Kunzig – Witness

   An important, obvious way in which John Book fails to change to change, grow from his experience in the Amish community is in his tendency to violence, which is what we discussed in class. He is still violent in a way that is unacceptable to the Amish. This is observable in two scenes: first, in the scene that takes place in Strasburg; a local teenager is in effect bullying Daniel, one of Rachel's friends, by smearing ice cream on his face. While Daniel, in the Amish way, does not react, John beats the kid up. The second scene where Book resorts to violence occurs at the end of the movie, when the dirty cops visit the Amish community looking for him. He kills two of them.

   While his failure to abandon violence is notable, I still believe that he has changed in that regard. At the beginning of the movie, he is unnecessarily, appallingly violent as he pulls a suspect out of a bar, and slams his face against the car window to show it to the young boy. That behavior was completely uncalled for, and in no way excusable. However, the two times I mentioned above – the only times he is violent after arriving in the Amish community – seem to me to be slightly more justifiable. In Strasburg, he did not have to beat the boy bloody, that was definitely going overboard; however it was not completely unprovoked (the boy was being despicable), and he was only trying to defend the honor of a friend. It must be noted that he had also just learned that his good friend and partner back home had just been killed, so it is no surprising that he was a bit on edge. Had he not just gotten that news, he might not have resorted to such violence. And in the second scene, Book kills two of the three dirty cops, but this was in an attempt to save himself and the people who took him in. It would have been difficult to do that without killing them, since they were armed and he was not, and there were three of them and only one of him. Had he chosen the pacifist route, and let them kill him, they probably would have also killed the boy and his mother, to cover up the original crime they committed, and possibly others, so Book did not have many options. And when the last of the dirty cops comes for him, he does not try to kill him. Therefore I think that while Book has in no way become an Amish pacifist, he has learned of the harm violence can cause, and I believe he would be less unnecessarily violent back in Philadelphia.

   Another way in which he has changed from this experience is in his relationship towards others. He has learned the happiness brought by being part of a community, and he has learned to be part of a team, to work together rather than individually. This can be observed in the scene of the building of the barn.

   And finally, he has learned respect. For other people, for other ways of life. He respects the no gun rule in the Amish household. He does not sleep with Rachel, because he understands the consequences for her as well as for him.