Review: A Human Being Died That Night by Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela
Title: A Human Being Died That Night: A South African Woman Confronts the Legacy of Apartheid
Author: Gobodo-Madikizela, Pumla
Length: 193 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir, History
Publisher / Year: Mariner Books / 2004
Source: Book Depository
Rating: 5/5
Why I Read It: Eva reviewed it and I knew I wanted to read it. The premise reminded me a lot of Slavenka Drakulic’s They Would Never Hurt A Fly which I loved in 2010.
Date Read: 13/11/11
A Human Being Died That Night recounts an extraordinary dialogue. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, a psychologist who grew up in a black South African township, reflects on her interviews with Eugene de Kock, the commanding officer of state-sanctioned death squads under apartheid. Gobodo-Madikizela met with de Kock in Pretoria’s maximum-security prison, where he is serving a 212-year sentence for crimes against humanity. In profoundly arresting scenes, Gobodo-Madikizela conveys her struggle with contradictory internal impulses to hold him accountable and to forgive. Ultimately, as she allows us to witness de Kock’s extraordinary awakening of conscience, she illuminates the ways in which the encounter compelled her to redefine the value of remorse and the limits of forgiveness.
What a truly fantastic book. Gobodo-Madikizela does such a great job of showing us how human we all are. She conducted the interviews and wrote the book after seeing some truly remarkable incidences of forgiveness. These prompted her to ask the questions regarding when and how we can forgive, and how can societies and people move on from atrocities, and learn to work together.
A key point running through this book was that of the possibility in our lives. The author says on page 34 “good and evil exist in our lives, and that evil, like good, is always a possibility.” It is always easy to just say that the people who commit these atrocities are monsters and that they are nothing like us. It is scarier to realize that they are remarkably like us and when you see them and speak with them realize they are just like your friends and family – they just have committed horrible crimes. Similarly on page 119 she says “Indeed, demonizing as monsters those who commit evil lets them off too easily.” She says on page 50 on this topic:
It is this sense of a paper-thin line that is most frightening and most discomforting about those moments when our lives connect, however remotely, with the lives of people who have committed evil deeds. Could it perhaps also be a source of hope, that through our recognition of evil as a constant possibility in human experience we can learn to prevent it from taking over our lives?
I really liked that Gobodo-Madikizela presented the psychological studies on both sides of the nature vs nurture debate and shows how they had a hand in de Kock’s life. Either one could be true, though she seems to prefer (and I agree) that nurture is the more likely culprit. If we say that evil is born that means that people don’t have a choice, and choice is all we really have in life. The author also says on page 52:
I have asked how conscience gets suppressed to the point where people can allow themselves to commit horrible acts against others. Should one ask as well what kind of society or ideology enables such suppression?
So while he and others had choices, they weren’t given a very good environment to make them. And not only should those who commit the crimes be held accountable but also those who gave them their orders, who allowed them to operate like they did, and who made that the norm.
Interestingly, the author compares the apartheid regime to the Nazi regime numerous times throughout the book. She does this to compare and contrast a few key points. The most important of this is the conscience of the perpetrators. The Nazis admitted what they were doing and didn’t think it was wrong. The leaders of apartheid knew what they were doing was wrong, but wouldn’t admit it. So which is worse? She says on page 67:
Does knowing that you are wrong and persisting in it reveal a greater depth of moral decadence (or psychic damage) than having the kind of malfunctioning ethical compass that makes you unable even to realize that you are wrong? Which kind of individual is the more redeemable?
I found the discussions of the moral and ethical implications and what led these people, especially de Kock, to do what they did really fascinating. I think understanding how these things happen and how people get to the point where they think it is acceptable is really important. I also really enjoyed the discussion on forgiveness. The author says on page 117:
Forgiving may appear to condone the offense, thus further disempowering the victim. But forgiveness does not overlook the deed: it rises above it. “This is what it means to be human,” it says. “I cannot and will not return the evil you inflicted on me.” And that is the victim’s triumph.
I highly recommend this book both as a look at how the Truth and Reconciliation process worked (and where it didn’t) in South Africa, and as a philosophical treatise on forgiveness and on reconciliation. It is also a great look into humanity, what makes us human, and the fine line between good and evil. Do go pick up a copy and read it, I don’t think you would regret the decision.
In closing, a great quote that sums up a lot that I took from the book, from page 123:
Connecting on a human level with a monster therefore comes to be a profoundly frightening prospect, for ultimately, it forces us to confront the potential for evil within ourselves.
I would hope that books like this would help us to learn from the mistakes that we have made through time and not reenact history.
“and that evil, like good, is always a possibility.”
I love books like this. It is scary to think how close we all are to being evil. I hadn’t heard of this book before, but I will ensure I get hold of it now. Thanks for the recommendation.
Yes, it is scary Jackie and this book is really fantastic. I think you would (I hope!) enjoy it!
The theme of truth and reconciliation is very much important to me. Coetzee also has this in Disgrace. thanks for this.
Yes, Disgrace is another novel that I would love to read at some point for sure Geosi.
Great review, Amy!!
Forgiveness vs. vengeance is a topic that’s weighing heavy on my mind these days. I may have to pick up a copy of this to help in my thinking about it.
Thank you Amanda. I’ll be watching for your thoughts!
Wonderful review, Amy. In The Cry of Winnie Mandela (which I reviewed yesterday), the author looks at the issue of justice versus right as it relates to Winnie Mandela’s testimony at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I recommend Desmond Tutu’s No Future without Forgiveness, a memoir of his tenure as chair of the TRC.
Thank you Kinna! I saw your review quickly but had to bookmark it for later when I get some time to check it out. After her testimony being mentioned in this book I definitely want to read that one, and Tutu’s. Both are now on my ‘books I want’ list.
I have to read this. Your review is fantastic!
Thank you Sheila. I hope you enjoy it.
Sounds like a great read. I used to teach a unit in my English course under the focus of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and this would have been a great book to have! Maybe I should reinstate that unit…. Great review!
Oh that sounds like a really interesting course Trisha. Definitely check out the book I think you would enjoy it.
I agree that we need to hold those at whose commands and behest the atrocities were conducted. Sometimes I tend to ask, don’t you think that by forgiving them too soon or eagerly others wouldn’t know the price of such a crime? I have had my own personal problems with the way we quickly forgives and forgets. Isn’t it when the punishment is severe enough that others would be deterred from walking such a path? There was always a choice, between good and evil between obeying and following your good conscience and yet they chose the former. They only become human when they are in trouble, like Pinochet, Mobutu, and many others.
Yes it is a tricky path for sure Nana. The author really struggles with that herself also and talks about when forgiveness works and when it doesn’t and gives some interesting lessons. I think you would find it interesting. Still though, you are right, the humanity comes when they need it it often seems…
It is very interesting to think about the nature vs. nurture aspect of this and I think your review examined a lot of the very interesting intricacies of this book beautifully. I would like to read this one and will have to look out for it. Thanks, Amy.
I hope that you give it a try and enjoy it zibilee, thank you for the kind words about my review
I also saw Eva’s review and got interested–this review clinches it; I must get this book. My kids (high-school-aged) are between weekends in a peer-directed performance of the play The Laramie Project, and I got to talk to the directors about it, as I’ve taught the play a lot. One of the things I said to them is what you say here, about this book–if we make the people who’ve done evil into monsters, then we’re saying we could never be like them, and we don’t learn anything about the human capacity for evil or how to make choices that lead away from it.
That sounds like a really interesting play Jeanne – I hadn’t heard of it before. It really is an important lesson to learn isn’t it? I hope you find and love the book.