kkossol: Latest Entries

Monday, November 24, 2008

A Thousand Splendid Suns Part 3

This part starts out with Mariam and Laila. Laila was injured, and Mariam takes care of her with Rasheed. Later on Laila has to marry Rasheed so it wont look strange that they're living together. This arrangement also helps Laila because she is pregnant with Tariq's child. If she married Rasheed then it would look like it was his.

Mariam, Aziza, and Laila decide to run away. They get a guy they meet at the train station to buy them tickets. He said he would hold on to them but got on the train before them. Rasheed caught them. Rasheed beat them and locked laila in the sheed. One day

Mariam noticed words painted on a window that said "long live the Taliban". Strict rules were enforced by the Taliban like wonen cant laugh in public, cant paint their nails, cant speak unless spoken to, cant go to school, cant make eye contact with men.

Rasheed notices Aziza's eye color and says "its not yours or mine" he knows its not his child. He threatens Laila with his power to give Aziza away.

Laila has another child. A boy this time. Rasheed likes the boy, Zalmai, a lot. And treats him way better than he treats his daughter.

Laila puts Aziza in an orpahnage.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Ch1-5)

Wow. I absolutely love this book. The main character in the story is Mariam, she is an illegitimate child. (Her mother reminds her of this many times.) Her father is a terrible man who dosen't want to accept the fact that she is his daughter. He has a good reputation. He also has many wives. Having an illegitimate child would give her father, Jalil, a bad reputation. Mariam's mother really loves her though. They are living far away from Mariam's dad, but he is "taking care of them". By providing food and things....everything except for acting like a father. One night, for Mariam's birthday, she asks if she can go see a movie since her father owns a cinema. Her mother tells her that if she goes then she will kill herself. Mariam sneeks out of her house and goes to see her father, who wont even let her in his house! When she returns home, she finds her mother dead.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

And again....

What contributes to a life worth living.....

*living in the moment.

*trying (almost) everything once.

*know who you are. dont fight it.

*be happy with who you are.

*dont have any regrets.

*learn from your mistakes.

*accepting change.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

What contributes to a life worth living?

Like Mihaly Csikszentmimahlyi said, money can't buy happiness. Your life is worth living when you find something that you enjoy so much, that you lose track of everything else. Once you've found something like that, isn't life more enjoyable? You can look at it from another side too. Maybe its not a thing...it could be a person who makes you feel that way, like a really good friend. Knowing that someone cares about you immensely, and thinks you're worth something definitely contributes to a life worth living. However I dont think this question can really be answered, and everyone's answer will be different. This is kind of like asking someone what the meaning of life is. I know what it is....do you?

Friday, October 17, 2008

TFA Part Two

Okonkwo finds his uncle after he is kicked out of his home. His uncle is veru nice and wants to help Okonkwo. The season for crops isnt good because it hails, and Okonkwo has less motivation because he is not working on his own crops. Okonkwo's uncle, Uchendu, is very strong. These people saw "white man" and were concerned about their arrival. The white men are trying to change these people's ways of life. Some of them found the stories the missionaries told very funny. Others thought they were just absurd. Okonkwo wants to kill the white men, even though he dosent see them as a threat. Finally the people accept the missionaries and give them some land to build a chruch on. At first the peole are afraid to go to the church, but little by little they join. And after the others who had not yet joined, see that not harm is done to those who have, they start to consider the idea. Okonkwo seems to be one of the only ones who has a problem with the missionaries and orders a clan to kill them. The clan decides not to and Okonkwo calls them a "womanly clan".

Friday, October 17, 2008

Short Story (Mrs.Sen's)

This story is about a woman, Mrs.Sen's. She came from Calcutta, India. She babysits Eliot at her house. She makes a big deal about him taking his shoes off because it is disrespectful for him to wear shoes in the house. He always asks her questions about her culture. She answers with stories. In her culture the first and last thing that they eat is fish. It is also their favorite snack. Eliot sees Mrs. Sen's putting a red dot on her forehead and she tells him that as long as she is married she has to wear one.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Women in TFA

The women in this culture fear and respect the men. The women do not have large parts in the ceremonies. The men are the ones who dress up and paint themselves with charcoal. The females were all very close to each other. When one of their children was sick, they would comfort each other. Women in this culture tell a lot of stories, more than the men do. The women do pretty much whatever the men tell them to. For example Ezinma brings Okonkwo everything he asks for when they are sitting in his hut together. Women were possessions, and they were "bought" by men. The richer a man was, the more wives he could have.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Village Life

I found this to be the most interesting part of the book. These people depend on farming so much that if they have a bad season, its enough to make them want to kill themselves. Farming is considered a "man's job", so are things like taking care of the family. Men are allowed to beat their wives in this culture, which is an idea that i dont exactly like. However these people find it normal. There are certain times when a man cannot beat his wife. If he beats her during this time he can get into serious trouble. These people played the flute and drums a lot. They had lots of ceremonies and sacrifices where they would be painted with chalk and charcoal. They most commonly painted themselves like this for funerals.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Unoka and Okonkwo

Okonkwo and his father, Unoka are total opposites. Okonkwo likes to act really "manly" and his biggest fear would be to turn out like his father, who was into playing the flute and language. Unoka died of a disease that was one of the worst in their culture. He was not allowed to be buried. Instead he was left in the forest and left to die above ground. They didnt want his diseased body to contaminate the clean earth. Okonkow was stronger than his father. When there was a really bad season for growing yams, he managed to survive while one man hanged himself because he was so devastated that his crops didn't grow. Since he was determined to be different than his father, Okonkwo acted as a very tough person. His wives and children were afraid of him. He decided not to be like his father when he was really young. One of his friends called his father a woman's name, or the name of an unmarried man, agbala.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Cultural. Identity. Isolation.

Cultural- Your background, lifestyle.

Identity- Who and what you are and who and what you are not.

Isolation- Where you are in the world, how alone you are, who's with you.