Wow. Wow. Wow. This short story really was interesting; it really was sad...
I would like to start with the first page. In the beginning of the description "the road is exploded by thorns" and "the event is assassination" really sets an eerie, dangerous tone for the story, which goes along the line of the danger that Raha is surronded by. Raha's description of her life is so wonderfully distinct and perfected. I love how she describes how happy she and her family are, how close they are. She makes it seem as if she is a very lucky, protected safe young lady with a great education. Referring back to the top, she also states that people have died in "some battle" and "blood that has been shed somewhere since dawn." She sets the tone that her environment is very protected and this could never happened to her. So, that first page or so starts out with an eerie tone, goes into a happy tone, and ends in an eerie tone: "days are stops, hours are alarms, seconds are reminders" as if time is running out.
For her mother to beat Raha like that, she must have really wanted Raha to marry Fahid. For me, this religion seems a bit too strict with the arranged marriage. If I were in this situation, I understand how she would feel. She doesn't love this man; yes, he is rich and wealthy, but obviously he was not made for Raha.
Since it was in first person, I think that the author had some sort of relationship to her character. Maybe the author knew a lady that went through this, or it was one of her family members. Though, I think, somehow, this story relates back to the author.
I didn't really understand the ending. Yes, I understand the hanging part, but can someone explain to me why she was still alive? Who was 'she' in the last paragraph? Her mom? The advisor?
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maret,
ReplyDeleteshe doesn't literally kill herself, she tried but it didnt work. On the second page at the bottom she compares marrying this man to death, and refurse back to it at the end saying that "my mother gave me life, my mother gave me death, but death came too slowly." She doesn't mean it literally , it is just that her spirit will die along with her freedom.
I agree that this story is very depressing. You also made a good point that the story seems to start out happy, with her saying how happy her family is, but then her family turns on her.However I think thaat she should have married him anyways because her parents went through to put her through school. She could have married him for the money, as Rajeev said "The more you have the happier you are."
ReplyDeletePersonally, I don't think that the mother beat Raha only because she wanted her to marry Fahid, and I don't think that this was part of their religion either. From the mom's point of veiw, she is doing Raha a favor, because in Middle Eastern culture, no one likes a strong independent woman, and the mom also wants Raha to marry and have children, which for people in the middle east would mean a succesful life. Of course, we have different opinions of the mom's behavior, like child abuse, but I'm sure that in Afghanistan, this would be considered a perfect punishment if a child, especially a girl, who disobeyed her parents.
ReplyDeleteI really hope that this was not a personal experience that the author had, or somehow related to the author, though it seems likely because the author, who is a girl like Raha, went to school and was probably forced to marry.