Absolutely. For me, the whole film is a metaphor for civil wars, like the one that they see going on in the distance. The absurdity of a once close/united nation, one part of which suddenly seems to change their mind - for reasons that from the outside at least, may seem sudden, unreasonable or even incomprehensible. “Why the sudden change of heart?” type of reflection. For me the cutting off of fingers was an allegory for how far they would be willing to push it to make the point, no matter how nonsensical, gruesome it was, or how much harmful it was, even to themselves. The fact that this then caused more harm (in this case by killing the beloved pet donkey, i.e. innocent bystanders and loved ones) then meant that the other side then had reason to pick up arms and get retaliation, even if at first they did not want this split/war. So for me it’s quite a key turning point in the story and as ‘extra’ as it may seem - much needed.
Mrs_Vintage t1_ja31vb6 wrote
Reply to comment by thepomadeguy in Question about Banshees of Inisherin? by Past-Confusion-3234
Absolutely. For me, the whole film is a metaphor for civil wars, like the one that they see going on in the distance. The absurdity of a once close/united nation, one part of which suddenly seems to change their mind - for reasons that from the outside at least, may seem sudden, unreasonable or even incomprehensible. “Why the sudden change of heart?” type of reflection. For me the cutting off of fingers was an allegory for how far they would be willing to push it to make the point, no matter how nonsensical, gruesome it was, or how much harmful it was, even to themselves. The fact that this then caused more harm (in this case by killing the beloved pet donkey, i.e. innocent bystanders and loved ones) then meant that the other side then had reason to pick up arms and get retaliation, even if at first they did not want this split/war. So for me it’s quite a key turning point in the story and as ‘extra’ as it may seem - much needed.