Truancy is Awesome!

Ever thought you had a bad day at school? Where you caught talking in class? Eating in class? Did you fail a test and get yelled at? Well, at least you weren't killed.

Killed? For failing a test? Well, if you were Tack or Suzie in the book Truancy by Isamu Fukui, you could be. The education system in the City is a hard ordeal, where kids are branded like animals and treated the same.

The word truancy means "The act or condition of being absent without permission". In the City's cruel educational system, this is a crime taken very severely. The Truancy in this book is also an armed rebellion of students fighting against the educational system.

What I really don't get is why the Mayor keeps doing this. He is obviously a mean guy. A harsh lecture from this man is like winning the lottery. In fact, when a man is given a job that pretty much guarantees his assassination, he is considered "lucky". But he knows that he is mean. He is not surprised that students began an armed rebellion. He knows he treats the students awfully, and that they have an excuse to be angry. But he keeps doing it. This guy is seriously messed up in the head.

Also, another thing I realize is the lying. The Mayor tries to cover up the multiple black outs caused by the Truancy. I can actually relate to this. When terrorist seemed to be winning the fight in Peru and Alberto Fujimori was elected president in 1990, he suspended democracy and showed false images on news stations, making it seem like he was winning the war, and that the human rights violations going on in the mountains and farms weren't happening. The Mayor is lying, I believe, because he believes that everyone in the City is angry and will be willing to fight. If they find out the Truancy is winning, then they might be more likely to join.

Nobody I know likes school. Getting up in the morning early, doing homework, taking tests, nobody I know really thinks this is fun. But this book shows us things could always be worse. I don't think anybody would seriously bring up an armed rebellion. I have barley gotten a glimpse at this system, so I really want to know why students would start an armed rebellion.

P.S. I commented on Andrew's blog