Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Pirates of....Somalia?


When people hear the word pirate, I'm pretty sure the same goes through everyone's mind. It reminds them of sword fighting, hooked hands, cannons going off, and buried treasure. They are the image of people who existed long ago. But now their back, wreaking havoc out on the open sea.  Piracy is growing because of the lack of protection  in the waters; they can easily seize a boat, obtain all the ships goods, and get off scot free. Just this year there have been 39 ships hijacked, mostly in the Gulf of Aden. But now different countries are trying to help. The Indian Navy recently sank a suspected Somalian mother ship in the Gulf of Aden, a ship that is used as a mobile base for these bands of pirates out at sea.
At first I was just surprised of the fact that there were still pirates out there. But now I just find it interesting not that they are still around, but how they have evolved. If all the movies that have represented piracy in the past are in the least bit accurate, then piracy has really changed. The firing of cannons, the glorious sword fights, and the image of pirates swinging on ropes to hop on board their opposing ship have been replaced. The sword fighting and the need for close up combat have been diminished due to the advancement in ammunition. Now people battling it out at sea will no longer see an iron cannon ball flying their way, but they will see grenades and other explosives being thrown their way. This advancement in weapons has also had the same effect on the evolution of land wars too. What used to be courageous and glorifying face to face combat of the past has now turned into the a cowardly fight where all one has to do is pull a trigger to ruin a life.


3 comments:

Cheesehead said...

I agree with you that it's so strange how there are still pirates around. But they seem so much less exciting without the sword fights and eyepatches. It must be frightening to actually experience a pirate attack nowadays though. I wonder how someone can even make a living as a pirate...

alex818 said...

I find the subject of Emilie's blog to be really interesting. I would have never thought that piracy on the open seas could still be an existing practice today. Especially with todays more modern boating technology I would think that a pirating boat could be detected before it goes through with its treachorous deeds.
Also, I really like the voice that the author uses throughout the post. She uses some very vivid imagery with her descriptions and maintains throughout her writing.

jennifer said...

I had no idea that pirates still existed! Our media makes pirates seem like the fun, action-packed, eye-patch wearing men that they were similar to long ago. Although these pirates are viewed positively by most people, the modern pirates should be seen negatively, because they are stealing other people's ships and goods.