Mad Dog....

I thought Johnny Mad Dog was one of the better books we read although it was very disturbing. I found it a little easier for me to get into and was excited to continue to read it. I liked the narrative stand point throughout the novel and how you switched between the two narrators who were at the same place and point in time so we could see what was going on with both sides of the story.

The thought of these children soldiers running around a country and waging war on their own people is very upsetting. I can't even think about what a child as young as 10 understands about war and what has led his countrymen up to this point. The militias like recruiting these young children because they are easy to brainwash and manipulate. Propaganda goes over particularly well with young people and they often don't second guess it like someone older would. The coups that continually take place have obviously left the areas affected in shambles and people are not able to go on with normal lives. The military dictatorships are unstable and are only transient rises to power and are extreme subject to political corruption.

I found the Mad Dog character to be disturbingly funny, as he was an "intellectual" and "respecter of women," yet he hadn't even finished grade school and obviously had no respect for women because he raped many of them. Then in the end the intellectual was killed by the bible, which is quite different from those stories you hear from people today being saved by the bible, but I thought this ending was better. Mad Dog was a child abused by the system and while I felt sorry for him a little, he was only a child after all, he committed many crimes that were horrendous and never tried to become the true intellectual he wanted to be. I believe that is what the whole child war scenario boils down to, a lack of education.

Lao was a very interesting and charming character she was smart, strong and brave. She struggled throughout the story to survive and yet time after time she came out on top. I don't think any of us could imagine the stuff she went through but it was definitely a lot and I give her much respect for not giving up. When she was captured by Mad Dog I thought for sure she was done for, but she stood up to him and came out on top. I think that speaks to what the people of Africa and these war torn areas can do, if they can all come together they con beat this monster ravaging their country.

I was first intrigued by the similarities between Lao and Mad Dog, they both wanted to be intellectuals after all and they placed a value on education. The characters consistently bumped into each other throughout the book so it was obvious they would have a more personal point in the book. I also find my self continuing to wonder what happened to Fofo?