Reading Notes # 12

Huda Biabani

Reading Notes # 12

The thesis I have gathered from this reading is that the author is trying to show us in a sense how ugly a place can get especially around the time of war. The country who is in war with your country usually tends to take over your country and change all of the rules. There are so many more restrictions, people being watched by spies all the time, and no one walking in the streets are happy. When a group tries to protest three hundred of them die from being shot at by their own military.

The themes I see are violence, poverty, cultural imperialism, and powerlessness…

This reading reminds me a lot of what is going on around the world today. People all over the world are facing problems and restrictions like these in their own countries. They don’t have their peace of mind anymore. When they walk out of their houses, they can’t walk over to their neighbor’s house and expect their neighbor to welcome them happily when they are down because their neighbor is going through the same thing they are. When I read stories like these I keep thinking of the images of poor innocent children homeless, dying, and having to see their loved ones die. Then I think of “The Kite Runner” how the two boys from the book were so happy in the beginning. Even though there would be some bullying around, they still were living peacefully, having nice social gatherings, and just having fun. But once their country was attacked, everything was gone. They had to leave their country and everything they own, and everyone they love behind.

One class discussion that can possibly come out of this is what can we as the voice of America do in order to stop all of this. How can we use our freedom to help these people live normal lives again, the way the two boys from “the Kite Runner” used to live?

One thing I can possibly expand this reading into a larger topic is by talking about, the countries that we are hearing about that are in poverty, or experiencing powerlessness who are being exploited used to be invisible to the public. Once the country was attacked, and innocent people started dying the public around the world started educating themselves about who they are and what their culture is like, and one main thing is that more and more people started researching the truth.

“Their government controls nearly every aspect of their lives – what they can read, what they can say and think, where they go, how they make money.” (pg 85-86) I thought this was a nice example of how many people around the world are. Everyone seems to be controlled by the government in one way or another. This can range from very simple things to some more complex things like every action of the being because they are being watched by a spy at all times. Or some more simple things like playing with a toy. The media these days have started to control children minds by introducing a toy in a specific way. After watching the commercial the children feel restricted to play with a toy in a certain way. Take Barbie for example, little girls are forced to think that the only way to play with a Barbie is by buying a Barbie house and playing something like family with a Ken Barbie and a baby Barbie. Before girls used to have a wider imagination, many women learned how to sew by making outfits for their dolls.