Setting The novel is centered around the city of Kabul during the late 1900’s to the early 2000’s. During this period, the city was in a time of conflict. There were forces trying to seize control over Afghanistan. There were various social and economical classes throughout the cities. For example, Jalil Khan lives in a high class area where as, Rasheed lives in a low-to-middle class area. Prior to the Soviets control, there were multiple benefits for women in education and obtaining jobs. When the Taliban later got control, there were many laws made governing daily life. Many, if not most people risked punishment and would for example, use televisions to watch the new movie, Titanic. Living in Kabul was extremely dangerous with rockets flying wild and armed men patrolling the neighborhoods. In 2001 on September 11th, people in Kabul and all of Afghanistan, were informed on the news of the Taliban’s attack on the United States. Also they learn that the U.S. has declared war on Afghanistan. During this time period, the people of Afghanistan learned to endure and never lose hope. II. Characters Jalil Khan- “May you find the happiness, peace, and acceptance that I did not give you” (Hosseini 360). Jalil Khan directed these words towards Mariam as she was one of his many children. Jalil sent Mariam and her mother away as they were an embarrassment for him, although he would visit once a week. Mariam’s mother would always lecture Mariam on how Jalil isn’t as great as he
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
Completely by different circumstances are the members of the middle generation shaped – Amir, Hassan and Assef. Their childhood covers the transitional part of Afghanistan’s 20-th century history. Of course, the boys are really different in nature, but Soviet occupation is what caused such different roads to be chosen by the three characters. And that huge change in their lives determined who they are going to grow into as adults.
The Taliban’s are Student’s of Islamic Knowledge Movement who ruled Afghanistan from 1996-2001; they came to power after a long Civil war with the Soviet forces. They held 90% of the country and followed a policy that included the treatment of women and terrorist activities. Their power came to end after September 11, 2001 (opendemocray). The movie allows us to experience another culture; women had no rights to work or leave their home alone. At the very beginning of the movie hundreds of woman, protest their freedom, for their rights to work. It was interesting to see women willing to sacrifice their lives in order to have equality; they were fearless, despite knowing the consequence of death or imprisonment.
“I do not wish for women to have power over men, but over themselves” Mary Wollstonecraft. In the vast majority of places around the world, men have the upper hand over women, whether it is in the household, workplace, or government. Even in America, the land of the free, women are still discriminated against to a slight extent. A man and woman could have the exact same job, but the man would bring home a greater salary than the woman. In spite of the fact that this is unfair, at least women in America are permitted to work. Khaled Hosseini brings awareness to the women of Afghanistan who are victims of the inhumane and unjust laws of the Taliban. In his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini uses agonizing scenes and imagery to analyze the ways Afghan women continue to subsist in an oppressive and discriminatory society from the 1950s to today.
In the novel The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini purposely utilizes setting to play a pivotal role in the portrayal of an important focus when narrating a post 9/11 Afghan and American novel. The author’s deliberate incorporation of Afghan and American settings over a 3-decade time frame successfully illustrates the differences and similarities between Eastern culture and Western culture, as well as highlighting the harm each culture cultivates. The emphasis placed upon the discrimination of Hazaras by the Pashtuns not only informs the readers of the socio-economic relations in Afghanistan but also addresses a parallelism of harm towards Afghanis from Americans. Hosseini breaks down post 9/11 stereotypes by showing that a person's socio-economic class or ethnic group does not determine their ability to form friendships, feel guilt and seek redemption. Khaled Hosseini rehumanizes a culture which has been demonized by the generalizations of many individual Americans and many Hollywood films. He does this by developing universal themes which demonstrate that Afghans and Americans
11. Discuss how the ever-changing politics of Afghanistan affect each of the characters in the novel.
In Khadra’s Swallows of Kabul, the reader is thrown into a war torn nation as the the Taliban’s reign on Kabul deeply affects the main characters. Arguably, the new laws administered by the Taliban affect the women considerably more than the men. Two of the main female characters, Zunaira and Mussarat, are both married women whose lives changed drastically after the Taliban come into power. One might argue that the Taliban not only changed their lives but, also the way they thought and the actions they chose to take. The new atmosphere around the women effected them both in different and in similar ways.
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.
The Swallows of Kabul, by Yasmina Khadra, is a brilliantly written book about the horrors the Taliban brought within Afghanistan. It revolves around four central characters: Atiq, Musarrat, Mohsen, and Zunaira. Atiq is a jailer and Musarrat is his dying wife, who once saved his life. Mohsen was a wealthy educated middle-class and Zunaira was his beautiful lawyer wife. Because of the Taliban, both Mohsen and Zunaira lost their jobs. In this book, Khadra used diction and metaphors to help set the mood for sympathy. She used syntax to make the reader anticipated for the next chapter. Archetypes also make the book seem depressing and hopeless.
Nadia Hashimi spins a tale about the patriarchal oppression in the Afghan culture in The Pearl That Broke Its Shell. In this book, she presents two heroines, living in different times but not so different worlds. Hashimi describes their journey of finding their own identities as well as fighting the cultural norm. Their journey is all about the necessity to adapt to survive and the importance of standing up for what is right, no matter the cost.
Afghanistan is taken over by the Taliban and as the Afghani culture deteriorates, Amir reminisces about his childhood progressively more. The guilt tortures him throughout the novel, but news of his true relationship with Hassan take his guilt to an entirely new level. “‘You see, my father slept with his servant’s wife. She bore him a son named Hassan’” (Hosseini 380).
Around 1996 was a rough couple of years for the Afghans. The Taliban were invading and bombing Afghanistan. They were even beating people for not properly covering their hair in public. So only men were allowed outside. The author believed that everyone in the family had to work together to survive even if it means breaking the rules.
This essay will discuss the central themes of the book The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini. Because the story is told at a time before the War on Terror, it brings the reader back to an Afghanistan the average American never knew existed and presents the current socio-economic reality of a United States one may choose to ignore. The description of Afghanistan before its many "occupations" is a tragedy in itself. The Author portrays a country on the cusp of greatness, which of course makes the inevitable future occupations all the more tragic. When Amir returns to Afghanistan after nearly twenty years, his shock is palpable. He has come back to an entirely different country, and only fragments
Part 2 introduces Laila. She lives down the street from Rasheed and Mariam. She grows up with a close friend named Tariq, he lost one of his legs from a land mine. As Tariq and Laila grow up, she falls in love with him. After the death of Laila’s brother Her mother, Fariba is never the same. She stays burried in her bed. As conflict turns to war in Kabul, living conditions become terrible for everyone. She is tutored at home because the streets have became to dangerous. War comes to Afghanistan, and Kabul is bombarded by rocket attacks. Tariq's family decides to leave the city, and the emotional farewell between Laila and Tariq culminates with them making love. A few weeks after Tariq's family leaves, Laila is almost hit by a bullet. This event
(BS-1) In this book it shows how how the Taliban takes away the future in young girls and women who live there.