The Ventriloquists

E.R. Ramzipoor presents the tale of The Ventriloquists by switching back and forth between past and present timelines. Inspired by true events, The Ventriloquists follows a group of resisters in Belgium during the Nazi reign, who have agreed to take part in a risky operation in an attempt to speak out against the oppressive regime. During the Nazi reign, newspapers were turned from providing the readers with news into a tool to spread Nazi propaganda. In this story, the very popular newspaper, Le Soir, has fallen to the same fate. An orphan, Helene, who survives on the streets by selling the popular newspaper befriends a journalist, Aubrion, who introduces Helene to the rest of the group. The group consists of people such as journalists, entrepreneurs, professors, and other resistance fighters.

The group is discovered by a high-ranking Nazi officer who threatens to take their lives unless they create pro-Nazi propaganda, which sparks an idea in Aubrion’s mind. Accepting the threat by the officer, Aubrion convinces the group to comply and take on the job. With the Nazi officer’s oversight and the constant fear of losing their lives, the group sets out to publish an issue of the pro-Nazi propaganda version of Le Soir in eighteen days. Well at least that’s what they want the officer to believe. Aubrion, who recruits various resistance fighters and people into their group, has a different plan in mind. While convincing the Nazi officer they are working on an issue of pro-Nazi propaganda, the group has in mind a plan to release a different type of issue for Le Soir, a type of issue never to have been seen as of yet. They move forward with this, constantly looking over their shoulders, to accomplish their task. A plan to risk their lives.

E.R. Ramzipoor presents this story from the viewpoint of various narrators, which some found confusing and difficult to follow. Although I found the viewpoints to be presented in a decent manner and pretty reasonable to follow, I will admit it did take some time for me to get used to the switch in narrators. I do believe this is quite a lengthy read and at times it was hard for me to stay focused. The author does a great job on the characters as they are well developed and great details are used to build them and the scene. Some characters are described or presented through their actions, emotions, and thoughts in such a way that Ramzipoor is able to reveal something about the character without stating it upfront and directly, which I personally enjoyed. With some other reads, I find authors present characters like this in a way where the message can get lost and readers miss out on the full character, however that was not the case with this novel. The emotions throughout this novel felt so real. The fear and tension throughout the story felt by the characters can be felt by the reader as well.

In a time where having an opinion could get you killed, these characters were determined to show resistance, despite the looming threat of losing their lives. When learning about history we hear stories of people who have been oppressed and we can’t seem to imagine what we would do or how could someone possibly get away with such hate, violence and oppression. We look back and can’t fathom the idea of having to live under such circumstances and constant fear as the people we learn about did. Unfortunately, when we take a conscious look around at the world today, we see the same tactics being used to oppress and rule people.

For a long time, the Rohingya minority group has fallen victim to military violence and attempts of oppression. Although there was civilian leadership back in 2011, providing some hope to the people to see some democratic progress, the military remains heavily involved in the government till this day. In India, farmers from all over India have come together to protest the three farming bills that have been put into place. These bills will leave the farmers even more vulnerable than they are already. Currently, even without these laws, farmers face tremendous amounts of debt with compounded interest month after month. The amount of corruption will increase, the meagre profit of farmers will decrease, the suicide rates of farmers will continue to increase, and the assistance from the government will continue to decrease.

We have the Black Lives Matter protests and movements that have been going on for so long. The systemic racism that continues today ends up taking the lives of many through police brutality. Noise has been created to request for accountability of police officers and their agencies. Demands for systemic changes continue to fall on deaf ears. The continuous oppression of Indigenous peoples in North America is another example. Living on lands where basic needs are not even met, such as clean running water, consistent heat and electricity and education opportunities. There are a dangerous amounts of women and girls that have gone missing which the world doesn’t know about because the agencies don’t deem them important enough. In Nigeria, the violent abuse by the Specialty Anti-Robbery Squad continues on. Accountability of the SARS officers is no where to be found. Protesters are silenced, thrown into jail, victims of police brutality and go missing. These are recurring themes all over the world today. It’s as if we haven’t learned anything from history.

Protests are taking place all around the world today. In Ramzipoor’s The Ventriloquists, the characters play a role in making a joke about the Nazi’s through a popular newspaper, risking their lives. Today people push back with similar risks in various ways. Journalists are getting tossed into jail for reporting truths the government doesn’t want the world to know. Peaceful protesters are met with police brutality. Rape, violence, and death plague the protests. We hear about heros in history doing big things such as helping Jews hide from the Nazis like Miep Gies or we hear of Jim Zwerg, a member of the Freedom Riders, who volunteered to get off the bus first knowing that an angry mob of Ku Klux Klan was waiting. However, every little action can help. Today with the power of the internet and social media, we have the power to educate ourselves. Not only are we able to learn ourselves, but we are able to educate each other and spread awareness about social issues. There are so many issues around the world it becomes difficult to be aware of them all, but with a share of a post we can create conversation; we can create resistance.

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