During periods of chaos and war, extraordinary occurrences happen where least expected. In a land where many religions are accustomed, Afghanistan’s citizens are divided by these religions. However in the case of safety, two religious groups come together, believing in the same idea. The Hazara and Pashtuns are religious groups with conflicting opinions and different leaders. But Qadem, a known Pashtun to Najafs Hazara family knows Najaf would ‘surely be killed’ if he was to remain in his homeland. It is there that the two groups, although nervous, put aside their differences and conflicting beliefs and ‘entrust’ their lives with one another for the safety of their own futures. Qadem helps Najaf seek asylum from Afghanistan and in turn this leads to him becoming a refugee.…
In the story, the Taliban are trying to take control of Afghanistan. They do not let anybody get in their way. The taliban go around “ slaughtering men like goats, slitting them open and leaving their blood to soak into the ground” (staples, 12). Clearly, many people live in fear of these blood thirsty human beings. Also, the taliban “ lock the people of entire villages in their homes” but not only that, they “burn them to the ground” (staples, 12). The taliban just cares to torture people, they do not care the cost, who gets hurt or anything else. The taliban affects how people live their everyday lives, such as going to school, making money or working, and even daily events such as when there was a bombing at the Bazaar. Also they have very strict rules that seem extreme to people who live in the west and have different freedoms. Some of the rules include how long your beard is and clothing. At one point in the book Asma has an incident with a member of the taliban when she had very little skin showing, “your in violation of dress code, the man said to Asma” (staples,96). These rules take away the rights of many innocent people in the book. Many other rules are in place like “playing music, laughing out loud, keeping a bird to hear its song in the morning, putting pictures of beautiful scenes on the wall, reading books, flying kites” (Staples, 12). These rules are much…
As I read the first two pages of chapter twenty I pictured what Amir had witnessed and felt an overwhelming feelings of empathy, sorrow and gratefulness that I would mostly never have to see that in my life and how when he walked through his old neighborhood all his old memories would forever be haunted by ruined and death ridden place he once called home. This is another window that shows the reader another daily event Afghan’s witnessed walking through there own or old neighborhoods. For example it said, “I had a friend there once,’ Farid said ‘he was a very good bicycle repairman. He played the tabla well too. Then Taliban killed him and his family and burned the village.” This quote was an example of one of the several thousand Afghan’s who have seen or heard of family, friends or neighbors killed by the Taliban for a plethora of unknown reasons. This two pages reveal to the audience one out of plenty troubling and horrendous ordeals that people dealt with for possible all their lives living in Afghanistan after the war.…
In the book Under the Persimmon Tree the author Suzanne Fisher Staples shows how cruel the Taliban can be. With the murdering, stealing, and ruining lives, Najmah’s life is ruined by the Taliban when they take her father and brother. “‘To repay us for having helped our enemy, you must come and fight with the Taliban.’” (Page 17). Because the Taliban has taken most of her family, Najmah’s…
Before the Taliban is in power, there are bombs over Kabul everyday. These bombs destroy entire neighborhoods, and kill girls walking home from school. Tariq’s father’s health is failing, and staying in Kabul is not helping. Tariq and his family are leaving Afghanistan, and he has to leave Laila and the place he lived for his whole life. Tariq asks Laila to marry him and come with his family, but she has to say no. Laila is the only child left in her family, and if she left Kabul, it would destroy her parents. Tariq is also an only child, and if Tariq stayed in Afghanistan, his parents would have stayed as well, and they would have died in Kabul. Leaving her mother and father would devestate them, and if Tariq did not go with his parents, they would not leave, and then they would die in Kabul. The brutality of the Taliban and their bombs ripped people from their loved ones before they were even in power. One of the hallmarks of fascism is glorifying the state over the individual (Authier). The Taliban leaders demonstrated this by putting their cause of taking over the government before the lives of Afghan civilians. The Taliban also tears Mariam from her family: Laila, Aziza, and Zalmai. When Mariam kills Rasheed, she does it in self defense, and in defense of Laila. Mariam’s trial lasted 15 minutes, and it ended in a death sentence. There was no jury, no lawyer in her defense, no appeal, and no…
When the average person thinks of Afghanistan, thoughts of war, danger, and suffering might arise. Through reading The Kite Runner, written by Khaled Hosseini, one can look at another side of Afghanistan. The real Afghan culture shows pride in tradition, heritage, and…
The novel, Mahtab’s story, by Libby Gleeson, focuses on the many horrific obstacles that the protagonist, Mahtab, and her family face their homeland of Afghanistan as well as the obstacles they face when they flee from Afghanistan in search of a safe and secure home. Some of the hardships they face include: the constant fear and insecurity they experience as a result of living under Taliban rule, the sense of dislocation and alienation they experience as a result of leaving behind loved ones, their possessions, and their culture and the way of life to go to an unknown or unfamiliar place, and the grave uncertainty and insecurity they feel about their futures and loved ones. Despite the enormity of these immense hardships however, Mahtab and her family members, are able to overcome them because they remain resilient and indomitable. Remaining focused on their goal, thinking positively, finding strength in each other and familiar family customs or habits, such as praying, singing, telling soties and counting, are some of the coping mechanisms that Mahtab and her family use which enables them to remain indomitable in the face of her troubles.…
Failure to conform to such laws results in consequences which habitually comprise corporal abuse. Regardless of these corollaries, Mariam and Laila still stand behind their beliefs. Since women were discriminated against in Afghanistan and not given many rights, Mariam and Laila face many restrictions and confines within their society. “You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten.” (Pg.278) Women are not permitted to articulate their emotions in public, showing the chastisement and absurd nature of the government. Although the government implements rigorous laws, Laila contravenes them despite consequences exhibiting strength and determination. “And so Laila’s life suddenly revolved around ways to see Aziza. If she was lucky she was given a tongue lashing, a single kick in the rear, or a shove in the back. Other times, she was met with assortments or wooden clubs, fresh tree branches, short whips, slaps, or open fists.” (Ch.42) Laila goes on journeys to see Aziza and gets beaten by means of the stringent laws implemented by the government. Nevertheless, she is indomitable to see her daughter by any means necessary. This shows how she epitomizes assiduousness and…
The Taliban have created a war in their homeland, which in turn causes civilians to pay for their behavior, as “many people have been killed by American bombs” (Staples 172). The Americans have no choice but to bomb these areas to protect their own citizens, and sometimes civilians might get in the way. The lives of innocent Afghans have been ruined and “you can tell by looking at them that they have no food and little clean water, all they live on is dreams of their farms, which no longer exist” (Staples 186). The Taliban are greedy and have no feelings towards people other than themselves. Rumors have been spreading around villages that “they lock the people of entire villages inside their houses and burn them down and how they slaughter men like goats” (Staples 12). These terrible acts have turned lives upside down and brought havoc upon a once peaceful place. The people are constantly abused by the Taliban, and “many are missing a hand or a foot or an eye. So many of them have terrible wounds or scars” (Staples 185/186). The way the Taliban treat women is disappointing. Najmah has heard how they “whip women whose shoes make a sound on paving stone" (Staples 180). The Taliban have scared the women so much that they "hide their bangles away because if they're caught wearing any jewelry it will be stolen and they will be beaten” (Staples 180).…
Throughout the tests of time men and women across the world have shown they really are in times of conflict. In times where the true character of a person is really put to the limit, people are able to see who they really are. These conflicts can serve to reveal unexpected qualities in an individual. Times of conflict can suddenly expose a person’s true moral fibre and the courage of their convictions. A number of people may shy away from their personal qualities, and do their best not to big note themselves, however for some, in times of strong divergence between people or even countries, a persons ability to reason with their counterpart and show elements of compromise and understanding can all of a sudden come to the fore. Conflict can inadvertently result in the discovery of a person’s true beliefs, and their ability to express them with no fear of their opposition’s retaliation. The quality to stand up for what you believe in can reveal itself in these times of disagreement, just like when Martin Luther proclaimed that he ‘Had a Dream’, he went against the grain of society and discovered his enormous will and determination to rise up for what he stands for. However these qualities are not always positive ones, and can emerge from the most brutal of circumstances. The willingness to take a fellow humans life is especially evident in times of war and terror, revealing vicious and unruly qualities in some individuals. The late Osama bin Laden has been notorious for displaying these qualities, perplexing the world at the extent of his inhumane behaviour in instances of…
The majority of Americans are uninformed about the injustice of the Afghanistan women in the many recent years. The women in Afghanistan didn’t always have a burka hiding their face from others in public. There was a time when the women had a life very much like today’s ordinary American woman. In the book, The Dressmaker, we get to know of how oppression changes the lives of each and every person in a family along with the changes in their community. For the community of Kabul changes lead to a financial and economical struggle. The women’s lives are transformed after the Taliban take control of Kabul. The rights of women are stripped from them and they are left with basically nothing. This change in the lives of the women brings more responsibility…
The relentless Pashtuns constructed a tough life on the Hazaras as can be seen in the Kite Runner, but some seemed to still gather happiness with the little freedom they had. Once the Taliban came to power the most gruesome days of the Hazaras had just become, as everyone feared for their life. The present life of a Hazara and potential they are granted is only something dreamed of during their darkest years. The relationship between Pashtuns and Hazaras has now been remolded into a life lived with each other, in further equality then ever experienced…
“Afghan Woman Prisoner,” a heart-throbbing article that opened my eyes into seeing what is really going on around the world, while I live a life where I worry about not liking certain food for supper. Ethnocentrism played a huge role in the article, especially the society of being a woman, living in a lost civilization in Afghanistan. Gulnaz was raped by her cousin’s husband, who “forced his way into her home, tied her up, and then raped her.” However, when courageous enough to report it to Afghan police, she was accused of adultery and sent to prison. Afghan were too proud of ruining their reputation, saving face was the only thing they can do to maintain their name in the village and so sending her to prison was their way of saving face.…
Men on motorcycles drove by tossed acid in the girls faces. The Taliban’s are known to be the rivals to Afghanistan’s. “The Taliban’s felt girls were unholy if they attend school” (NBC News, 2011). At the time of the attack Zahira thought it was a prank incident. However, it cause the girls to not attend school for five days, left Zahira cousin Chauncy partially blind, mood changes has been altered, still a desire to learn, but fear has been instilled in the girls. Functionalists theoretical clarify the involvement to social stability in Afghanistan (NBC News, 2011).…
Texts often give us an insight into aspects of different cultures. The novel Parvana by Deborah Ellis explores various facets of the Afghani culture. One of the prominent features of this text is the impact of war. In addition, Ellis looks into the treatment of women in Afghanistan. Another point that is examined in the text is the Afghani food and clothing. To illustrate these aspects, the author has used a large range of provocative techniques and ideas.…