Despair in Harem Tea and “La Haine”The film "La Haine" and the book Harem Tea are both set in the suburbs of Paris, a place where brutality reigns and hope perishes. “La Haine” focuses on the lives of three young men, Vinz, Said and Hubert, while Tea in the Harem looks closely at two men, Majid and Pat. All of these characters are deeply troubled, drug-involved, and alcohol-worshipping. They are rude, prone to violence. Their lives are burdened by desperation, and desperation drives them and those around them. Indeed, both the book and the film heavily explore the theme of desperation. Despair is described as a ruin because it crushes, condemns and kills. It causes women to sell their bodies and men to turn to drinking. There is little escape from this overwhelming force. Education and friendship present themselves as saviors, but most of the characters in "La Haine" and Tea in the Harem choose instead to turn to vices, such as drugs and sex. However, this only increases the anguish in the suburbs. Ultimately, this cycle of sex, drugs, violence and desperation overwhelms the characters and causes them to capitulate to a destructive and depression-filled life. The ending of Tea in the Harem, however, is not entirely without optimism. For Pat and Majid, friendship could offer them enough vitality to survive. For the characters of "La Haine", however, everything seems sad. The amount of violence prevalent in the suburbs of Paris is never ignored in "La Haine" and Harem Tea. In Tea in the Harem, one of the first images presented to the reader is that of the neighborhood's older residents purchasing dogs and training them to kill any intimidating figures, including young ones. “La Haine” ends and begins with a gunshot. The occupants of the... center of the paper... are bored and resort to violence, alcohol, sex or drugs to relieve the pain. After his short vacation, he wakes up and sees that he is still in the suburbs. He's still unhappy, he's still desperate. The cycle repeats itself again and again and death seems sweeter and sweeter. Despair subsides and happiness becomes an impossible ideal. In “La Haine,” this desperation leads to death and more violence. Tea in the Harem, however, offers a little redemption: friendship. At the end of the book, Majid is arrested and Pat manages to escape. As the police car with Majid comes down the street, Pat emerges and turns himself in to the police. Although these two men are surrounded by pain, they find some promise in each other, and this just might be their final escape. For the rest of the inhabitants of the Paris suburbs, however, desperation will haunt them and persist.