On Exile/Home

When people are at home, they have more strength and security than they do when they are outside. Peace and a sense of belonging are important assets that many people take for granted until they no longer have them. When a person is at home, they can be assured that their views are valued and will be noticed, and there is no fear that others will notice that they are not a part of their lives. When people seek exile, anxiety and uncertainty play a larger role in their lives. Being in a foreign land makes might be wonderful for the ones who visit for pleasure but for those who find themselves in an international area not out of their will or as a slave it beyond miserable.
Exile comes in when there is no freedom to move or even act on personal will, being locked up or restricted from also communicating with family from your homeland and living under the conditions of a foreign people. It is so painful for the ones who have no hope of finding their family let alone ever going back to their homeland again. When in exile most people find life meaningless and not worth living which can make most individuals angry and dangerous to themselves and the ones in their environment. Solitude is the most significant reason for exile although most often than not it may start of as an innocent situation and end up as an exile. All through life there have been so many people who have experienced exile and came out with a great appreciation of being home while others have been home so much that they take it for granted.
In the film Black Girl Boromsarret, we see the story of a young lady known as Diouana who was eager and willing to get a job to take care of her family and herself. She falls prey of a white lady also known to her as madam when offered a chance to travel to France and assist with raising her children. The issues and problems that Diouana faced back in her country Dakar caused her to not think twice on offer to go to France, Diouana was hungry for a better life, better pay, and even the adventure that a foreign land would have to offer her. France soon became something different for Diouana as soon as she reached there, with hopes of seeing the city and enjoying the company of children she was sorely disappointed. She cooked, cleaned and cooked and cleaned over and over again with no sight of children she wondered ’Where are the children?’(Atkinson). Diouana knew that she was there for the children, not domestic work, not cooking for the madam’s guests and serving them. As every day passed, she became more impatient, and the treatment in the house became worse making her feel suffocated in the home by her boss. The visit to France soon became exile as she wondered ’Maybe after the rice madam will take me to see the city and maybe Cannes or Monte Carlo (Atkinson). It is easy to see the why Diouana was beginning to get frustrated with being in France; she had left her family and country for a better life and experiences to get money and feed her family back at home.
France has turned Diouana into a typical house girl that has no right to go out and even see what is going on. The children she was to look after took forever to come home and when they did, she was already fed up of her environment. Being in exile can harden an individual to the extent where they may be willing to do anything to get out of the situation even if it meant losing their lives. The constant reminder that someone is not home living under another’s authority or shadow and restrictions are stifling and ultimately will result in rebellion. Diouana became hard and did not care anymore what her madam thought of her behavior she was fed up and wanted out. In a previous time back in Dakar diouana had given her madam a mask as a gift from her homeland and the madam put it up on her wall. Diouana felt so far away from home that all that reminded her of home was that mask, and she took it back. The madam had become attached to the mask that they ended up fighting for it with Diouana because now it had become a part of her shouting ’It’s mine, it’s mine’ (Atkinson). It easy to connect that situation with when things that were once foreign become a part of someone, out of fondness.
On the film the battle of Algiers, many citizens who are at home but feel threatened by their colonies and the superior influence they bring to their country. The answer to the question of whether or not the people of Algeria’s were willing to die for their land was apparently yes. A home is a place where everyone needs to protect with their lives as many people only have one country to call home. In the case of the Algiers, they felt violated and wanted to fight back at their oppressors to get their land and home back. A sense of belonging and displacement is handled in the film as many know that Algeria is their home and yet feel so displaced by the colonialists. The fight for independence was tight, and needed people who were devoted to being free, the leader of the revolt known as Jamal tells one of his recruits ’I had to know if you were loyal to the course before we could take you in’( Zemali). The war of Algeria for freedom shows how committed, and active people can be for their home, in other words, their country. The relentlessness and willingness to go in the streets was a loyalty pledge to being home and taking back the position that the colonialists wanted to steal from them by force.
Comparing the two films Fight for Algiers and a black girl, it’s easy to see the relationship they share although quite the opposites still very relatable regarding emotions and the drive for freedom. While in France Diouana longed for the freedom to go out and see the city, she wanted to get paid and buy herself things but could not and ended up revolting. In the fight for Algeries, we look at a people oppressed in their own home, and that makes them turn into monsters and butchers to be free in their home.

Works Cited
Atkinson, William. Black girl Boromsarret. YouTube, Uploaded by William Atkinson, 3 March 2016,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sptKbtXIn4o
Zemali, Salem.The battle of Algiers (English subtitle). YouTube, Uploaded by Salem Zemali, 18 Feb 2017,
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f_N2wyq7fCE