Memoirs such as The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara and The Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Namat give readers an insight on the tragic suffering of individuals all around the world continue to suffer from. Sometimes, even though the pre-existing government may not possess a sense of freedom and stability for its people, the opposition may not be the best alternative to the problem. In many cases throughout history, if a revolution did not necessarily achieve its fundamental goals, the people may have found themselves at the mercy of an even more oppressive regime than the prior government. Ideally, the retention of the fundamental values of freedom and human rights would be upheld even in the course of a military revolution. For example,…show more content… Despite Namat and Kamara experiencing various forms of suffering, they eventually overcome their suffering and find the courage to tell their story.
Namat and Kamara portray resilience as a way of overcoming their fear and abuse represented by them through the acts of cruel and oppressive regimes. Kamara, like many other like her at the time of the civil war, when first spotted by the rebels and taken as hostages was immediately treated unjustly and suffered excessive physical harm against her. For example, the rebels cut off her arms for no solid reason and with no sense of guilt attached even with the fact that she is innocent and has done little to no actions against the rebels. “He brought the machete down again in a different spot, higher up on my arm. This time, my hand flew from the rock onto the ground”, (Kamara, 47). Kamara suffered disproportionate physical harm by the rebel soldiers who took over her native…show more content… The Iranian revolution of 1978-1979 saw a topping of the Western-backed Shah and replaced by a hard-core Islamic republic built on extreme Sharia law fundamentals that were simply uncompromising and outdated. The new Islamic regime would imprison and in many cases execute citizens who speak against the new regime in a negative manner. Namat was taken prisoner and tortured for the reason of speaking against the new regime and spreading propaganda “The sharp, threatening whistle of the cable cut the air, and it landed on the soles of my feet. Pain. I had never experienced anything like it. I couldn’t even have imagined it. It exploded inside me like a bolt of lightning.” (Namat, 37) Namat suffered a great deal of physical abuse at the hands of the oppressive regime that replaced the Shah. Namat was systematically whipped on the soles of her feet with sharp cables. Nonetheless, even after suffering great physical harm by the new oppressive Islamic regime, Namat keeps her head up and does not let them bring her down. For example, Namat would organize birthday parties and make make-do cakes with her prison cellmates and friends: “After dinner, we had a prison-style birthday cake made of bread and dates. I pretended to blow out imaginary