Papua New Guinea's Last Place by Adam Reed

Author:Adam Reed [Reed, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural & Social, Penology
ISBN: 9781571816948
Google: bZ3vm8TuZi0C
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2004-01-15T05:20:52+00:00

Emergency

It is a commonplace observation within prison studies that gaol life is monotonous. Inmates, to quote one observer, often complain that ‘in prison there are no surprises’ (Morris and Morris 1963: 177). At Bomana this lack of qualitative experience, of something happening, leads prisoners to become absorbed by events such as Kenneth’s death (events anticipated in dreams, but not confirmed in their specificity until the moment of actual revelation). This killing, in its very unexpectedness, seemed to provide relief from the tedium of prison existence. What could be more different from the slow death that prisoners describe?

In a very different landscape, the old coal camp communities of the Appalachian hills in West Virginia, Stewart (1996: 37) outlines a culture focused on the creativity of emergency events. There, where unemployment is high and many young people leave to find work in the cities, she states that boredom is overcome by valorising, and looking for signs to anticipate, any incidents that may interrupt daily lives. Car crashes, drunken violence, murder and suicide become the centre of conversation and a stimulus to local narratives. Indeed, Stewart claims that people stand around and wait for these events to occur (1996: 78). They forever retell these happenings in their stories, which glory in digression and image presentation rather than grand explanation (1996: 80). Stewart claims that there is never a conclusion, just further recollections to be told. At Bomana an equivalent appreciation for contingent events exists. Not just violent deaths, but sudden fights, unsuspected escapes, surprise weekend visits, early releases and unforeseen arrivals, excite attention and spark inmate conversation. There is a sense in which prisoners too stand around and wait for something to happen. Although these unexpected events may prove distressing (steal men and language group mates mourned the death of Kenneth; the composure of long-term convicts is upset by the comings and going of other detainees), they are valued for their nonrepetitive and singular appearance. A feeling of interruption is experienced.

Scenes of contingent events therefore enchant prisoners. When a mango hits the ground beside the playing field within the high perimeter fence heads are turned. Those closest jump up and struggle to grab the fruit. The winner peels his prize and sucks deep on the flesh. Fibres catch and irritate his teeth, and the juice burns his dry lips. But there is nothing more refreshing in Moresby heat than mangoes and the modest meal comes as a welcome break from the dulling taste of brown rice and tinned fish meat. Male prisoners explain that no one knows when the fruit will drop. ‘If you are lucky’, they say,‘one will land at your feet. But only if you are lucky.’

This same good fortune can irritate or cause jealousy. In particular convicts resent the presence of remand inmates at Bomana because they regard them as embodiments of chance. It is said that those waiting for court, unlike convicts, have an equal chance of gaining acquittal or being convicted. They are said to ‘live 50–50’ (stap fifti fifti).

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