"The Boy with a Rifle" is a profound and timely criticism of youth engaged in senseless violence against nature. Their actions are often not by choice but rather due to a lack of prescribed choices. The author, Jaime Bedoya Martinez, vividly captures the chaotic energy of young boys as they explore their surroundings. As a passionate devotee of nature and its importance in our lives, Jaime describes the tragedy when idle thinking partners with humanity's tendency to destroy, not malevolently but blindly.
The reader will agonize as school children-presumably innocent, sentient, and moral-murder defenseless birds for the sake of playing a game and proving their worth. One is enraged by the lack of remorse these "monsters" show in inflicting brutal pain.
Mr. Bedoya's genius lies in his ability to provoke raw emotions in the reader and methodically disentangle one's preconceptions about the antagonist's motivations and beliefs. It is easy to get caught up in the morality of perceived sadism. The reality is that they are not acting out of sheer malevolence; their cruelty is beyond their personal control. Bedoya argues that their actions stem from a lack of conscience, adherence to blind tradition, and, more importantly, the hyper-nurturing of parents combined with limited discipline applied to modern youth. The writer posits that much of what guides us is grounded in a medieval past, while parenting is influenced by the modern belief that children should be protected at all costs. This paradoxical mindset is conflicted and has nurtured a culture of violence as a way to negotiate our experiences.
This is when the writer leads to the moment of redemption available to all of us. It is not through punishment but through an epiphany that leads the child protagonist, Patricio, to guide his friends to forgo killing for the virtue of respecting the living. By realizing the fault in their belief system, they commit to destroying their tools of destruction. This newfound intellect does not go unnoticed, as a school teacher, mentor, and wise man celebrates and fortifies their cause.
When a magical deity appears and meshes all the emotions and passions provoked by this narrative, it becomes clear to Patricio and his friends the glory of living and letting live. They are led on an adventure in which they resurrect all the birds they have negligently killed and find the true joy of existence. The salient point of the book is that only through self-knowledge can one respect the living world around us.
The book is a roller coaster of emotions and beliefs. What is clear at the conclusion is the need to make life decisions based on introspection rather than habit. For those in the business of education, parenting, or any other activity in which mentoring is part of the mission, this is an important and relevant work.