A Powerful Paradox.

"The home where young Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater USA, gruew up sits along the sleepy banks of Lake Macatawa, an inlet of Lake michigan in the American Midwest. Trees shimmer along the edges of the driveway on a summer day; the sun glints peacefully off the lake." (Scahill, 1)

Upon re-examining the text, I found it interesting to note that Scahill chose to begin his book with such a serene image. The journey through Blackwater is one during which I was tormented by a concern of "if this went on without notice, what else could be happening". Because of this, Scahill's choice to begin his novel with a seemingly ironic statement, starting with this seemingly perfect world and then diving into the harsh reality is one worth examining. My belief is that although at first investigation it seems ironic, Scahill could be trying to portray the blissful ignorance in which we all live, emphasizing the fact that people try to block out the truths they don't want to hear. Upon re-examining the book you notice a very subtle yet always present idea that we are ignorant by our own will, and Scahill seems to scorn us for this mentality. I did not notice this until scanning through the text a second time, and I was being thorough on my first read-through so either I missed what was intended to be obvious, or he left it deliberately subtle for a reason I cannot understand.