A Temporary Matter. Essay

The story is told from the point of view of Latifa, a girl oppressed by the Taliban. When the Taliban storm her home city of Kabul in Afghanistan, Latifa and her family (particularly her female relatives and family) become

The couple had an immense argument about the unborn child. She asked the question of love saying “Do you love me?”. There was a long hesitation, a pause you could have poured all the affirmation of the world into.” Yes,” he said finally, his voice so soft and reluctant it was like the last gasp of a dying old man”. The fact Jeremy hesitated signifies his love for china is in the merge of failing. On the day of her delivery she called Jeremy and he immediately took her to a motel. In a blink of an eye she gave a painful birth but China kept telling Jeremy to “get rid of it” by refusing to assign gender to the new born

Do you remember what I told you that night? That if I hadn’t seen the doctor pull Amir out of my wife, I’d never believe that he is my son? Well, that thought had been crossing my mind a lot these past weeks. Just yesterday, I took him out to watch the yearly Buzkashi tournament. Before we had left, I had sensed a sign of discontent from Amir, but I shrugged it off as if he were tired. Buzkashi was Afghanistan’s passion. It was not possible that an Afghan was not interested. While we sat in the upper bleachers, Amir often looked confused or bored. He would look up at the chapandaz then back down at his fingers. I had told him the sight of a book at the Buzkashi was unbearable, and that he could last a few hours without burying his face in one. Although his eyes were on the horses, I knew by his gaze he knew next to nothing about Bazkashi. So I decided to point out my long time favourite chapandaz, Henry Kissinger. Before Amir had time to respond, I saw his eyes dart to the far end of the stadium. A chapandaz fell off his saddle and was crushed under the hooves of the horses. Slowly, Amir’s face changed from shock to mournful. How is it that this is my son? This rather quiet, bookish, feminine

She had already lost her father and brother, and she nearly had lost her life when a bomb exploded near her and tore her leg off. However, when they reached the gate to Pakistan, they found that the border guards had closed the gate and was not letting anyone through. The only people getting through were bribing the guards, but they had no extra money to do this. "I felt desperate to get through, because the sun was setting, and if we got stuck here, what were we going to do? Where would we stay? There was nothing here, no town, no hotel, no buildings, just the desert." "Night was falling, and we were stranded out there in the open." At the end of the second day, Ahmedi and her mother were camped near a friendly family. After striking up a conversation with them, the woman told Ahmedi that her husband, Ghulam Ali, had gone to look for another way across the border. "He was checking out a goat path that supposedly went over the mountains several miles northeast of the border station." "You can go with us," the woman said. The woman's husband agreed to take them, but wanted them to rest one more day and build up their strength since it was going to be quite a climb. "Long after dark---or early the next morning, to be exact, before the sun came up---that man shook us awake." "It's time," he said. The climb was not long, but it was steep. It should have taken us little more than an hour except

As they reach America at last, Amir’s wife introduces herself to Sohrab sweetly, but he just, “shift[s] on his feet and look[s] away” (358). Sohrab does not say much, do much, or move much at all. Imagery presented in this stage of the journey is quite gloomy, what with Sohrab’s blandly colored clothes, sallow face, and plain room. Amir and his wife seem gloomy as well, as they are always whispering, crying, or wondering what went wrong. The saving grace and the real transformation happens at the celebration of the Afghan’s New Year’s Day. After a day of muteness that has become regular, Amir and Sohrab finally connect through the kite flying contest. This is something to which Amir and Hassan dedicated their lives when they were children. Amir is overwhelmed with joy to see that, “one corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile” (370). It seems like nothing, but this truly is a breakthrough with this child. If it were not for Hosseini’s descriptive words that lend to pure joy and elation, the reader would not even realize what a momentous occasion this is. Hope may seem lost when traveling a guilt filled path, but if one’s intentions are honest and efforts are useful, forgiveness will find its way

An hour earlier, Sefa, their baby’s birth mother, had called Percival, crying that she was in pain and bleeding, afraid she was losing the

With the Taliban beginning its reigns on Afghanistan, darkness took over the nation. Terror became a more common installment into the minds of the citizens. Hearing the rumble of the jeeps, the bangs of the AK-47s, and the bombs setting off can send a shiver down anyone’s back. Families are torn apart, children forget what play time is, schools are destroyed. The injustice that the Taliban brought is defined through the cruelest of actions. “There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.” (Hosseini, 1) With their regime, the Taliban established radical rules that limited the country to all but making the essential function of speaking, barely legal. The effect of the Taliban begin to spread specifically towards Amir and his family. With the beginning the war, Amir sees his

Tears ran down her cheeks as she screamed for her mother and father, her mother came waddling out of the house, her face horrified. Did she realise what she had just done to her daughter? Djinda’s eyes switched to the bush where a young boy came running out with her father following behind him. She couldn’t see her father’s expression through her tears and as the car drove off, but a spear was thrown and the car swerved to avoid being hit.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes a solid focus on the lives of two young women, Mariam and Laila, who grow up in a struggling and turbulent Afghanistan. This book emulates the lives of those who have actually been affected by the extreme changes of power within their culture. From the Soviets to the Taliban, these people are caught in a war they cannot win but must deal with the consequences of. The lives of Mariam and Laila are consumed and silenced by those with power over them, namely males with traditional values. The book conveys the idea that even with an immense amount of destruction and terror wrought throughout Afghanistan, underneath lies a beauty that has been muted but it still provides hope for the future.

In Afghanistan, there is a divide between the Pashtuns and the Hazaras; the Pashtuns are upper class citizens who are treated with respect while the Hazaras are lower class, minority citizens who are treated poorly. Because of the contrasting history of the two groups, their responses to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul were complete opposites. The Pashtuns “danced on [the] street,” (Hosseini 200) while the Hazaras cried “God help the Hazaras now” (Hosseini 213). The conflict between the Pashtuns and Hazaras in “The Kite Runner” directly reflects the real life issues in Afghanistan starting in the late 70’s and continuing on past 2001.

In this novel the author, Hosseini, uses a powerful bond between the two main character to give a reader a deeper understanding about the way women are viewed and treated in Afghanistan. These two main characters are used to represent the different perspectives from which women in are viewed. The first character we meet is Mariam, a woman from an unloving and poor past. She portrays the old ideas of abuse and mistreatment towards women. Conversely, the other main character Laila, a young woman who came from a more modern and loving family, is used to represent progress towards the equal treatment and education of women. These two women obviously come from different backgrounds but are brought together through

From the middle of the book to the conclusion, Satrapi focused more on the conditions and circumstances that the Iran-Iraq war brought about and how they affected Iran’s political landscape. The bombings of the war resulted in suffering and death, while it also created anxiety desperation, and fear, a fear that you or a loved one could die at any moment. People responded by stocking up on food and water, even fighting with one another over food. In one illustration in the book, Marjane and her mother go to the grocery store to buy more rice, but when they arrive they see that the store has barely any food left, and the one bag of rice remaining is being fought over by two other women (87). Another effect the war had on people was abandonment of faith. This is exemplified when the maid fretted about the message the school sent her son, about sacrificing oneself for the cause and the reward one will

Shukumar reminisces about how Shoba used to be before the stillbirth. He reflects that, “she was the type to prepare for surprises, good and bad. If she found a skirt or a purse she liked she bought two.” Shoba had always been ready for whatever crises and surprises came her way. For example, she always bought two of a purse or article of clothing she liked in case something happened to the first one. She had a great “capacity to think ahead.” However she could not prepare for this tragedy. She becomes apathetic WHERE IN THE TEXT and is unable to carry on with her former lifestyle. Now, she treats her home “as if it were a hotel.” At a hotel, everything is prepared for the guests, allowing for them to rely on housekeeping to clean up their

Shukumar contrasts with her as he tends to wear his dissatisfaction on his sleeve, actively trying to rekindle their relationship by reminiscing positive memories. For example, when he looks at her recipe book, carefully recalling the dates and ingredients put to use in creating the memory of a meal, which in many cultures serves as a bonding experience, building relationships. Also, he makes her aware of how how her constant avoidance of him becomes an incontinence. When she complains the lights should be turned off during the day, when no one is home, he speaks up and corrects her, saying, ““When I’m here, you mean,”"(1). In the light, he is transparent that he wishes to move past the loss of a child, to address their grievances head on. In the darkness, oppose to seeking out a connection, he, in the beginning is slightly abrasive, dreading her touch. “At some point in the evening she visited him. When he heard her approach, he would put away his novel and begin typing sentences. She would rest her hands on his shoulders and stare with him into the blue glow of the computer screen. “Don’t work too hard,” she would say after a minute or two, and head off to bed. It was the one time in the day she sought him out, and yet he’d

Similarly, in the piece "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine," a young girl observes and appreciates from a far a family friend who recently arrived from India. It is evident that in a short period of time he has assimilated to the everyday American lifestyle. He has an established career as a professor and is invited to dinner parties on a regular basis by the Lilia's family. Yet this supposed success through assimilation is not where Mr, Pirzada finds satisfaction. Although his family is suffering in Dacca after a war time crisis, Pirzada is still able to find some sort of satisfaction at Lilia's house as he participates in Indian influenced activities. He plays a round of carom with the family, and chews on fennel seeds, as he experiences moments of happiness among the thoughts of the death of his family back home.