on the slaves for free labor. In comparison, “Malala Yousafzai, the Fighter” explores the journey of a young Pakistani girl, Malala, who fights for women’s rights for education. With the support from people all over the world, she is able to face the Taliban who are a powerful extremist group with strong connections to the Al Qaeda. They enforce a strict code of behavior on Islamic women to such an extent that it robs them of their identities. One similarity between historic America and Pakistan under Taliban rule is that the race and gender domination that exists affects people negatively. For instance, when an extensive shipbuilder hires Frederick Douglass, he sees that “white and black ship-carpenters [work] side by side, and no one seem[s] to see any impropriety in it” (Douglass 101). Soon, the white workers become discontent because they [feel] that “if free colored carpenters [are] encouraged, they [will] soon take the trade into their own hands, and poor white men [will] be thrown out of employment” (Douglass 101). In order for them to keep their jobs, the white men decide to oppress their threat. Therefore, they “[combine], and [come] upon [Douglass], armed with sticks, stones, and heavy handspikes” (Douglass 102). Similar to the racist white workers, the Taliban use violent actions to impede people’s determination to fight against them. In “Malala Yousafzai, the Fighter,” Malala makes speeches that motivate girls to disobey laws that the Taliban proposes against girls receiving an education. Since Malala takes a strong stand against the Taliban, they view her as an enemy and send a “gunman [who shoots] [Malala]” with intentions of killing her (Baker 4). By doing so, they assume that people will stop oppressing the Taliban’s laws in fear of getting hurt. The fact that the Taliban tries to kill a fifteen year old girl to put down others shows that they consider power to be more important than good morals. The barbarous acts that the Taliban and white men in America commit to secure their superiority demonstrate how a desire for power deprives people of their good values. Along with violence, both settings show that the aspiration for change distorts people’s sense of right and wrong. For example, after Douglass receives a basic education, he is able to plan an escape route with the help of other slaves in which “every man [stands] firm” and pledges that “[they will] certainly start in pursuit of freedom” (Douglass 95).In spite of all costs, one of the slaves betrays the pledge and discloses the plan to their master in hope of a personal reward. The backstabbing act leads the other slaves to “[come] to a unanimous decision amongst [them]selves as to who their informant [is]” (Douglass 98). Similarly, Malala’s father, Yousafzai, dedicates himself to change the Taliban’s law and fight for women’s rights. He “takes Malala to the provincial capital of Peshawar” for an event where the “11-year-old [gives] a speech titled ‘How Dare the Taliban Take Away My Basic Right to Education?” (Baker 2,3). Even though letting his young daughter speak against dangerous insurgents in front of the national press helps “[them] to stand up,” he fails to realize the great risk that he puts Malala and his family in (Baker 3). Both, Yousafzai’s brazen action against the Taliban and the slave who breaks the loyalty he has with Douglass for selfish reasons exhibit how ambitions for change and power negatively influence people’s morals. In the works of literature, the slave keepers’ and the Taliban’s personalities directly enhance the theme.
In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the Americans in the slave market forcibly bring Africans from their country to America. Then, they sell them to masters who put them in a state of bondage for the remainder of their lifetimes. Douglass is a slave who strives for an education and uses his knowledge to travel to northern America where he is free. As previously mentioned, “Malala Yousafzai, the Fighter” explores the ambitions of the Taliban which is a powerful extremist group that enforces harsh rules of the sharia on women. Ironically, both groups of people are religious are characterized as heartless because of the negative impact they have on others of lesser power. For instance, after becoming a free man, Frederick Douglass is unable to speak at white people meetings regarding the end to slavery because he “[feels] [him]self a slave and the idea of speaking to white people weigh[s] [him] down” (Douglass 121). Most of his religious masters deprive him of his basic needs for life such as food and sleep which dehumanize Douglass to a point where he loses his confidence to speak up for himself entirely. Likewise, the Taliban force harsh religion on others to stop people’s determination to fight against them. For instance, Humid Mir, a television news reporter who exposes the horrors of the Taliban on his news broadcasts, escapes death thanks to a …show more content…
“security guard [who] [finds] a shrapnel-packed bomb under [their] family’s car” (Baker 1). The near death experience traumatizes the television reporter’s daughter, Ayesha Mir and causes her to become “[angry][with] her father for putting himself in danger” (Baker 1). The fact that the Taliban tries to murder Hamid shows how heartless they are. Also, it proves that the Taliban want to murder anyone exploiting their extreme view on religion to keep the public from gaining motivation to revolt against them. Ayesha Mir’s devastated reaction to the failed murder attempt and Douglass’ inability to speak exemplify how a person can be religious but will be heartless and disregard their morals to secure their power. When people desire power, they are often ruthless in their journeys to seek authority. In the narrative, when Colonel Lloyd realizes that the slaves are stealing fruit from his land he immediately “resort[s] to all kinds of stratagems to keep his slaves out of the garden” (Douglass 32). Finally, he puts tar on the outside of the fence, which reveals the slaves who violate his command. He severely whips them and soon, tar itself comes to be associated with violence and defilement. The Colonel is characterized as determined because he does not stop until he finds a way to secure his power. In comparison, the “leader of the Swat Taliban, Maulana Fazlullah, [decides] it [is] time to silence Malala and [sends] two men to kill her” because “there [is] no other option” (Baker 3). As previously mentioned, Malala intimidates the Taliban because she rallies the support of others against them. Since she is a threat, they blatantly explain that in order to keep their power, they will kill her even at the cost of “[having] a bad name in the media” (Baker 3). Their persistent want for authority characterizes them as determined. Their reason to kill Malala indicates how the desire for power robs people of good morals. Both slave holders and the Taliban prove that the want for power leads people to take barbarous actions to oppress others.
Comparing the historic Battle of Zama and the modern Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Zama consisted of the Roman army led by Scorpio Africanus.
He defeated the Carthaginians led by the legendary general, Hannibal at the northern city of Zama in Africa. By doing so, he ended the nearly 20 year old war. In this battle, the Romans were numerically deficient in infantry but where outnumbered in cavalry. After an extended skirmish between Rome and the Carthaginians, the light infantry and the mix of light infantry and war elephants deployed by Hannibal, and cause the man formations of the 2 sides to meet. Hannibal sends his army in echelon formation to envelop the roman flanks but ends up loosing the battle. The Battle of Zama was the last and decisive victory to the second Punic war. Zama was one of the three wars between Carthage and Rome and resulted in the destruction of Carthage and is annexed by Rome. A modern but similar battle to Zama was the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon, another legendary general, led the French to battle against the English and their allies. Although Napoleon had a great reputation, Wellington, the general of the European side, proved to have more intelligence when he outsmarts Napoleon's plan and defeats the French. Both battles saw the final defeat of a famed and "invincible" military leader, Hannibal at Zama and Napoleon at Waterloo. Also, both battles were decisive battles in that they ultimately end the great wars. The Battle of Zama ended the 2nd Punic war and the Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleonic wars. All in
all, both battles consisted of an infantry and cavalry, and ended in a decisive victory.