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Reflections on a Year of Reading Afghanistan Literature

Word Count: 645 Books: Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahami, The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahami, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Born Under A Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield General Reflections: People commonly believe that in Afghanistan, there is only war. We forget that there are families who are constantly living in danger and are wary about what they say. Women are usually treated as objects, and have no say on sharing their feelings. Afghanistan seems to have such a dangerous environment for anyone, but people shouldn’t mix up the bad and good Afghans. Afghanistan has good people here, along with some bad people. The good people shouldn’t be getting killed because they are stuck with the bad. I believe people do not realize that there is good in every bad, but Afghanistan should have a better reputation and receive help to save the good Afghans. Literature of Afghanistan shows how many children die to the dropping of bombs from their own people, how the Taliban have every Afghan scared, and that innocent lives are being lost everyday due to their own people. Children are living through traumatic events, along with woman who are controlled. Afghanistan’s environment is ruining the country. The Kite Runner: In the Kite Runner, I learned that many people are innocent, but live a hard life. For example, when the kid got raped, he was innocent but was surrounded by bad people. Amir is a good example of transformation, he got through the bad, to become one of the good. He lived through a war and showed the struggle over violence. A Thousand Splendid Suns: This novel helped me learn about the woman of Afghanistan. The woman of Afghanistan are treated poorly. They are put last in any situation, besides when a man wants to get pleased. Reading this novel, you can feel the woman’s pain on how they are treated, how they have to marry people they don’t want to, and how all they have is each other. Earth and Ashes: This short novel provides us with how innocent people are dying and must tell the other family members. In this novel, I learned that the Taliban and war changes everyone. His son did not care about seeing his father or son for the devastating information and he was too busy in the coal mine to come by and speak to him. The people who run his area were insensitive as well and said to just forget about him and move on. I learned that death is becoming normal in Afghanistan. The Patience Stone: This novel provides proof that woman have nothing without a man in their life. This woman laid by her husband’s body constantly, just so he can wake up with her there. She got disrespected and treated badly by other men, which caused her to be depressed. She just needed her husband and wasted her time waiting for his eyes to open one last time. I learned that woman will never be equal to the men in Afghanistan. Born Under a Million Shadows: This book taught me that Afghanistan is full of warm, kind hearted people, unless the taliban are around. The narrator of this novel enjoyed Afghanistan, but could only spend a small amount of time there before going crazy. She knew that the lifestyle was nothing compared to America, nothing was modernized here in Afghanistan. I learned that Afghanistan is not just about the war and bad people, but are full of great people. From reading, I wouldn’t even hesitate to donate to families in Afghanistan who are struggling and need help. I hope that people help take care of these bad situations and that one day the country will change. People will be nice, wars will come to the end, and will gain an idea of safety.

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Week 20 Blog

Born Under a Million Shadows Andrea Busfield Pages 70-115 Word Count: 373 Summary: Fawad hopes for a better life, and his dream is to have a nice house one day once his mom found a position as a housekeeper. The story is told in Fawad’s voice and enjoyed seeing how strange he found westerners ways. Fawad is at a very curious age. He is not a little boy anymore, and he is not a man either. His feelings of how the westerners dress made him laugh and he was concerned for their souls. The streets are still dangerous with car bombings and shootings and young children like Fawad have seen a lifetime of violence. Fawad now lives with his mother alone. She quit her comfortable job and home to start a new life in Afghanistan. Throughout the travels, people do stare because they are a curiosity to them, but as soon as you smile at them, they give you a big smile back, but the would often guards say, 'There's Taliban, be careful.” Critical Analysis: In the 1st quote, the author uses a simile in the quote to compare the men’s weakness to a woman. This shows that the men had qualities that were weak “like a woman’s“. In the 3rd quote, if I were directing the actress who is playing the narrator here, I would instruct her to say this line in a embarrassed tone. That way, the audience would know that the narrator is extremely embarrassed for her actions. Personal Response: I hope Fawad can fight through his life and have a successful life. He is so optimistic, unlike others who suffer, and he has hope that he will be like the woman his mother cleans for. I think later in the novel Fawad will find his way throughout time and will be happy about his new life. He is now realizing how odd people are in the western areas. He is mesmerized by their styles, which amuses me because he is so surprised. I really enjoy how the author approached this book in a new humorous way than the kite runner did. I believe her humor takes away from all the horrors in Afghanistan and often lights up the mood overall.

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“...and the knowledge of it made my cheeks burn with added shame because now everyone must know what I’d done, even my friends living half a world away in Jalalabad.”

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p. 113

#tone

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“May had told me to be strong, so after my first tears at seeing her alive I didn’t cry again.”

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p.95

#charactertrait #strong

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“Men will shoot someone in the head without a second thought, families will sell their daughters into marriage for a bucket of sand, and everyone will shit on the dead body of their enemy given half the chance; but at the sound of a well-written verse an Afghan man will become as weak as a woman.”

—Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p. 81

#tone #figurativelanguage

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Week 19 Blog

Born Under a Million Shadows Andrea Busfield Pages 30-70 Word Count: 220 Summary: Fawad hopes for a better life, and his dream is to have a nice house one day once his mom found a position as a housekeeper. The story is told in Fawad’s voice and enjoyed seeing how strange he found westerners ways. Fawad is at a very curious age. He is not a little boy anymore, and he is not a man either. His feelings of how the westerners dress made him laugh and he was concerned for their souls. The streets are still dangerous with car bombings and shootings and young children like Fawad have seen a lifetime of violence. Fawad now lives with his mother alone. Personal Response: This is my nonfiction novel and, so far, it is pretty good. I hope Fawad can fight through his life and have a successful life. He is so optimistic, unlike others who suffer, and he has hope that he will be like the woman his mother cleans for. I think later in the novel Fawad will find his way throughout time and will be happy about his new life. He is now realizing how odd people are in the western areas. He is mesmerized by their styles, which amuses me because he is so surprised by them.

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“It was probably a warning to him, but if that’s what they intended they fucked up badly because he fought like a madman after that.”

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p. 69

#figurativelanguage

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“Maybe some woman might be attracted to money, gold, and power, but many more will find a good character and personality—and a nice smell—far more important qualities to have in the men they choose to marry.”

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p. 42

#tone

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Week 18 Blog

Born Under a Million Shadows Andrea Busfield Pages 1-30 Word Count: 302 Summary: This novel starts off about a Afghan boy living through a devastating life. The Taliban have evacuated from Kabul's streets, but the presence of their regime remain. The eleven-year-old boy named Fawad has constantly been through grief. His father and brother have been killed, his sister has been kidnapped , and Fawad and his mother, Mariya, must rely on others for help. Fawad hopes for a better life, and his dream is to have a nice house one day once his mom found a position as a housekeeper. Fawad gets worried, until he comes to learn that love can move a man to become good. Fawad thought he had nothing to lose until the one thing he thought he could never lose might get ruined which is the love for his country. Critical Analysis: In the 1st quote, the author uses a simile in the quote to compare the men’s bowels to a slaughtered goat’s. This shows that the men were messy when it came to using the toilet. In the 2nd quote, if I were directing the actress who is playing the narrator here, I would instruct her to say this line in a nonchalant tone. That way, the audience would know that the narrator knows how dangerous Afghanistan is. Personal Response: This is my nonfiction novel and, so far, it is pretty good. I hope Fawad can fight through his life and have a successful life. He is so optimistic, unlike others who suffer, and he has hope that he will be like the woman his mother cleans for. I think later in the novel Fawad will find his way throughout time and will be happy about his new life.

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“However, I was glad they were Pashtun, like me. If they had been Hazaras, they would have cut off her breasts by now.”

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p.21

#tone

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The toilet was also a constant torment to my mother, smattered as it usually was by the missed aims of four careless boys and a man’s whose bowels were as loose as a slaughtered goat’s.

— Andrea Busfield, Born Under a Million Shadows, p. 14

#figurativelanguage

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Laila yanks her children back onto the sidewalk, heart somersaulting in her throat. The Land Cruiser speeds down the street, honks twice, and makes a sharp left.

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, p.363

#foreshadowing

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A woman who will be like a rock in a riverbed, enduring without complaint, her grace not sullied but shaped by the turbulence that washes over her.”

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, p. 355

#figurativelanguage

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Week 17 Blog

A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini Pages 290-350 Word Count: 510 Summary: Mariam realizes that the familiar doorman at the Hotel, was the same man who had told them Tariq was dead. Also, Rasheed paid his friend to lie to Laila so he could have the girl for himself. Laila and Tariq sit in the living room and talk. Tariq tells her what happened since they parted. He and his family stayed in a refugee camp near the border called Nasir Bagh. The camp was depressing and many children died of disease and hunger. Tariq’s father died, and his mother almost died of pneumonia. He needed money to help his mother, so Tariq found a job smuggling drugs. He was caught and put into prison for seven years. Later, he learned his mother had died while he was in prison. He tells Laila that he wishes he’d taken her with him and got they married. Rasheed beats Laila with a belt after finding out his kid is actually Tariq’s. Mariam runs at Rasheed to stop the beating, but he turns to her. Laila then smashes a drinking glass against Rasheed’s face, and he begins to choke her. Mariam runs to the shed and grabs a shovel and hits him on the head as hard as she can. Laila realizes she is about to die. Then, suddenly, Mariam is shaking her and she is alive. Rasheed lies dead on the floor. The women wrap Rasheed in a sheet and drag him into the shed. They decide that they will flee the country with the children and Tariq. In the morning, Mariam has a plan. Laila must flee with the children and Tariq to Pakistan. Mariam will stay and take the blame for killing Rasheed. Mariam’s trial takes less than fifteen minutes. She was sentenced to death. Mariam spends ten days in prison. On the day of her execution, she will be beheaded. Mariam is upset that she will not see Laila again. At the executioner’s command, she kneels and looks down. Critical Analysis: In the 3rd quote, I believe that based on the fact that something the narrator mentions, ‘wicked thing’, here will most likely reveal the evil action that Hamshira has performed. In the 2nd quote, if I were directing the actress who is playing Mariam here, I would instruct her to say this line in a sarcastic tone. That way, the audience would know that Mariam thinks any plan going against the Taliban is not a good idea. Personal Response: I feel so bad for woman during this part in the novel, they are so restricted. The taliban allows them to do nothing, besides staying inside the home. Laila is struggling when getting choked and I love have Mariam did everything to save her. Rasheed is inconsiderate and only cares for himself and deserved to die. Mariam is the realest friend to Laila. She did everything and admitted to the crime, just so Laila, her kids, and Tariq could be safe together in Pakistan. I respect Mariam a lot more.

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One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, p.347

#diction

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Something tells me you are not a wicked woman, hamshira. But you have done a wicked thing.

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, p.325

#foreshadowing

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They chop off hands for stealing bread,” Mariam said. “What do you think they’ll do when they find a dead husband and two missing wives?”

— Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, p. 318

#tone