But if the physical appearance of the Yase-otoko arrested me, the reasons for the ghost’s suffering shocked me: "punished either for having killed human beings or animals or for being obsessed with being treated unfairly during his life." The first part of the reasoning made sound sense but the second confounded me. How could one’s obsession with being treated unfairly during one’s life be equated with the suffering brought on by killing human beings and animals? I stared at the description for several minutes hoping I had read it wrong. I wrestled with this question on my walk home, and for several hours afterward.
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Deborah Sheedy
Breaking the Cultural Ties That Bind Us
When I witnessed my cousin get hit by her husband my natural instinct as a young girl was to help her, because isn’t that what you do when someone is in danger? At 12 years old I witnessed a woman get beat by someone who claimed to love her. After that beating I remember Chucho picking Maggie’s limp body off the ground and forcing her upright until she stood on her own. I stood there confused as they walked away together and my family did nothing to stop them. As if getting pummeled in the middle of the street was completely normal.
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