Reportage and Travel Writing - Essay Example

Reportage and Travel Writing “Hyena” is a short story by Joanna Greenfield, who decided to share her passion for animal world and Africa and tell about her experience of meeting with a predator face to face. The first thing that is noticed reading the story is an absolute sincerity of the narration. It seems to me that Joanna sees African savanna as some magical place because she perceives everything with the eyes of a little child. The story begins with her description of a giraffe - the creature that draws attention of the author by its strength, grace, and apparently friendly nature. Joanna`s elevated mood and fascination is felt by the readers as the author points that she “couldn`t resist photographing the tick birds” (Greenfield 75). Thus the story first reminds a fairy tale rather than travel writing as Greenfield goes in detailed and enchanted description of the magical creatures she encounters: a giraffe, lion cubs, and hyenas. However, magic disappears abruptly as the author realizes the dander coming from super predators. Here Joanna switches from sensory impressions to the real facts about the animals` behavior and habits. The narration becomes uncompromising and rough and as she mentions that “hyenas hunt in large giggling groups, running alongside their prey and eating chunks of its flesh until it slows down through the loss of blood, or shock, or sheer hopelessness…” (Greenfield 75). Joanna turns out to be a skilled scientist rather that professional writer as she chooses accurate, capturing pieces of information regarding this or that animal adding her personal definitions and impressions. In this episode she first describes Efa, the hyena, which she took care of: “a mane trickled down sloped shoulders like a froth of leftover baby hair; he looked strangely helpless…” (Greenfield 76). However, the author`s principal experience is the hyena`s attack. It is probably extremely difficult to describe such a horrible experience but Joanna does it on the top level. She tells about the incident with a lot of details, emphasizing her sensory impressions and feelings: sounds, vision, body feelings. The very situation provokes unexpected reactions in Joanna`s body and she recognizes them and puts in paper, creating unimaginable realistic picture of a slow-motion fight between a human and a hyena: “I think it was then that he took the first piece of my arm and swallowed it without breathing, because the terror of movement settled in me from that moment for months”. The author constantly notices some minor changes in the look of the predator like the eyes expression, the eyes seem “friendly” at one moment, “black and shark`s” at another and “indescribable”. She mingles some general, philosophical thoughts about value of life and struggle to living with short episodes of the attack giving the reader a chance to take a break from the atrocious attack and literal eating alive of the author. Greenfield manages to rise tension incredibly at the same time leading to the climax when she opens the door of the cage and lets the beast free. Joanna Greenfield has managed to reconstruct her experience with hyena in vivid, touching and realistic images but that is just the first part the story suggests. The most interesting, in my opinion is the fact that Greenfield treats her experience in a philosophical way, understanding it as “a price to pay” for studying and being around animals. This naturalistic and purely scientific approach is specific Joanna`s narration. Nevertheless, her prose remains purely feminine as she treats nature with respect and certain alienation like a mother and a real woman. Joan Didon`s prose is always extremely accurate and well-polished, abundant with unexpected thoughts and descriptions. She has elaborated somehow distanced and emotionless language that is capable to recreate the events realistically. “Salvador” was created after Joan`s two-week long trip to the country, while it was stuck in the bloody and fearful civil war. Joan tried to make analysis of the degree the USA involvement into this conflict, taking into account perpetual resistance to Communism in the States. The author speaks about terror but it is the terror we can hardly imagine in normal life. Fear was made an efficient tool of ruling the country, and the terror has become all-capturing and all-absorbing. At some moments the terror passes the limits of logical understanding and people start accepting it without emotions. The desensitization towards aggression, atrocities, death creates the atmosphere of hopelessness: “Terror is the given of the place. Black-and-white police cars cruise in pairs, each with a barrel of a rifle extruding from an open window” (Didon 2). The word “disappear” became the symbol of the country as people just evaporated without any traces and it is impossible to find responsible for these incidents. The author snaps the hollowness of the official language and press-releases, telling about the human victims in a way they are telling about sheep. Didon shows how complicated it is to get reliable information as most of the news is accompanied by gossips and biases. The interviews with influential people of the country intermingle with press releases and governmental documents, which add to the credibility of the essay. Didon peppers this formal information with her personal paranoiac and bright observations demonstrating the overwhelming absurdity of the situation. Joan clarifies the events of the civil war with accuracy avoiding wordiness and emotions that can just flood the mind preventing it from seeing the facts. The next excerpt describes the deeds of the Atlacatl Battalion going through village: “ … At noon, the men were blindfolded and killed in the town’s center. Among them was Amaya’s husband, who was nearly blind. In the afternoon the young woman were taken to the hills nearby, where they were raped, then killed and burned. The old women were taken next and shot… From her hiding place Amaya heard soldiers discuss choking the children to death; subsequently she heard the children calling for help, but no shots (Didon 37). It is possible to compare the author with a skillful and experienced surgeon who cuts straight, deep, and confidently. Didon is not afraid to hurt or to see the blood understanding the general mission of her prose. Anna Krien seems to be young and promising writer capable to enchant with her persuasive and neat manner of writing. She explores relatively rear and vacant topics, such as life of aborigines in Australia or the dark side of the sport, paving her way to recognition and success. In the short story “Trouble on the night shifts” the author aims to take a look at the mundane life, believes, activities of the distant tribes in Australia impartially. Her eyes spot the minor details of the desert life and she voices her impressions in monotonous and sometimes dull way. The author strives for maximum credibility so she simply neglects introducing the reader to the story. You find yourself in the desert under the orange sun with the nerves snapped like popping fuses. Separate objects attract Anna`s attention, and she describes them not thinking too much about the connection. However, this results in a wholesome and bright picture of hopelessness and devastation: “The dogs at Ampilatawatja lurk in the shadows, distrustful of affection, because they know that most white people here would like to shoot them dead. But at night these same dogs curl up with the children, passing on their lice and scabies…”( Krien, 1). Anna creates portrays of the people with minor and accurate details, and often mocks their habits, the way life, and the whole situation in general: “Some patrollers have suicided. But it seems there are many reasons to suicide” (Krien, 2). She seems to look directly in the eyes of the people she meets, missing their words and reading behind the lines. Her vivid and metaphorical images, such as “children get high with Coca-Cola” are yielded by that prominent skill of observation. Nevertheless, Krien`s prose remains political first of all. The author draws attention to the minor Australian underclass describing their mundane life so different from wealthy Australian lifestyle. She keeps underlining the differences and opposition between classes, one of which still lives as in pre-historic era. Krien realizes that the image of Australia is distorted without these people: “After hearing this story I think about the image Australia promotes overseas. I think of the tourist billboards that portray the true-blue larrikin, the laid-back bloke, and of our award-winning low-budget films and their stories of Aussies playfully avoiding the law. And I realise I don’t know a single whitefella like that” (Krien, 2). Thus, the author manages to connect her detailed, delicate, and ironical narration with the powerful message. Works Cited Didon, Joan. Salvador. New York: Vintage Books, 1998. Print. Greenfield, Joanna. “Hyena”. The New Yorker 11 Nov 1996: 75-77. Print. Krien, Anna. A trouble on the night shift. Monthly Sep 2005 :1-2. 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