In The Wretched of the Earth, Franz Fanon emphasizes the cruciality of violence in the decolonization of Algeria from France, as well as on a global scale. Since colonization is fundamentally violent, the only way to escape controlling capitalistic forces like France is to retaliate through the perpetuation of violence. Violence associated with decolonization is not only physical, but also social, economic, and psychological. Consequently, the combination of these types of violence produce lasting effects that reverberate throughout the nation even after freedom from oppression has been achieved. The initial political struggle transforms into a psychological struggle as both the Algerians and the French experience severe psychological trauma as a result of the conflict. Psychological trauma primarily manifests itself in a variety of mental disorders seen in both parties in the political dispute. Although violence is necessary to escape the forces of capitalism, its significance is undermined by the lasting psychological
trauma experienced by both the victims and perpetrators of violence.

Throughout The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon explicitly highlights the importance and impacts of physical violence associated with decolonization, while psychological violence is displayed as primarily a byproduct of the physical violence that the French inflicted on the Algerians. However, in his novel Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon elaborates on different types of violence that are also relevant to the issue of decolonization. In this novel, Fanon introduces the concept of ontological violence. Ontology is defined as the nature of being, therefore ontological violence is classified as the violence at the level of being. Fanon emphasizes that ontological violence precedes physical violence, which complicates his argument in The Wretched of the Earth: that physical violence is the first burden to impact a colonized nation.  Ontological violence is a primary contributor to the psychological violence that afflicts the vast majority of the Algerian community. Colonialism creates a compartmentalized world containing two unequal sectors: the colonists, and the native Algerians. In the colonial sector, the French are protected by industrialism and booming economy, allowing them to further establish legitimacy in Algeria and superiority over the Algerians without the use of physical violence. However, in the native sector, Algerian inhabitants suffer from the harsh pressures of poverty, political oppression, and military force.  

Not only is the nation dichotomized, but the native Algerians are split as well. Through ontological violence inflicted on the Algerians as a result of the Manichaean colonial world, the Algerians are reduced to object status, and become divided from within. Fanon states in Black Skin, White Masks, that “any ontology is impossible for the colonized person”. As the colonial sector is assigned more value to the colonizer, the Algerians begin to develop a severe inferiority complex due to the hostile atmosphere that French domination creates. In the “Spontaneity” chapter of The Wretched of the Earth, Fanon emphasizes that the colonized natives exist in a petrified state, but their attachment to the Algerian nation remains unchanged. The petrification of the natives serves as evidence of the psychological trauma that begins to reverberate throughout the nation as violence takes various forms. The violence that was originally direct and physical becomes “atmospheric” as the colonial system continues to exist. The atmospheric aspect of violence stems from both ontological violence, and physical community violence, thus damaging the psyche of the Algerian community through their oppressive environment. The Algerians remain dedicated to their country, but they are continuously excluded from society which creates a crippling internal conflict. Native Algerians are not welcome into the colonial sector to actively participate in society, and also experience an atmosphere of oppression in their own sector. In Black Skin, White Masks, Fanon highlights that blacks are divided from within by the white world, which in this case, would be the colonial world.
