In 1985, Brian Keenan took up a post as lecturer in English at the American University of Beirut. It was here, shortly after his arrival, he was taken hostage by Shi'ite militia and was held for four and a half years until his release in August 1990. An Evil Cradling, his account of his years in captivity, was published in 1992. It won The Irish Times' non-fiction award in 1993 and was adapted for stage in 1995 in Frank McGuiness' Someone Who'll Watch Over Me.
Keenan frequently attributes his survival to his Irishness. Growing up in Northern Ireland, he had watched the consequences of staunch alignments play themselves out in the form of sectarianism but had not aligned himself with a particular religious or political ideology. He draws many parallels in the book between the mentality of his captors and that of sectarians on both sides of the Northern divide and asserts that his exposure to fanaticism and terrorism in war-torn Belfast allowed him insight into the young men who held him captive.
Equally important in determining how he dealt with the experience was his friendship with fellow prisoner, the British journalist, John McCarthy. Their conflicting backgrounds, as Protestant-born, but Republican Irishman and upper class Englishman, made them more likely to be enemies than friends. The irony of their friendship, therefore, was lost on neither of them and it lies at the heart of much of the wry wit that seems to have flowed naturally between them. They appear also to have found a way of taking some of the power away from their captors with their humour. Keenan has said of McCarthy that he could "imitate some of the guards with a precision and zaniness that reduced their sometimes brutality to insignificance." Their connection went beyond merely a common sense of humour, and the caring that grew between them emerges, in the book, as one of the greatest acts of revolt against their captors and one of the abiding images of optimism in an otherwise disturbing account.
Keenan's own thoughts and feelings are interspersed in the book with those of others, in the form of poetry and sayings. In the preface, he describes the process of writing the book as "both a therapy and an exploration." It is clear that this impulse of the writer to record and put shape on his experience, had a large part to play in the way in which Keenan dealt with an experience at once both devastating and enlightening.
Genre
This is a modern autobiography based on a true story, which took place between 1985-1989.
Style
The style is sincere and realistic. It uses modern expletives and writes in a typical 80s style. Keenan combines a stream of consciousness style with narrative where he recalls past events. He also uses a descriptive style with a very imaginative use of similes and metaphors, such as "I sat upon that foam mattress and it became for me a raft in a vast sea. All around me was nothing but moving water. No land, and without land, no hope."
The narrative is not written in strict chronological order because as Keenan states in his Preface, "this kind of neat patchwork does not capture or represent the significance or depth of experience in that quarter life."
The style is also philosophical. Keenan is intent on drawing some deep philosophical insights about his captivity and learning more as a result.
Cultural Context
Almost all of the action takes place in Beirut in Lebanon. It gives a perceptively clear picture of the mind of the fundamentalist Shi'ite Militiamen. The guards were repressed sexually and in every other way. Their preoccupation with sex emerged in almost every conversation to the point of being irritating. They believed it was rampant in the West. They also had a fascination with foreign films and held the mistaken belief that the violence, which was shown, was the norm. Their attempt to emulate this type of violence repulsed Keenan.
Contrast is evident between the mentality of Keenan, McCarthy and their captors. Keenan and McCarthy make use of humour many times to help them deal with the mundane quality of their lives. This confused the guards, who were not able to connect humour with a prisoner's life.
Plot Summary An Evil Cradling is a harrowing book to read. It tells of Brian Keenan's four and a half years in captivity, of dreadful suffering and humiliation at the hands of his Lebanese captors and of awful degradation of both mind and body. Keenan invites us to revisit with him that world of the hostage, who he describes as "a man hanging by his fingernails over the edge of chaos."
During the four and a half years of his captivity, he was held at times on his own and at others with various men, including Terry Anderson, Tom Sutherland and the man who was to become his good friend, John McCarthy. The book tells of the changing conditions in which they were kept, sometimes blindfolded in tiny cells for days or even weeks without light and, at other times, chained to the wall in larger cells. The unpredictability of their captors was ever present. Each environment brought its own challenges and nightmares and some even brought the possibility of temporary relief, in the form of some kind of minor freedom or the unexpected kind gesture of a remorseful guard. Throughout, the hostage was thrown back upon himself and Keenan tells how he alternated between intense speculation on his fate and lyrical remembrances of times past.
Themes and Issues Extremism
According to Keenan, the guards were young impressionable men with a severe lack of conceptual thought. Their unquestioning belief in the Koran alienated Keenan and McCarthy who could not accept a relationship with God as one based on complete submission. These guards showed a clear deference to those who ruled the group yet with Keenan and the prisoners they showed the desire to prove themselves by asserting their masculinity. This took the form of boasting about their abilities and extreme violence.
The country of Lebanon itself is one of vast extremes; of great wealth set alongside the most abject poverty. The extreme religious beliefs in this country have made it impossible to reach any type of compromise as regards the equitable distribution of material goods. Furthermore, the country is crippled by a kind of tribalism, with the people afraid of one another even though they live very close together.
Self-awareness
Keenan grows in self-awareness throughout the novel. He is philosophical in his analysis of the situation. He recognizes that one of the main points of growth internally for him was the experience of love and this helped him transcend a lot of the more difficult situations.
Violence
The guards made frequent use of violence to assert their own superiority. Keenan saw this as a tragic situation. They suffered a confused form of guilt after engaging in violence and this perhaps reflected their unstable and confused characters. Keenan's keen perception understood the pain and suffering he experienced from this violent treatment. He understood that these men were suffering far more because of the conflict within themselves between being controlled and being in control.
Perhaps one of the reasons why Keenan is able to analyse the nature of violence in this text is that he too came from a war-torn city of Belfast. This may also explain why Keenan seems to be so calm, so understanding and almost accepting of the behaviour of these guards. He even states in the text at one stage "there must be some justice in taking up arms to resolve one's loss of power. History has seen such revolts again and again."
