America’s society today seems to believe that oppression and injustice aren’t as prevalent as they once were. America also believes that the state of the rest of the world is completely arbitrary. Some Middle Eastern societies still have unjust and corrupt governments. However, one girl spoke up. This girl was deprived of her right to an education by an extremist group called the Taliban. The Taliban would shoot and kill any women who went to school. Someone had to speak up, and that someone was Malala Yousafzai. Often compared to Antigone, Malala spoke out against this oppression, but unfortunately paid the consequences. Antigone is a story that relates to Malala’s situation including Antigone being victim to an unjust government. These two …show more content…
Antigone believed that burying her brother was the right thing to do, even if it meant death. It was also demanded by the Gods that one must be buried, and not doing so would be to go against them. She gained supporters, her biggest one being her fiancé, Haemon, who also was the son of Creon. She ended up killing herself for what she believed in. Haemon, realizing the suicide of his fiancé, drews his sword and jammed it through his ribs. “He collapsed against Antigone’s arms which were still warm, and hugged her. Then his blood came coughing, and covered all her white cheeks with scarlet. So now lies one corpse upon another.” Malala was a hero in the eyes of her people. She believed in women’s right to an education and wasn’t afraid to speak up. Inspired by her voice, the people managed to drive away the Taliban out of Pakistan, and the citizens were able to experience freedom once again. But her doing so got her shot. “Malala Yousafzai was sitting on a school bus with her classmates waiting to go home when two bearded gunmen appeared. ‘Who is Malala?’ one of the men demanded… The gunmen opened fire. One bullet pierced Malala’s head near her left eye.” She miraculously survived and became an inspiration to
The journey of Malala’s life has been fighting to get education for young girls of Pakistan. Malala wants to show everyone how valuable girls are and that they don’t need to be hidden away from the public, “My mother always told me,’hide your face, people are looking at you.’ I would reply, ‘it does not matter; I am also looking at them’” (Yousafzai 43). Malala will no longer stand for
First, Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani civil rights activist fighting for equal education in her country. Both Malala and her father, who ran a school close to their house, were threatened by the Taliban to stop allowing girls to go to the school and stop speaking outright about equal rights. However, Malala was already an advocate for girls education, writing on a BBC blog under a pseudonym, and neither her nor her father would back down. As a result, the Taliban attacked Malala’s bus one day as she was going to school, singling her out, the terrorists shot her three times and injured some of her friends. Although she
Malala is able to effectively utilize various rhetorical devices, but one of the various devices was imagery. Yousafzai expresses,“This is not the Stone Age,” I said. “But it feels like we are going backwards. Girls are becoming more deprived of our right” (Yousafzai,71). As a society, it is immensely important to be able to advance together for new better
Third, Antigone is a wonderful example of a martyr. Her legacy will live on, and inspire many other rebels to stand up for their beliefs. Antigone dared to defy the King’s threat of death to bury her brother, and shows true family pride. The people take pity on Antigone, and feel that she should be let alone. Haemon, Creon's son and Antigone's betrothed, states how the people of Thebes feel. “On every side I hear voices of pity for this poor girl doomed to the cruelest death…for an honorable action-burying a brother who was killed in battle…has she not rather earned a crown of gold” (
It is easy to place the blame on fate or God when one is encumbered by suffering. It is much harder to find meaning in that pain, and harvest it into motivation to move forward and grow from the grief. It is imperative for one to understand one’s suffering as a gateway to new wisdom and development; for without suffering, people cannot find true value in happiness nor can they find actual meaning to their lives. In both Antigone and The Holy Bible there are a plethora of instances that give light to the quintessential role suffering plays in defining life across cultures. The Holy Bible and Sophocles’ Antigone both mirror the dichotomous reality in which society is situated, underlining the necessity of both joy and suffering in the world.
Women in America do not have to worry about a terrorist group coming and taking their rights away. They have a government that protects them from these groups and makes sure they have the same rights as others. In the Middle East, especially Afghanistan and Pakistan, women are scared to speak too loudly. These women live in fear each day of their lives because if they make one small mistake it could mean their life. Yet, there are some people who are fighting for women’s rights, especially women’s education. Malala Yousafzai is a girl who fought for women’s education. At the age of eleven, Malala began writing a blog for BBC Urdu. The blog described how she was upset that women’s education under the Taliban would be forced to stop. Malala also appeared on national television talking about women’s education. She has become a symbol of resistance against the Taliban. Even after Malala was put on the Taliban’s hit list, she continues to speak out about what she felt needed to be said. Malala would give her life for this cause, and she almost did. On October 9, 2012, Malala was on her way home from her morning classes when a man walked on to her bus and asked, “Who is Malala”. When she said it was her he shot her. The bullets hit her head and her leg. The Taliban ordered for her to be shot because she was promoting western culture in Pashtun areas. In another case Mukhtar Mai stood up for women’s rights and was sexually assaulted by multiple men with orders from the tribal council. The tradition in Mukhtar’s tribe was that a woman who is sexually assaulted by multiple men should kill herself, but instead of committing suicide she fought for her cause (Samira 28-30). Although the Taliban restricts women’s education for religious reaso...
Around the time where Greece was known to be the greatest civilization on earth, many people used myths and stories as an extension of their belief because they were culturally significant and important. Ancient Greece was a male-dominated civilization that created laws which would benefit only those with power, which let to the suffering of those without power. The relationship of the sexes was very important, because it showed how men were more superior and woman were frowned upon because they were treated more like minorities. Aeschylus’ “Agamemnon” is about a Greek king who would do anything, including sacrificing his daughter, because he feels as a man and a king whatever decisions he makes are always just. Sophocles’ “Antigone” is about a girl who goes against the religious values of the society, and get persecuted because state laws restrict her
Being shot in the face and seriously injured, did not stop Malala Yousafzai from pursuing her dreams. She did not morally agree with her government’s treatment of women, so she fought for her beliefs. Malala grew up in a rural village in Pakistan and was forced to follow customs she did not believe in. Swat Valley changed to a strictly ruled village with discrimination towards women. Malala created awareness around the world of the situation and stood up for her rights to education. Through Malala Yousafzai’s painful experience with growing up in a dangerous part of Pakistan, she created awareness in hope to regain the rights to educational opportunities for women.
Malala had a huge impact on her community which was located in Swat Valley. She was the only women who was brave enough to stand up to the Taliban. Whenever a women would stand up to the Taliban they would kill them because they didn’t want the women to have a education. Since the women didn’t want to get targeted by the Taliban nobody stood up until Malala took action. According to the article “she began blogging for the British Broadcasting Company’s (BBC) Urdu site about what her life was like under the Taliban.” Since she wrote about how she had a dream of becoming a doctor one day, her fears of the terrorists, and her fierce determination to get the education, this warned everyone one and in May 2009 the Pakistani army launched a attack
Their stories move away from narratives of victimization, instead they were both able to take on violent, external forces with resiliency and bravery. These characteristics are typically associated with masculinity, however Maya Angelou and Malala have redefined masculinity and who can perform it. Despite the Taliban’s hold over Swat Valley, Malala remained strong and valiant in her pursuit for the right of girls to go to school. This was an atypical performance of femininity, which is normally seen as submissive and unassertive. Malala is a role model to those around her and has continued the fight for children to be given the right to education worldwide. She has the ability to act on and influence the world in which she lives, which is considered social agency (Mann,2012,282). Malala transgresses the boundaries of gendered expectations and refuses to conform to gender roles in
On Tuesday, 9 October 2012, everything in Malala’s life changed. The Taliban attempted to assassinate Malala because they believed that she was propagating against Islam and would speak out against them. Not to mention they were also against the fact that Malala is a huge activist for women’s rights and for their education. The prologue has a very brief description of the day where Malala and her friends were shot. Malala had doubts that the Taliban would attack a young girl like her and was more concerned for her father’s safety because he was always speaking out against them. She says, “If anyone attacked me it would be on those steps [of her school]. Like my father I was a daydreamer, and sometimes in lessons my mind would drift and I’d imagine that on the way home a terrorist might jump out and shoot me on those steps. I wondered what I would do. I’d take off my shoes and hit him, but then I’d think if I did that there would be no difference between me and a terrorist. It would be better to plead, ‘OK, shoot me, but first listen to me. What you are doing is wrong, I’m not against you personally, I
Writer, political activist, and feminist Malala Yousafzai once said, “One child, one teacher, one book, and one pen, can change the world.” Education is not a luxury, but rather a basis for survival; sadly, thirty-one million females ages five through eleven are not in a primary school and seventeen million of these females are expected to never enroll in school (Education). Malala Yousafzai fought, and is currently still fighting for education rights for women and children (Van). Malala Yousafzai defied a law which she determined unjust and was prepared to pay the ultimate price: her life. Due to Yousafzai’s personal beliefs, she choose to participate in civil disobedience by protesting the ban on education. Malala Yousafzai was successful in her actions through the use of peaceful protest. Yousafzai committed an act of civil disobedience in the eyes of the Taliban. Civil disobedience is defined as peace protest that violates a law intentionally (Suber).In addition to
“I am Malala” by Malala Yousafzai is a beautiful and hard breaking book at the same time. This book is an autobiography that describes the author childhood and her support on the right for girls to have an education. Through this autobiography, Malala describes the restrictions that are imposed on females in her country. There are many that believe that woman of Pakistan should not be educated in the other hands there are a few that oppose this idea. Malala’s support on education for girls almost cost her life, since she was shot by the Taliban. From a multicultural perspective Malala’s story touches on topics such; culture shock, discrimination within your own culture, oppression, religion, family and woman’s right. Despite the opposition
Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, your miraculous recovery has taken you on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, you have become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. You once said, “We realize the importance of our voices when we are silenced” (Yousafzai). This impacted be in multiple ways, it showed me that even the smallest voice is one of the biggest. Also, it only takes one voice to change everybody. For example, when you spoke in front of the United Nations and you told them your story, they were touched and wanted to make a change. It's not so easy speaking out while living in Pakistan, because they shot you. If it were anyone else in that scenario, I doubt that anyone would stand up for women's education in Pakistan and throughout the world. In order to take something for good is to take
Yousafzai is a young education activist who has been striving for equal education rights for women and girls in Pakistan (Malala Yousafzai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2014). Yousafzai came to the world attention as a blogger for BBC and by surviving an assassination attempt by a Taliban member in October 2012(Malala Yousafzai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 2014). Yousafzai struggles for equality are the type of struggles that come to minds of many when they think of the modern struggle for educational equality. She is a subject of an oppressive foreign government risking her life for what she believes in. Therefore, many feel that the struggle for educational equality is taking place in the far flung corners of the earth. When others think of the deistic struggle for equal education, they may think back to the 1950’s, 1960’s, or 1970’s. These decades are well known as the height of the American Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Liberation movement. While great strides were made in these decades, many would agree that the struggle for educational equality continue to this day. This statement is partially true when applied to the struggles of students with disabilities.