There exists a huge disconnect not only between the colonial and native sectors of society. On top of this, a sharp division exists between the rural Algerian masses and the Algerian nationalist parties. The Algerian masses that reside in impoverished, rural areas lack political agency and representation. Political parties and nationalist agendas are weak because they are formed by colonized intellectuals, the proletariat, who comprise less than 1% of the Algerian population. The extreme divide between the rural masses and the proletariat stems from the opposition between the colonized masses who are excluded from benefits colonization, and the proletariat who use colonization to their personal gain. Since the proletariat enjoys the economic benefits that accompany colonialism, they are hesitant to resort to force in order to remain on good terms with the French as they have everything to lose.  Because of this, the nationalist parties leave the armed struggle, and only way to achieve liberation, to the spontaneity of the masses, as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The perpetual state of anxiety that the masses reside in causes their spontaneity to rule, leading to liberation at a local, and eventually national level.

Although physical violence ceases after decolonization, the Algerians’ fight still continues. A multitude of issues arise due to the lack of skilled labor and capital after the colonizer vacates; the French take with them their economic and industrial capital, and their skilled workers, leaving Algeria poor, underdeveloped, and uneducated. Violence is no longer physical, but rather metaphorical as the Algerians’ struggle continues with extreme poverty, physical and psychological trauma, and illiteracy. Independence is insufficient to sustain the lives of Algeria’s inhabitants. They remain in a state of economic dependence and psychological instability, as evidenced by Fanon’s “On Violence” and “Colonial War and Mental Disorders” chapters of the book.

Although independence from capitalism has been achieved, the Algerians are faced with a compromised future due to violence. The Algerians essentially sacrifice their own futures for the future of the nation, thus slightly undermining the political justification of violence from a psychological viewpoint. The Algerians continue to fight an internal war that manifests itself in severe mental disorders such as psychosis, depression, anxiety, extreme paranoia, and both suicidal and homicidal thoughts and actions. These severe mental disorders are the after effect of lifelong exposure to violence. Claims about the nature of Algerians were made by the colonists throughout their occupancy in Algeria such as that “Algerians are born criminals.” These claims became implanted in the consciousnesses of the Algerians in order to systematize the nation, so they inflict violence in order to put an end to their subordination and self-hatred. In this sense, political violence is justified, as the Algerians could no longer live in this dehumanized state. However, the final chapter of the book serves as evidence that violence inflicted on the Algerians by the French, ironically ended in Algerian independence and their own psychological demise. This is displayed in Case No. 4 in which a European officer suffers from depression, and Case No. 5, in which a European police inspector tortures his wife and children.
