… Susan also feels that his comment is ridiculous because they are not alone; they are on a tour bus with many other people, and now that Susan has been shot they have to deal with even more people, including tour guides and police. So, all had been happened here as in the tower of Babel. The word ‘babel’ is defined in one way as ‘a confused noise made by a number of voices.’ This story uses multiple points of view in different storylines in order to weave a story that appears to be non-related into a tale of connection throughout the world. I also create a visual landscape of the Biblical Tower of Babel in the sense that we all have been separated from one another, forced to speak different languages, manage our feelings and our circumstances in vastly different ways. The point in many cases is that most of us don’t truly know how to relate to one another…that is, outside of violence. I use Susan’s shooting by the two boys as a point from which to create even greater conflict between people. Straight away the assumption is that the shooting was a terrorist attack rather than two young boys making a bad decision. Like the glass on the tour bus the story splinters out as it reaches all the people involved in some way with the shooting or the people at the epicenter of it… Amelia is instructed to stay with the Richard and Susan’s children at the sacrifice of her own, but this, in the end, causes her to be deported. Two young boys, Ahmed and Yussef have become international terrorists by simply testing the range of their father’s rifle on a tour bus of people who happen to be American. In addition, Yasujiro is assumed to be a black market dealer of guns because his weapon is the one that pierced through Susan in Yemen. What we see is how the everyday choices we as people make are extrapolated by the politicians in the current socioeconomic climates. This drama has heightened these situations to see how we all play a part in the well-being of one another’s lives. And that we certainly take the time to point fingers; to investigate (which is necessary), but when do we seek to find the truth and give mercy or be gracious to our fellow human beings? This is difficult and complex subject matter, and there is no one right answer, just a lot of emotions and issues left unresolved as we attempt to move forward and do what’s best for us as individuals. Inarritu subtly points out that while we are seeking to meet our own wants and needs we do very little to meet the needs of those we love and care for; and shouldn’t that change? When the police investigate the scene of the shooting, they discover goat droppings near the empty bullet casings. This is a symbol to them that the shooter must be local because the only people who would have access to both goats and a gun would be local goat herds. Then Chieko’s provocative behavior is a symbol of her un-channeled grief over her mother’s death. It is also a symbol of her deteriorating relationship with her father and the fact that she is unconsciously looking for another father figure in her life. Throughout the story, many of the key characters are experiencing isolation. For example, Chieko is isolated by her deafness which makes her feel as though she is in her own private world. She also feels isolated in her grief over her mother’s suicide. Her mother was also clearly feeling isolated, prompting her to kill herself. The Joneses are also experiencing isolation from each other, which is what prompted them to take the trip to Morocco. They are each mourning their baby who recently died, but neither knows how to adequately express their emotions, or how to grieve whilst helping the other to do the same. Throughout the story we see the consequences of loss. Richard and Susan are dealing (or rather, not dealing) with the loss of their baby, who died from sudden infant death syndrome. Chieko is dealing with the loss of her mother and also the loss of the father she believed she had, now that she is blaming him for the suicide. He is also dealing with the loss of the daughter he once knew. Yussef is frightened that he will be experiencing loss if his brother does not get medical treatment for his gunshot wounds, which is why he decides to turn himself in to authorities. As I mentioned the main motif of the story is the premise that small and seemingly irrelevant choices or actions become catastrophic life-changing events. Each of the characters experiences this. Yussef and Ahmed are bored and decide to test out the rifle to see if it really does shoot a bullet as far as their father was told it did. There was no more thought or bad intention put into it than that, yet their seemingly small action becomes an international incident, causes injury to a tourist, and almost gets Ahmed killed. A simple gift given by a Japanese tourist to his Moroccan guide becomes a weapon seen as the one central to an act of terror. Amelia’s decision to take the Jones children to Mexico with her for a happy occasion – the wedding of her son – ends up completely destroying her life. Throughout the story, the catastrophic results of innocuous actions is one of the key motifs… One of Susan’s main concerns on her and Richard’s trip to Yemen is cleanliness. Ironically, a man must use a needle cleaned only with the flame of his lighter to sew up her wounds. This situation terrifies her and she resists… Chieko tells the police detective that her mother committed suicide by jumping off their balcony. Ironically, this is not the truth, as her mother did not die this way but from a self-inflicted gunshot wound… Richard has brought Susan to Yemen in order for them to be alone with one another. Ironically, they are on a bus full of Arabians whom they seem to be constantly surrounded by, that is until they are left by the tour group in a small village where Susan is in danger of bleeding to death. Amelia has worked for Susan and Richard, raising their children as her own. In fact, she has lived in the United States for 16 years. Ironically, none of this matters as she is still demanded to leave the United States, as she is considered an illegal immigrant. Amelia decides to take Richard and Susan’s kids to her son’s wedding in Mexico in order to attempt to abide by Richard’s demand for her to stay with the children. Ironically, in her attempt to appease the family’s need above her own, she creates a circumstance for a perfect storm which, unfortunately, ends in her being deported from the United States. Susan and Richard order food during a stop on their tour of Yemen. We see Susan use antibacterial lotion and then throw out the ice in their cups for fear that it will make them sick. This imagery of her use of the props reveals the depth of tension within her and how it manifests into her moment-to-moment interaction with her husband. Susan looks out the window of the tour bus just before she is shot. We see the reflection of the land across her in a close up which allows us to see through the imagery that there is a great amount going on in her mind, that the loss of her child with Richard weighs greatly on her mind. We also see the image of a man in a Yemeni village heating a needle with his lighter. The imagery shows us that he must sew her up to save her and it is in direct conflict with her need for cleanliness and hygiene. Thus, the imagery creates great tension in the audience, as she resists the help they are attempting to give her to save her life… We watch also as Santiago is being spoken at by the border patrol agent on duty. The agent then puts his hand on his gun and asks Santiago to get out of the car. This imagery immediately heightens the tension in the scene, and causes the two kids and Amelia to grow increasingly frightened. The story was placed in Yemen using mostly the natural light in a village dug deep into the Yemen mountains, giving it an even more remote appearance and creating the feeling of being abandoned in an unfamiliar environment. As I said the Joneses take the trip to Yemen because they are having trouble in their marriage and feel distant. Although it was supposed to be the excitement and the beauty of the trip that brings them together, it is actually a potential tragedy, Susan’s shooting, that brings them together and makes Richard remember how much he cares about her. There is a parallel between all of the characters in that they make one small and seemingly insignificant decision, only to have it cause ripples on the other side of the world…You’ve already known Hashimoto Wataya, who is Chieko’s father. He loves her but cannot reach her emotionally anymore. He is suspected of “gun running” and selling black market weapons to buyers in Yemen; however, he explains that the Winchester that was sold to Abdullah was not part of a weapons trade; it was a thank you gift to the man who had acted as his tour guide whilst he was in Yemen… The boys of Abdullah run away and find out later from the television news that the American government are calling the shooting an act of terror, and that they are pressuring the Yemeni government to find the perpetrators quickly. The Yemeni police find bullet casings, and goat droppings close by, leading them to conclude that the shooting was the work of a local. They trace the rifle back to Hassan and after roughing him up, learn that he obtained it from a Japanese man, and passed it on to Abdullah. The two young men see police approaching. Believing that Susan Jones has been killed, they quickly tell their father what they have done, and the three of them flee the house. As they are running, the police spot them on a rocky slope, and fire at them. They hit Ahmed in the leg. Yussef fires back at them. The shoot out continues but stops abruptly when Ahmed is hit both in the leg and then the back. Yussef surrenders immediately. He confesses to the shooting of the American tourist, and tells the police that his brother and father had nothing to do with it. He asks for medical assistance for his brother. He is arrested and taken away. Richard and Susan had knew Noemi and Nacib in the bus. They came to Yemen to try to mend their marriage. They can’t communicate anymore, and the death of their third-born daughter to sudden infant death syndrome has made their marriage even worse. When Susan is shot on board the bus, Richard panics because the hospital is over four hours away. Their tour guide suggests that they drive to the village of Zamar, where she grew up; it is much closer. There is a veterinarian there who stitches Susan’s wound to stop the bleeding. Richard calls the American embassy to ask them to send an ambulance. The other tourists on the bus have waited patiently all this time, but are growing increasingly anxious, and feel very vulnerable. Eventually the bus leaves without Susan and Richard, and the tour guide stays behind with them to wait for the ambulance that never comes. Eventually a helicopter arrives to transport them to a hospital in Sana’a, where it is determined that her prognosis is good and she should make a full recovery. Meanwhile, in Japan… Chieko Wataya is a typical teen girl with an attitude and a heart filled with rebellion. She is also deaf and in some ways in a world of her own. Her mother recently killed herself, and Chieko is deeply traumatized by this. She blames her father. She begins to act out by acting provocatively around older boys. She tries to talk to a teen boy she is attracted to, but gets nowhere, so she exposes herself to him. She starts using ecstasy and gets into the rave scene; whilst at a rave she sees one of her friends kissing the boy she had been flirting with all night, and she leaves…. Earlier in the evening she was questioned by police officers she believes about the death of her mother. She thinks they suspect foul play. She invites one of the detectives. She attempts to seduce him, and when he rebuffs these attempts she breaks down in tears, and he comforts her as she pours out her heart to him. As he leaves, Mamiya runs into her father, and begins to question him about the rifle that was sold to the merchant in Yemen. Hashimoto tells him that the rifle was not involved in any kind of illicit black market sale; rather, it was a thank-you gift to Ibrahim, who had acted as his tour guide on a recent trip to Yemen. Amelia, is taking care of their children, Mike and Debbie, whilst they are on their trip. When Richard tells her about Susan’s injury, they agree not to tell the children, and she realizes that the will be looking after the kids single-handedly for far longer than planned. This might be a problem, because she is supposed to attend her son’s wedding in her native Mexico. Amelia decides to take the children to the wedding with her. The wedding is in a ery rural community outside the border town of Tijuana. Her nephew, Santiago, offers to drive her and the children. The trip is uneventful and the wedding glorious. The children are fascinated by the traditional Mexican celebrations and enjoy the experience immensely. Amelia decides that rather than spending the night in Tijuana, it would be better to make the drive back to California that evening. Unfortunately, Santiago has been enjoying the wedding festivities a little too much, and has drunk too much. They are stopped at the border, and border guards become suspicious when they find a Mexican man in the car with two American children. Amelia does have the children’s passports with her, but she doesn’t have a letter of consent from their parents. Santiago abandons Amelia and the children just south of border patrol, hoping to draw their attention to him, and away from her. They spend the night in the desert, and in the morning, Amelia, who is scared by now, goes to find a border patrol agent to ask for help. She tells the children to stay exactly where they are. Amelia is arrested by a border patrol agent. She takes them back to where she left the children in the desert, but they have vanished. Amelia is taken back to the border patrol station. Hours later, the authorities tell her that they have found the children, and contacted their parents. Although Richard is furious, he does not intend to press charges against her. However, since she has been working illegally in California, she will be deported back to Mexico. She meets her son on the Mexican side of the border, still wearing the beautiful blue dress that she wore to his wedding, but like her life, it is now tattered and torn from her night outside in the desert… Noemi and Nacib left the bus and went on food to the city Ibb… Yussef became older. Now the story is over.
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