The text I have read, “And the Mountains Echoed”, is written by Khaled Hosseini. This text spans several generations, crossing different continents, from Afghanistan to the West. The foundation of the text is the relationship between two siblings, Abdullah and Pari. The text explores the ramifications of their father’s desperate decision to sell Pari to the rich Wahdati family. It follows a non-linear, fragmented narrative, and is told from the different perspectives of the many different characters in the novel.
Reading this text, I felt uncomfortable. This is due to the chararacters’ moral complexity, which challenged my beliefs about the nature of human morals. The author chose to write about characters which are all morally complex with varying degrees of moral ambiguity. It seems to me that all his characters find themselves morally compromised at one point. For example, Saboor, Abdullah’s and Pari’s father, is a complex character who I could not stop thinking of. Saboor sold his only daughter, Pari, to the rich Wahdati family to get some extra money. My first thought, naturally, was that Saboor’s action is rather cruel and cowardly. I could not imagine why a father would sell his only daughter for some extra cash. However, as the story unfolds, I begin to realize the actual sacrifice Saboor has made – He has given up his only daughter so that she can break free from poverty and lead a better life. His sacrifice allowed his whole family to survive. As Saboor has told his son, Abdullah, “A finger had to be cut, to save the hand”. This quote significantly helped me to sympathise and feel pity for Saboor. It made me understand the guilt he has taken upon himself by sacrificing his child. I believe that Saboor has had to make a ...
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...re we are mature enough to appreciate the fact that the characters are not just black and white. Thus, Khaled Hosseini’s “And the Mountains Echoed” is a suitable text for our age, as it challenges readers to appreciate the complexity of human morals. As I read the text, I was able to engage with this particular challenge, even though I was not in my comfort zone. By the end of the text, I can better appreciate how the complexity of human morals cannot be understood. People are all morally complicated. We all have intricate layers and twists within us, as well as underlying motives and intentions we mask under our deeds. No one in the world is as noble, or as cruel as they are made out to be; everyone in our society is a mixture of both positive and negative tendencies. These are the lessons that the text have taught me, and will continue to teach all its readers.
...are confronted with the question of moral absolutes, we are forced to wonder when and to whom justice truly applies. Hopefully, we will look at our world and our ideas of right, wrong and retribution in different ways, ways that will enlighten and enrich our lives, and the those of the an audience of readers 2,000 years from now.
“I had one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be. I could step into that alley, stand up for Hassan – the way he'd stood up for me all those times in the past – and accept whatever would happen to me. Or I could run. In the end, I ran.” In Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, Amir, the young protagonist, lives a lavish lifestyle with his father, Baba. Until the Soviets invade and the Taliban become the dominant influence in Afghanistan. Amir’s sumptuous lifestyle comes to an end, and the values of not only his father but also his society begin to impact him and he realizes how much he does not belong in his own culture. Amir is taught the virtues of being a good man, however when the opportunity presents itself to demonstrate his teachings; Amir realizes how different he is from the ways of his father.
In the novels Counselor Ayres’ Memorial by Machado de Assis and The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata, there are common themes and motifs that are present in both books. There is a strong element of love (both romantic and familial) and of separation. These themes have significant effects on the characters and the plot. Both novels also present a similar message about life and the world. Although the novels have similar themes, they are expressed differently in each.
In his article, Philippon begins by discussing the importance that the landscape plays in "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains." First, he quotes William Carlos Williams as saying that Poe was "intimately shaped by his locality and time," although he tends to focus on the "soul" of his surroundings, rather than the physical aspects. Philippon then goes on to say that he believes that Poe does, in fact, use the physical landscape in this particular story in order to highlight the differences between the make-believe environment of the Indian landscape of the story and that of the Ragged Mountains. The author says that this is "crucial to a complete understanding of the story."
These characters, however different they lie on the morality scale, all share the sinful trait of greed. They all ask, and take too much, ruining what the good that they had in their lives. Understanding their mistakes offers its useful readers a lesson, not to demand too much of the things we are offered. The characters struggle with their desires, each of them succombing to their passions.
Distinctive voices offer many different types of perspectives of the world. This is expressed through the texts “Lady feeding the cats” and “Wombat" written by Douglas Stewart and“Shawshank redemption” also written by Frank Darabont. These notions are applied through exploration of humanity and connections between humanity and the nature. The unique interaction of the world offers us a better understanding of these perceptions.
Sarty spent his entire life hiding behind the unspoken rule that blood is thicker than water. But, in the face of having to decide whether he should continue to overlook Abner’s amoral behavior, he chooses not to. Even though he tries to understand Abner’s reasoning, in his heart he cannot condone it. In a situation where Sarty-the child would be frightened to stand up against his father, Sarty-the man is not. It is unfortunate that he had to lose a father in order to regain his sense of morality, but in light of the situation he was in, it can be agreed, that he is better off.
I believe there are two kinds of people in life; the kind that let things happen and the kind that make things happen. I prefer to think of myself as a person who writes her destiny not awaits it. So I ask myself, is it such a crime to want the best for you and your better half? Was it such a terrible deed, to lust after power and status like a young girl after a dashing beau. The victory, our status, my position, my power has fast become a reality, a reality which was being threatened by the growing suspicion of Banquo. It had to be done, his cut throat, seemed the only way, his murder the saviour of my triumph. But now see the error in my ways, the corruption in my thought. The guilt of one man’s blood was almost unbearable, the guilt of another is inescapable, growing, it is becoming vicious like a savage dog locked up waiting to be released. I am forced to bear it, alone I must I endu...
What would literature be had every author used the same perspective for every single story? Literature would not be as well received as it currently is received. Take three American short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants,” “A Rose for Emily,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” for example. These stories, by Hemingway, Faulkner, and Gilman respectively, each utilize a different a point of view. The perspective of a story heavily influences the impact of the story on a reader and that impact varies based on the content of the story.
Morality is an abstract concept that continues to confuse people worldwide, a concept that is accompanied by the image of a compass. However, people believe that morality is a generalized system, but then how are morals symbolized by a compass if most compasses are different? The answer is obvious in M. L. Stedman 's The Light Between Oceans where the author communicates that morality is not defined in black and white terms, but is rather a blurred shade of grey. Stedman gives readers this answer through the actions and reactions of Tom and Isabel, Hannah, and Lucy on the decision made to keep Lucy on Janus Rock. The decision that rocks an entire town is made by Tom and Isabel.
It has often been said that what we value is determined only by what we sacrifice. The novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini, includes one specific character who makes a sacrifice that demonstrates what she truly values in life. Mariam, a major character in the book, sacrifices her life in order to save Laila and her children. This sacrifice allows the reader to view what Mariam truly cares about: the survival of Laila, her happiness, and her children. Mariam’s sacrifice highlights her willingness to do whatever it takes to save the ones she loves, allowing for a deeper understanding of Mariam and how sacrifice is a major theme in the novel.
A mind provoking essay that embodies the fear and concerns of this new entertainment era, author Salman Rushdie highlights the defects within our society, the vain and egotistical side, using personal anecdotes, logos, and pathos to further illustrate his point.
Often times, literature has enough power for the reader to generate their own reality through the writer’s beliefs although most of the times the reality generated by the readers are not correct. In a TED talk called “the Danger of a Single Story,” Chimannda Adichie discussed about how literature affected her views on people, and then through life experience she had figured out that the reality she was creating was all false. She had grown up in Nigeria where at young age she was able to come across western literature. She was an inspired writer, and had realized all her inspirations came from British and American literature because most of her pieces were based of British and American literature such as having her characters...
Because of international development in the top, the social space in the mountain disadvantages individuals at the bottom. The World Bank Development Report for 2009, social space is conceptualized as the mountain, which represents individuals networked within space. The people within the social space contribute to the system by providing human capital to sustain the mountain, which represents the center of the network. However, the poor individuals networked in the social space are ostracized, underpaid, and overworked. The lives of the colonized individuals networked in the social space are equally importance as the colonizers. Understanding who controls the social space in the mountain is significant to recognize barriers and boundaries for
In this essay I am going to consider Spivak’s theory and perspectives of the subaltern in terms of Kazuo Ishiguro’s two novels A Pale View of Hills and Never Let Me Go. I will be considering Spivak’s theories of “post-colonialism”, “essentialism” as well as revising her essay on “Can the Subaltern Speak?” I will be focusing on defining the subaltern characters and their role in Ishiguro’s novel and how they deal with their status as subaltern or whether they are even aware of this constraint that they are faced with. As well as considering the narrative power that Ishiguro has given them in his novels simply by giving them a “voice”. A further aspect to be considered in this essay is the role of memory and trauma in the creation of the subalterns