In many literary cases, male and female characters are portrayed differently. It is very common for women to be considered second-class citizens allowing them to be at the mercy of a man. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, women who experiences first hand the terrible circumstances and treatment of women in Afghanistan, while men have the privilege of living a life of luxury and freedom. In Survival in Auschwitz, men and women both experience the same Nazi wrath; however the positions in the concentration camps tend to vary between genders leaving the physical work to the men. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the memoir Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, it is evident that characters have differing roles in society due …show more content…
The Holocaust is a devastating event that affects “all Jews, without exception” and defies the normal gender separations (Levi 14). Men and women alike, along with children, file into the concentration camps together because “misfortune ha[s] struck [them] together” (Levi 19). Almost always, families are split up and men are forced to leave their wives and their children when “the night swallow[s] them up” and they begin their journey under Nazi rule, while “[their] women, parents, [and] children disappear” (Levi 20). The experience of the Holocaust differs between men and women due to their biological makeup, but the women are not spared in any way. Women are not able to endure such brutal conditions as well as the men can and are much more vulnerable, causing their bodies and their mental states to deteriorate faster. Upon entering the concentration camps, “mothers [do] not want to be separated from their children” because their role in society outside of the concentration camps is to care for their children; and, their maternal instincts cause the women to feel a harsh pain and a longing for their children and families (Levi 19). The Jewish people even start to think that the Nazis are treating the Holocaust as “a game to mock and sneer” at them while they watch them suffer and cope with the brutalities and the separation of their families (Levi 24). The Holocaust robs the Jewish people of all of their independence, humanity, and sense of self-worth during the holocaust and they will “carry the tattoo on [their] left arm until [they] die” (Levi 27). The Nazis “transform [the Jews] into slaves”, causing them to “reach the bottom”, and they begin their “demolition” of a human being, which causes any distinguishing factor
It is almost unimaginable the difficulties victims of the holocaust faced in concentration camps. For starters they were abducted from their homes and shipped to concentration camps in tightly packed cattle cars. Once they made it to a camp, a selection process occurred. The males were separated from the females. Then those who were too young or too old to work were sent to the showers. Once the showers were tightly packed, the Nazi’s would turn on the water and drop in canisters of chemicals that would react with the water and release a deadly gas. Within minutes, everyone in the shower would be dead. The bodies would be hauled out and burned. Those who were not selected to die didn’t fair much better. Terrible living conditions, forced labor, malnourishment, and physical abuse were just a few of the things they had to endure. It was such a dark time. So many invaluable lessons can be learned from the holocaust and from those who survived it. One theme present in Elie Wiesel’s novel Night and Robert Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful is that family can strengthen or hinder one during adversity.
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One was considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself. Elie Wiesel was considered to be one of those men, for he had his father working side by side with him. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, a young boy and his father were condemned to a concentration camp located in Poland. In the concentration camps, having family members along can be a great blessing, but also a burden. Elie Wiesel shows that the relationship with his father was the strength that kept the young boy alive, but was also the major weakness.
In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, narrates his experience as a young Jewish boy during the holocaust. The Jews were enslaved in concentration camps, where they have experienced the absolute worst forms of torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment. Such pain has noticeable physical effects, but also shows psychological changes on those unfortunate enough to experience it.These mutations of their characters and mortality showed weaknesses of the Jews’ spirit and mentality, leading them to act vigorously and being treated like animals. However, these actions proved to Jews that the primary key to surviving their tortures was to work selfishly towards one another.
Once again the Jews were picked as scapegoats to help push the political and social agendas of those who held higher office in the form of the Holocaust. Through the processes of propaganda and mass media, the Nazi party was able to desensitize an entire nation of people towards the process of dehumanization. In the reading of Elie Wiesel’s novel Night we were able to gain a personal first hand account of what atrocities were committed against these people in the process of stripping them of their humanity. Upon entering the concentration camps, Eliezer gives us insight into the internal feelings that one experiences when he is stripped of his humanity. He states, “never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (Wiesel
Primo Levi, in his novel Survival in Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted upon the prisoners of the concentration camp by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanness” constantly forced upon the prisoners through similes, metaphors, and imagery of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality in the concentration camp in order to help them examine the psychological effects dehumanization has not only on those dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He establishes an earnest and reflective tone with his audience yearning to grasp the reality of genocide.
When someone is condemned by another party or is held accountable for a certain outcome, it can be defined as blame. Constantly, under Taliban rule, women have been under the scrutiny of men, especially in areas, where it is a damnation for being female. The Taliban is a radical Islamic militant group operating in Afghanistan. Particularly, under the Taliban, Afghani men hold dominance over women and often times blame them for the troubles presented in their lives, “Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman” (Hosseini 7). Men can and will simply blame women for anything that does not go according to plan and evade punishment. Khaled Hosseini presents this idea in his novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns, through the events carried out by the antagonists, Rasheed and Jalil. Specifically, in the novel, woman are there
The systematic victimization of women by patriarchal societies is extremely prominent throughout the book “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, written by Khaled Hosseini. For example, Mariam has been victimized since birth with her father not being around, her not getting a proper education, she is outcasted by everyone around her. This patriarchal society allowed her to be married off to Rasheed at the age of 15. Another way this theme is displayed is through Laila. She was a young girl that was living a fantastic life but once her father and mother were killed she was taken in by Mariam and Rasheed, which then lead to her becoming a victim. Rasheed abused her mentally, and physically with no remorse. She had to abide by his
The Holocaust continues to exist as a black mark in the history of Germany; through the government supported torture and extermination of both men and women, more than 6 million lost their lives. As a consequence of the collective tragedy for both sexes, there has been much debate pertaining to the focus of gender specific suffering in Holocaust literature; for this reason, the Holocaust accounts of women writers were largely ignored prior to the 1970’s. Many historians still refute disparities existed between the male and female experience. However, it is worth noting that the social, familial, and cultural expectations of men and women, both prior to and during the war, varied greatly. Moreover, these diverging roles promoted distinctively different coping, processing, and accounting of the tragedies stemming from the Holocaust. By examining the unique experiences of women, both within and outside the concentration camps, one can logically conclude these remarkable accounts broaden the scope of Holocaust literature. Embedded gender roles helped the survival efforts of women, and these unique female perspectives are valuable in accurately portraying the Holocaust experience.
Inequality has been a major problem since the dawn of civilization. Within inequality, is women’s rights during the Taliban’s rule. They were restricted to stay home, without education. Also, man gained all the power in a household. Women were stripped of freedom and were left with nothing but their burqa and their hatred for man. This is evident in both the book Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, and the film Osama directed by Siddiq Barmak. In both of these compositions, the main character is a subject to the utmost inequality by gender. The inequality affects their individuality, their loved ones, and the entire country.
The women of Afghan go through great lengths; obstacles, both momentous and physical hinder their path as they tolerate oppression. Written by Afghan-american author Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts a woman's life during a time period of 1959-2003 and how changes in Afghan society force female characters to endure. In this fictional novel, the story follows an illegitimate girl, Mariam as she ages, learning of society through her experiences. By constantly being exposed to the characteristics and customs of Afghan society the female character progress, learning to endure gender bias, male dominance, and strict rules.
The death camps were mentally inhumane on the prisoners; especially during the first few days because most inmates had some to all of their family taken away and killed. The camps tore families apart and people watched as their loved ones left to be killed. Elie Wiesel talks about the last time he saw his mother and sister and how when he left the train he and the others were forced into groups with, “‘Men to the left! Women to the right’ Eight words spoken quietly in differently, without emotion. Eight simple short words, yet that was the moment when I left my ...
The Holocaust was a traumatic event that changed everyone that survived. The psychological effects that survivors experienced were Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), shock and depression. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after you have been through an extreme trauma that involves a threat of injury or death. The prisoners in concentration camps were being tortured, putting them in constant danger of injury or death. People with PTSD experience symptoms such as flashbacks which cause these people to relive the trauma over and over. These people also experience nightmares which make them feel unsafe even when they sleep and physical symptoms such as their hearts racing or sweating due to instinct to fight or flight danger. PTSD may also result in avoidance symptoms such as staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of past traumas. The way people think about themselves as well as others around them often change because of the trauma they suffered. This interfered with their social lives as well as their relationship with themselves because they began to feel gui...
The discussion of Muslim dress in relation to modesty is globally controversial and reiterated in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. The three main types of modest Muslim dress are the burqa, hijab, and niqab. These accoutrements can emotionally and physically affect women in positive and negative ways. Some women feel that the burqa protects them from the world and increases their body positivity, while others argue the burqa is dangerous for health and leaves women prisoner to cloth. These garments are symbolic for the oppression of women globally, but others argue that the usage of the burqa is taken out of context to justify foreign actions in the Middle East. The burqa effects women negatively and positively,
The novel, The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway is an example of how an entire generation redefined gender roles after being affected by the war. The Lost Generation of the 1920’s underwent a great significance of change that not only affected their behaviors and appearances but also how they perceived gender identity. Lady Brett Ashley and Jake Barnes are two of the many characters in the novel that experience shattered gender roles because of the post war era. The characters in the novel live a lifestyle in which drugs and alcohol are used to shadow emotions and ideals of romanticism. Brett’s lack of emotional connection to her various lovers oppose Jake’s true love for her which reveals role reversal in gender and the redefinition of masculinity and femininity. The man is usually the one that is more emotionally detached but in this case Lady Brett Ashley has a masculine quality where as Jake has a feminine quality. Both men and female characters in the novel do not necessarily fit their gender roles in society due to the post war time period and their constant partying and drinking. By analyzing Brett, Jake, and the affects the war had on gender the reader obtains a more axiomatic understanding of how gender functions in the story by examining gender role reversal and homosexuality.
During an in class discussion of the book 100 Years of Solitude, a fellow student suggested the women characters seem to be much more stable than the male characters. She stated that, “the women are the ones who take care of the house while the men go off and fight their silly wars.” She continued to note that the men seem to constantly immerse themselves in useless projects while the women are forced to take care of the home and dissuade their husbands’ irrational need for adventure and change. She was making the observation that the women behaved as the rational ones in the city of Macondo while the men took interest in shiny trinkets and inventions and left all care taking to the women.