Everyday Canvas

Pointing the Finger

Prompt: “At all costs try to avoid granting yourself the status of the victim. Of all the parts of your body, be most vigilant over your index finger, for it is blame-thirsty. A pointed finger is a victim’s logo.”
Joseph Brodsky
Your opinions on the subject?

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This quote made me think a lot, as it reminded me, in a round-about sort of way, of some tricky defense attorneys’ tactics of blaming the victim.

There are some instances where a victim is blameless and he or she has every right to point the finger at the aggressor. Should I not blame Hitler with the fear that the other three fingers point back at me? Should the Jews who resided in Germany and in every sense of the word were faithful citizens of Germany not blame the Third Reich? I believe that they can and they should.

Then, in other lesser instances, when someone does something to us as to victimize us in some ways, should we not blame that person? When a child is abused in a situation where she hasn’t put herself in and from where she can’t escape, can’t she or he blame the abuser?

Yes, maybe, when we blame someone, we are also stressing strongly on our victimhood, especially inside our minds. Maybe this is what Brodsky means to say. Or maybe he means to say this: if the victim has put herself in a place knowingly that this victimization would or could occur, then it is a good idea to assess the situation as to one’s own shortcomings, before putting the entire blame on the victimizer.

Although I agree that a victim should not stay in her victim’s position but get up and fight back, still she or he has every right to point the finger at the transgressor, especially because her or his fighting back starts with pointing the finger at the guilty person. Yes, the pointed finger shows a person has been or is a victim, but if it is the truth, why hide it? Hiding it victimizes the person a second time around.