Gun culture plagues South Sudan

      At first look this picture looks almost like a poster for a movie, there is no way that this could possibly real. It was taken very well, with all the gaps full with faces. The photographer did this for a specific reason. First of all, this is in South Sudan one year following their gaining of their independence. They have struggled with the success of their new nation. The perfect set up of these men is to show how imperfect perfect is. Perfection is something that is unobtainable, and although the men are in a perfect position, theyre lives are no where near perfect. When they’re civil war with Sudan ended, the South Sudan people assumed everything would get better and that things would be perfect. This picture shows that they were clearly wrong.  The Sudanese people lack a central government, they lack the laws that would create a more civil society. In what should have been a turn around for the nation, turned into a complete disaster and brought more violence between the men. This perfect setup of the men isn’t the only visual rhetoric in the photograph.

            Glancing at this photograph one would only see men with guns, one would only see the forest behind them, but a deeper look one will find the sorrow in their eyes, and the nutrient deprived arms of the men. They would see that all this battling has brought the men so far away from normalcy. They have become more savages. It sort of reminds me of the Lord of the Flies and how the boys go through so much and eventually become savages, and when they get picked up they look ill and under fed. Like wise these men look torn, torn from their true self, they have created a new self to live through this war time with. They have established a rough outer shell, but through there eyes one can sell that they aren’t happy with what they have become. I believe this is shown in the droopiness of the eyes, and their melancholy grins. The outside is a totally different story though, they carry themselves with some type of swagger, this is to show that they want to reflect to others that they are right, and that they are willing to fight for what they believe in, even if, deep inside they don’t think it is right. It is trying to persuade the viewers. This photo was used to show that the Sudanese people need help, and that maybe the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.