The Day Of The Jackal

The Frederick Forsyth book, "The day of the jackal", is a wonderful thriller and along with "Where eagles dare" is the best I have read.

Yesterday, the local news in North Wales reminded us of a shop-keeper from Llangollen who just disappeared twenty years ago. I pondered the reality of any of us being able to just disappear. Why not? If you can keep your cards close to your chest and accumulate a cash fund to initiate your escape, I still think it is possible to disappear. Of course, Europe would be out of the question as would the United States or Canada. However, lesser countries in Africa, Central America or South America would be good candidates. The only thing you need to survive is money. In the places I have cited, there is still the scope to earn money on a cash in hand basis without the need for formal identification. The perfect arena within which to escape is catering. Here, people can slink away quietly into a busy kitchen, do their job competently and go largely unnoticed. You rent a small flat for cash and no landlord with rent in his hand will ask any questions. In the day of the jackal, the jackal had several identities but who says you even have to have an identity - the less identity the better!

But who would want to escape? Someone with massive debts or someone who has committed a heinous crime perhaps? Most of us would never entertain the notion because we have a baseline of happiness within our lives. However, there are many others whose lives offer little in the way of aspiration, hope, fulfillment or happiness. Of course you would normally need some form of social interaction but somebody seeking to remain anonymous would have to ditch such a luxury.
In the day of the jackal, the backdrop to the story revolves around the French resistance movement who disagreed with Charles De Gaulle's decision to grant independence to Algeria. The Algerians against the odds had proved to be a thorn in the side of the far stronger French army and had showed what can be achieved against a supposedly stronger opponent with sufficient desire and planning. Tonight, an England team dripping in millions of pounds of Premier League talent will face the part-timers of Algeria. In that the match is being played in Africa, Algeria will be more at home than England. I suspect the final result will reflect this.