My Son the Fanatic

His mother treats him like a slave, giving him daily chores and unbelievably ruthless punishments. He has become inhuman to her as she refers to him as “It.” The only hope of survival relies on his dad, in God, or in a miracle. His story promotes the courageous human spirit and the determinate to survive.

The book “Youth Held At The Border “ by Lisa Patel shows us the story of young immigrant who are come to U.S in different ages, and how they struggle with the difference in cultures. This book is very important to understand the difficult situation of Childhood arrival in the United States. It uses the thought of individual people in various cultures to create the images of challenges of young adult ,who are described as a minor to this country, have to face.

Hassan is a victim of discrimination, bigotry, and class structure in Afghan society. Hassan and Ali are members of the Hazaras, a minority group of Afghanis. Amir and his father are Pashtuns, the majority, who believes they are a better class than the Hazara. Religion was all that separated Amir and Hassan, as did tribe and class. Amir learned from his father that the Harara tribe to which Ali and Hassan belonged, were inferior people. Because of this bigotry and basic class structure, Hazaras are often victims of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. Thus when a crisis comes and Hassan is being attack, Amir not only doesn't come to Hassan's aid, but also allows him to be brutally abused. Morality lacks because of this class structure, which allows people to be treated as second-class citizens. Considerations towards morality and religion helps the reader to broaden there understanding of the novel and it would be impossible to appreciated the book lacking them.

Amir’s mother, Sofia, dies in childbirth; Amir inherits her love of literature and probably her looks to some extent, but, her being dead, never receives any motherly love or guidance, which could have helped him out of the cowardly hole he later digs himself into. Amir’s father’s best friend and business partner, Rahim Khan, tries to give Amir the motherly love he clearly needs, fostering Amir’s love of writing and steadfastly standing up for him when Amir’s father, Baba, criticizes him, but Rahim Khan does not do enough to instill honesty, courage, and strength of conviction in young Amir. Amir’s best friend, Hassan, a servant a year younger than Amir, is everything Amir is not: athletic, brave, loyal, honest, and kind, inciting jealousy in Amir. Assef, a local bully, poses a real threat to Amir, hating Amir for the crime of befriending a Hazara (oppressed ethnic minority), but Amir is protected by Hassan, allowing young Amir to freeze and not stand up for himself in Assef’s presence. Last, but most importantly, is Amir’s father, Baba, and his views on Amir: he blames Amir for Sofia’s death,

Every individual, no matter who they are, will all face challenges that result from their backgrounds and cultures. Born in Calcutta, India and later moving to the United States, Amin Ahmad was an individual who discovered this harsh truth first-hand. In his essay, “I Belong Here,” Ahmad reflects on his experience of being treated differently from those around him based off his cultural background. He analyzes the emotional barrier that forms between the journey of immigration and the continuous feeling of inferiority based solely on the desire to belong. The article is written to provide a different point of view; one focused on introducing to the world the challenges and emotions immigrants face after starting the journey towards a new life.

“Mansi, your grandfather was very religious, but he also knew that India is not the same now that it was when his father was a priest,” Dad thought very carefully as he spoke. “He had to admit that no matter how hard I worked, it would be difficult to raise you and your brother here if we wanted secure futures for

Immigrants’ refusal to appreciate a fused culture promotes division. Mukherjee questions the idea of immigrants losing their culture for American ideals: “Parents express rage or despair at their U.S.-born children's forgetting of, or indifference to, some aspects of Indian culture,” to that Mukherjee asks, “Is it so terrible that our children are discovering or are inventing homelands for themselves?” (Mukherjee, 1997, para. 28). Many immigrants experience anger when their children no longer hold the ideals of their home country. This tension produced within the household hinders the unity within a resident country’s culture and encourages division within families. Using herself as an example, Mukherjee provides another instance of anger directed at her from her own subculture: “They direct their rage at me because, by becoming a U.S.

Iran’s conflict between modernism and fundamentalism can be seen in the novel’s focus on the political prisoners. Marji encounters various men that were incarcerated for holding extreme leftist views, including her uncle, and the consequences they faced. In the chapter “The Heroes” Marji is exposed to the various torture methods induced to make the prisoners betray others who shared their discontent. This can be seen when Marji’s father asks about Ahmadi and Siamk, the newly freed prisoner, tells them, “… Ahmadi was assassinated. As a member of the guerrillas, he suffered hell” (54). In making this comment, Ahmadi shows the intensity with which fierce opponents were persecuted. Additionally, the never ending arrests and deaths of these political opponents show the

Many second generation minorities from immigrant parents are driven subconsciously to conform to new culture and social norms. For foreign born parents and native born children integrating the two cultures they inhabit brings about different obstacles and experiences. In Jhumpa’s “The Namesake” the protagonist Gogol is a native born American with foreign born parents. The difference with birth location plays an important role in assimilating to a new society in a new geography. The difficulty for parents is the fact that they’ve spent a decent amount of time accustomed to a new geography, language, culture and society which makes it difficult to feel comfortable when all of that changes. For Gogol the difficulty only lies with the cultural norms imposed by his parent’s and the culture and social norms that are constantly presented in the new society.

Throughout generations, fathers have played an important role in their children’s life; specifically their son’s. A son may learn many life lessons from their father figures, such as morals and how to confront difficult situations. In the novel, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, the main character Amir, does not seem to inherit the same morals and common sense as his father, Baba. Both Baba and Amir have sinned a plethora of times, but their individual sins and how they dealt with the guilt, differs greatly. This perspective proves that although a father and son may share the same DNA, they do not always think or react in the same manner.

Higher expectations by first-generation immigrant parents also involve as intergenerational conflict in forming the American identity. In the article “Intergenerational

First, Amir’s relationship with his father, Baba, helped create Amir’s identity. Their intricate relationship often left Amir feeling worthless as if he could not live up to the standards of a Pashtun. This negatively impacted Amir growing up; his values constantly changed as he tried to form a close bond with his father. Baba raised Amir to believe that everyone in Afghanistan had a certain role to play in life, but they should all be treated with respect. Baba’s values made Amir think he had disappointed his father. The high expectations that Baba had for Amir showed that he cared about their reputation. Being the child Amir was, he translated Baba’s hardness as though his father were unhappy to have a child such as Amir. Amir recounts the emotion displayed on his father’s face after an afternoon together; he laments, “Mostly I will never forget Baba’s valiant efforts to conceal the disgusted

Hassan’s inferior character is presented by the way he serves Amir, ‘While I ate and complained about homework, Hassan made my bed’, which implies that no matter how close they may be, Hassan remains the servant which he accepts and is content with, ‘I’d hear him singing to himself in the foyer as he ironed’. Also, Hassan addresses Amir as ‘Amir agha’ which highlights his respect to Amir. However, despite their divisions, when they are alone together they consider themselves equal, ‘”Amir and Hassan, the sultans of Kabul”’, creating irony as they are both aspiring the same hopes and dreams but we know that it is unattainable.

To impress one’s parents in any culture much less the Afghan culture may be one of the biggest most proud moments of child’s life. Such is true when the boys win the kite running competition. Amir wants nothing more than to impress his father and keep the family name alive and strong. He feels as if this was a way to redeem himself to his father. The importance of family in this situation stands out and demonstrates how much the Afghan culture bases itself on family. It is obvious that Amir believes that nothing is more important than his family. This value of family being first, which he learned at a very young age, and making them the most important figures in one’s life carries with Amir throughout his whole life. He never forgets where his roots are and why they are there. Family was of importance to Amir at a young age and he carried that mentality with him throughout his entire life. The mentality that family comes first does not only apply to

As a further means of separating the population into distinct groups, religion acts as a divisionary force between characters and cultures. There are two primary conflicting cultures represented in the novel that are the cause of religious differences: Sunnis versus Shi’ites and secularism versus religious fundamentalism. Similar to the discrimination based on ethnicity, the conflict based on religion is primarily exemplified through Assef and Hassan, who are Sunni and Shi’ite, respectively. As such, any justification for inclusion and exclusion of people not based solely on ethnicity could just be rationalized through differences of religion. With this prevalent culture present, the importance is in the author’s depiction of the “bleak hypocrisies of the Taliban period--the disgusting cruelties performed in the name of righteousness” as stated by David Denby in “Hard Life.” Through the