BooksBarbecue
Back Grow
Chapters (75)
  1. Cover
  2. Praise
  3. About the Author
  4. Title Page
  5. Intoroduction
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EITHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. TWENTY-THREE
  29. TWENTY-FOUR
  30. TWENTY-FIVE
  31. TWENTY-SIX
  32. TWENTY-SEVEN
  33. TWENTY-EIGHT
  34. TWENTY-NINE
  35. THIRTY
  36. THIRTY-ONE
  37. THIRTY-TWO
  38. THIRTY-THREE
  39. THIRTY-FOUR
  40. THIRTY-FIVE
  41. THIRTY-SIX
  42. THIRTY-SEVEN
  43. THIRTY-EIGHT
  44. THIRTY-NINE
  45. FORTY
  46. FORTY-ONE
  47. FORTY-TWO
  48. FORTY-THREE
  49. FORTY-FOUR
  50. FORTY-FIVE
  51. FORTY-SIX
  52. FORTY-SEVEN
  53. FORTY-EIGHT
  54. FORTY-NINE
  55. FIFTY
  56. FIFTY-ONE
  57. FIFTY-TWO
  58. FIFTY-THREE
  59. FIFTY-FOUR
  60. FIFTY-FIVE
  61. FIFTY-SIX
  62. FIFTY-SEVEN
  63. FIFTY-EIGHT
  64. FIFTY-NINE
  65. SIXTY
  66. SIXTY-ONE
  67. SIXTY-TWO
  68. SIXTY-THREE
  69. SIXTY-FOUR
  70. SIXTY-FIVE
  71. SIXTY-SIX
  72. SIXTY-SEVEN
  73. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  74. CLIMATE EMERGENCY
  75. Copyright

Mrs Burgoyne’s brow furrows. The room stills to an expectant quiet. The teacher folds her arms across her chest, says, ‘Go on.’

‘Isn’t it the same with any war, Miss? Any war, once it’s started, has to be won. Otherwise you lose. And if you start seeing the enemy as being people like you, then you must be starting to become like the enemy.’

There are a few giggles here. Mrs Burgoyne quells them with a hand. ‘I’m not sure I understand, Josh.’

‘So, if you’re looking at the enemy and you think they are like you, if you don’t know the difference, then maybe you are the enemy already.’

‘I think that’s the point, Josh. That there are no natural enemies. There are no inherently good people and bad people, right people and wrong people; that we’re all the same. War insists on a false categorisation from which nobody emerges well.’

‘But that’s not true Miss, is it? There are people who want to kill us because of the way we live, or what we believe, because they think their way is better. They are our enemies. Religious organisations. Terrorists. How can they not be our enemies?’

I see Mrs Burgoyne flinch when I use the T-word. ‘But Thomas Hardy wouldn’t have known anything about that, would he now?’ She’s smiling. She thinks I’m going to stop now and opens her mouth to speak.