On Comparing Tragedies - A Review

One of my standout memories from college is undoubtedly an rather curt exchange between one of my history professors and myself.

It was in a class that went over the different perspectives of WWI and WWII. While the class did focus extensively on American involvement, it also dove into how different countries interfaced with their past through media and how they remembered both of the world wars.

This all led to a particularly interesting project in which we explored films that covered a particular event/battle from the 20th Century.

I was assigned the Rape of Nanjing.

There is too much to say to give a brief summary of what happened in Nanjing. The war crimes and atrocities warrant the extreme label historians give the event. I suggest you watch the 2007 documentary Nanking, which is what I did my project on, or do your own research.

While doing my oral presentation, I started focusing on on how China and Japan cover this tragedy today, and compared that to how the rest of the world dealt with brutalities as a collective world.

Before I could finish, the professor stopped me. We were alone in her office when she told me “We’re not in the business of comparing tragedies.”

Those words echo in my head to this day. The phrase burrowed into me. I use it regularly and apply it to my life and give the words to others for both comfort and correction.

It would be unfair to suggest that I never compare tragedies. I am constantly weighing my foibles against the world’s. I do it for judgement and for curiosity’s sake.

In fact, I would even go so far to suggest that I often live to compare.

My obsession with metaphors is readily apparent in any blog. Where language fails, figurative language doesn’t. But sometimes, language hasn’t failed, and I rely on comparison before ever being direct.

This is a problem when you teach 10 year olds who have a very loose concept of what should be taken “literally.”

But at the same time, comparing just makes communication generally easier.

So I’m at odds with myself. And I think that’s okay.

I’m finishing this up in a cafe in Austin with drinks named after various pieces of literature. Life’s weird.

Well. Hope you have a good week. Here’s to doing our collective bests.