Stereotypes In Exit West

The novel revolves around two women, Mariam and Laila. The novel takes place during a terrible time to live in Afghanistan, but things were especially hard for women. Their lives brought together and are forced to live through unimaginable situations. At first, they didn’t get along, but then a beautiful friendship began. Their friendship would eventually be their salvation. They both experienced incredible character development. Mariam and Laila’s childhoods were very different, which is explains their characteristics in the novel. Laila’s modern upbringing gave her courage, which inspired Mariam to take action in both of their lives.

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,

Stereotype; a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. In the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, and in the short story, “Geeks Bearing Gifts”, written by Ron Koertge, stereotypes are defied by ordinary people. In The Outsiders, Johnny Cade and Darry Curtis face many struggles throughout their lives. Their town in separated into two: the rich and dangerous Socs, and the quiet, tough Greasers. For them, living dangerously is a reality. As a result of their lifestyle, Johnny has become fearful and Darry is considered the toughest man in the gang. In “Geeks Bearing Gifts” aspiring journalist, Renee, interviews her fellow classmates who are classified as “outcasts.” After meeting several students, she realizes her assumptions were incorrect about them. After reading both of these stories, the reader learns that our thoughts about others often revolve around stereotypes and assumptions, but most of these ideas that we have about other people are proven wrong.

Through exploring transitions, one may face challenging and conflicting barriers that prevent an escape to the new world of beliefs and attitudes. However, these obstacles may be overcome to result in growth and change. The drama text “Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah, soft revolution,” by Alana Valentine and “Shrinking women” by Lily Myers focuses on the detailed harsh nature of obstacles when complying with a shift to the new world. In “Shafana and Aunt Sarrinah, soft revolution,” Shafana a young Afghanistan- Australian Muslim migrant ventures onto a spiritually journey during which she particularly explores the difficulty of decision making and the homogonous of humanity. Shrinking Women exposes the obstacle of the pressure on women to maintain a slim body image while complying with their mother’s traditions.

Do soceital expectations and living conditions affect how people view someone? Ponyboy Curtis, Cherry, and Johnny are all people who are affected by soceital expectations because people expect them to conform to what they think of similar people, since they do have similar living conditions. Ponyboy and Johnny are part of a social group called the Greasers, who are the poor people in the town, and since many others think of poor people as people who steal, are thugs, and are parts of gangs, as Dally does, Ponyboy and Johnny are not. The Socs are the rich kids of the town, and most people expect them to be snobs who do not care about anything, but Cherry is not. Ponyboy, Johnny, and Cherry are Outsiders

Growing up and living in Afghanistan as a woman has its challenges. Parents choose who can marry you and they choose everything for you. In this book, Laila and Mariam both show the struggles it is to be a girl, and how much disrespect they get in Afghanistan. Both Mariam and Laila are married to the same man, and he is abusive to both of them. They also live under Taliban rule, and the rules that they set are very unfair for women. In Khaled Hosseni’s novel, he has many different themes but the most prevalent one is of woman inequality, and that is shown through multiple accounts of abuse, disrespect, and unfairness.

Home is a complex term that can be thought of in many different ways. Hamid breaks down the definition of home and broadens it significantly in his novel, Exit West. Throughout the beginning of the last chapter of Hamid’s Exit West, the third person narrative voice makes it clear that Nadia no longer has a connection to her birthplace. A certain distance is present as she walks through the town; a town that is “familiar but also unfamiliar,” and has lost many of its recognizable characteristics to war and fire (Hamid 229). This theme of the last chapter connects to the overall lack of place in the novel. Hamid refuses to name the place of Nadia and Saeed’s birth and he rejects the notion of home for the whole of the novel. The

The affects of the jock stereotype and and how a young life and mind can be impacted by this stereotype, also what we can do to fix this. Zac Easter seemed like he had his life plan out. To everyone else he was popular, he had a loving girlfriend, good friends and a nice family so that’s why his suicide shocked the small town in Iowa. CTE is neurodegenerative disease found in people with multiple head injuries. Most commonly found in NFL or Football players.

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.

The description Mahfouz gives of Hamida makes her out to be the most beautiful girl in the alley. Immediately, her beauty captures the reader’s attention, and causes her to stand out in the novel. In fact, her beauty created chaos among the men in the alley, and is conveyed in the line “she was constantly beset by a desire to fight and conquer…this she showed in her pleasure in attracting men” [Mahfouz, 39]. In the third chapter of the novel, Hamida was described as a beautiful, shapely, dark-eyed girl in her twenties, who longs for fine clothes and a rich husband. Hamida is described as having long, black hair that is near her knees. Her beauty not

Even Ahmed becomes compliant as she finds her path to womanhood, further emphasizing that a person’s characteristics can be conformed. She says “…if I had been simply an ordinary girl. I believe I would not have been able to live and accept what my sisters and the other girls in this country have to endure. I don’t believe I am better than they, but I sense within me such determination, such rebellious strength, that I would probably have upset everything” (119). However, her actions speak differently from her words. As a developing woman, Ahmed, renamed Zahra, shows signs of meekness and submission, in contrast to her previous ruthlessness, to the circus owner and her son. “Zahra had given up the use of speech. She wept, and the tears flowed down her face…” (110). Zahra, once domineering, is now compliant. Ahmed alters her personality because she, as well as the Islamic society, associates womanhood with obedience.

Hamida is the character that represents the people who yearn for a change. Often, she feels as though she is worth more than just living in the old alley – and she calls it a “Nothing Alley”(27) and asking herself “Oh what a shame Hamida, what are you doing living in this alley? (27)”. During World War II, many people in Midaq Alley go to work for the soldiers in the hope of earning more money and living in a more comfortable life. Hamida is one of those people who sacrifice themselves and everything that they have in an exchange for the wealthy life they always have dreamed of. Hamida is not a religious person and has a different perspective from the people in the alley because she sees a better life in the modern world. In the end, she decides to become a prostitute for pretty clothes and jewelries. She does not regret choosing this life as she is able to have an opportunity that gives her “desire for life and adventure (186)”.

The characters portrayed by Leila Aboulela to a great degree vary vastly in their levels of religiosity. This novel showcases a wide spectrum of Muslim identities. Most of the devout believers follow Islam, as they are constantly expressing their faith, thru means of prayer, recitation or other adorations. These religious members are accepting of veil culture, because they have more to value than materialistic objects and western culture. For instance, the young school girls that wore tobes, while Najwa skirts to university. Also, the servants she had back home, as she would be coming home from a party at dawn, they would be make their absolution, “A light bulb came on. They were getting ready to pray. They had dragged themselves from sleep in order to pray. I was wide awake and I didn’t,” this quote from the novel, illustrates a young Najwa understanding the basis of Islam and the importance of prayer (Aboulela, 32) However, this is an evident class divide, illustrating that those with wealth are more secular and those with less are humbled towards their faith. In her time in London, Najwa befriends woman at the local mosque and develops an interest her recitation. Her realization and locality to religiousness triggers her spirituality.

This is a significant aspect of the course because the article examines the strengths and weaknesses of femininity through a cultural Muslim perspective and the reading is a prime example of how ideologies regarding race affect those involved. In class we have discussed the significances of social constructs and how assumptions are made on the basis of physical characteristics. In this situation, identity is related to gender as Muslim women are categorized as both good/respectful and rebellious/evil individuals because they are apart of a culture where they are both oppressed and liberated simultaneously.

Self identity is very important in the story one of the reasons is because Ahmed was born a female but raised and treated as male. For example “The child you shall bring into the world will be male, it will be a man, it will be named Ahmed-even if it is a girl”(jelloun13) this demonstrates how girls are unappreciated and how they are tread and seem by their culture. They believe that men are better than women, throughout the story ahmed experiences both sides of each gender and gets treated better when he was a man than a woman. “Father I’d like to get married”(Jelloun 34) Ahmed stated, meaning since he was raised as a man he wanted to what another man would do is would get a wife and start a family