May 9, 2014
“How often is sorrow effectively shouted down by rage?”
“Ask a headhunter why he cuts off human heads. He will say that rage impels him. And rage is borne of grief. The act of severing and tossing the victims heads enables him to throw away all of his bereavements. Perhaps you think this does not apply to you, yet you recall the day your wife, driving you to your mother’s funeral, turned left instead of right at the intersection and you had to scream at her so loud other drivers turned to look. When you tore her head off and threw it out the window, they nodded and changed gears, drove away.”
Check out the rest of Judith Butler’s fabulous speech from Opening Night of the 2014 PEN World Voices Festival.