A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness

In the light of Maslow’s theory of needs, and Foucaults’ theory of Power.

Introduction:

The short documentary A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is based on culture of Pakistan. In this short documentary a Pakistani woman punished to death because she fell in love with a boy.  Her struggle for survival showed the real and harsh face of Pakistani judicial system. SharmeenObaid-Chinoy filmed this documentary. She is Journalist, activist and filmmaker. Inequality is the major theme in her films and dark side of the society is also highlighted in her phenomenal films. Two Academy Awards, six EmmyAwards and a Knight International Journalism Award is given to her for her phenomenal work.

Maslow's theory of need:

The purpose of this paper is to critically analyze this documentary in the perspective of Maslow's theory of need. Motivational theory in psychology and Maslow's hierarchy of needs are somehow similar. . In 1943 a theory of Human Motivation was projected. Later on he extended his the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity which was really appreciated by psychologists.

A Girl in the River VS Maslow's theory:

A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness is perfectly set in Maslow's theory of need. All the characters in this short documentary are running after the fulfillment of their needs. It can be seen that when their needs are satisfied they become more motivated and calm. As their needs arise curiosity in them to fulfill that need also goes up. Saba the main victim in this documentary has to suffer a lot in order to fulfill her desires.

Saba wants to fulfill her desires. Although her psychological needs like food, water, breathing and homeostasis are being satisfied by her family, her social needs are not being satisfied by her family. According to Maslow, the deficiency of needs leads to low motivation and this happens in case of Saba where her need of love is suppressed and this action forces her to elope from home.

Other side of the picture also shows us some horrific scenes as well, where Saba has to pay the price of her act by nearly losing her life. This documentary shows that Saba’s family is much better than her fiancé. Saba sexual needs forced her to acquire severe step in order to gratify her needs. She set aside the vision of culture and in order to attain her goal she took her life altering judgment.

The necessities begin to turn out to be a bit more intricate, as we lift to the next stage of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.  At this point, the requirements for safety and protection become most important. People want have power over and order in their lives, so this need for protection and refuge bestow principally to conduct at this stage. Saba also wants security and safety of her future and to her it is possible only to get marry with her fiancé. After marrying she thought she would lead secure life and her husband would protect her from all hardships of life, but hers society did not agree with her views.

Saba’s father is in opposition of her desires. He lives in a society where man’s reputation is everything. In order to maintain his reputation he goes against the longing of his girl and kills her dreadfully. Her father desire is to safe guard the honor of the family before society, because society is so powerful that forces the people to sacrifice their desires. In-laws of Saba also force her to leave her strong position in the court and forgive the criminals. In order to survive in the society, she goes against her desire and forgave them for the security of her in-laws’ future. Her desire was to punish them and gained self-esteem but she had to surrender in front of the society.

Her parents’ materialistic approach does not allow her to complete her sexual desires. She has no control on her Id or in other words she is unable to make balance between Id and Ego.

According to Freud, the principle is the basis of id which tries hard for instant satisfaction of all needs, wishes, and requirements. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension and what all happens in case of Saba. She remains deprive from the gratification of all her desires, wants, and needs.

Foucault theory of power:

Foucault theory of power suggests that power is a struggle. In this documentary all the characters are struggling for power. For example, lawyer wants Saba to punish their father and uncle so that it can be proved that law is more powerful than societal norms. By using religion her father wants to hold the power.

Religion plays quite important role in the documentary. In the name of religion Saba’s father tries to convince others to justify his crime of honor killing.   He uses religion as his shield to save guard his crime, while her daughter also forgives them as her strong belief in God. All the people whatever they do in this documentary point their actions towards religion. Whatever they did it’s happened according to the will of God. They take refuge in religion.  

In the end Saba forgave all the criminals to survive in the society but her desire to punish them is not yet fulfill. In order to satisfy her desire she leave the suit to God that God will punish them and give her justice. Her father crosses the limit to fulfill his desires and eventually in the end to justify the way of achieving his needs he uses religion as his shield.

Conclusion:

To sum up all the discussion it can be concluded that society is the main barrier in way of Saba that does not allow her to achieve her needs and place due to the male dominance. In the she has to surrender before society.