Race And Religion In The Kite Runner English Literature Essay

Race And Religion In The Kite Runner English Literature Essay After reading the two novels I figured out how people lived with racism all around them in all forms and it only hurts more to know that such people still exist around us. To Kill a Mocking Bird covers various themes which are unified into the moral landscape of a small town. As we go through it slowly and gradually we find out about the good and bad times spent by the people living the era, its hypocrisies, its prejudices and racial discrimination amongst the people of their own kind. A more diversified look is further unified when we take a deeper look into the other novel The Kite Runner also based on the discrepancies in race and religion and the level of thinking between the two, though not blood related but brothers brought up under a same father. Race and religion being the only differences between both beings, apart from that nothing could pull them apart except for God. Racism is a result of human ignorance, social injustice, class differences, love and tension and lack of s elf education. The evidences in both the novels are carefully placed noticing not to hinder the originality of the theme. The novels broaden the readers mind, forcing them to analyze their own racial orthodoxies towards are own fellow beings. Racial discrimination is always considered to be a result of personal upbringing but this is definitely not the case when we look into the deeper side of the novels. In both the novels the author highlights the topic of racism together keeping in mind the basic theory of inhumanity against each other. Race has always been a big issue in all eras. Forming perceptions of ones self against people with different color is not too hard; going through differences and disputes at every stage of life is how people mainly develop racism not because they can inherit it from their parents. By the quote Did you know Hassan and you fed from the same breast? Did you know that, Amir agha? Sakina, her name was. She was fair, blue-eyed Hazara woman from Bhamiyan and she sang you old wedding songs. They say there is a brother hood between people whove fed from the same breast. Did yo u know that? Baba expresses his inner feelings about the two boys living their lives together, telling them that nothing should pull them apart (Hosseini, 64-65). As they have been fed from the same breasts and they share a special brotherhood bond, and brothers have nothing different from each other, no color, no religion, no race, no cast should divide them apart. Racial discrimination and prejudices is highlighted boldly in the novel as well as the quotes, in the novel it definitely does not idealize the black community. It defines the virtues of the Black community which the Whites lack, free from hypocrisies, they are shown to be caring, upright people and humble. Though the blacks are not found to be immoral, but still in certain conditions blacks are the only race which come in limelight of the masses, If a white woman sees two black men walking towards her and turns the other way, shes a racist. Well I got scared and didnt say anything, and the next thing I knew, I had a gun shoved in my head!(Crash,2004). Evidence is incorporated over here where it shows that race is still what matters in most conditions. People have this perception that black or of other ethnic minorities are bad and evil, whatever they do is bad, is against them, in some societies blacks and browns are considered to be thugs and criminals since the day they are born, while on the other side whites are considered to be the most well educated, civilized and morally suited people in the society. The society itself has made it hard for young men/adults of ethnic minority and casts to break free of this stereotype. Class status which had built up to make much of the adults world at that time also involved the young children in both the novels critiquing the moral perplexity of the young children giving evidence to the fact that, even though they were young they still had knew what was going on all around them. Scout being a girl in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird also understood the scene and had an idea about what was going all around her, in school and in her small town. Social Inequality was practiced with great dedication in both the novels, for example Aunt Alexandra refusing Scout to consort with Walter Cunningham just because the Cunninghams belong at the bottom of the white social scale. The white community in general the Cunninghams are racially prejudiced who leads the angry mob to the jail where Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a girl was kept before his trial. After realizing that he was the one who helped him and his family, he calls off the mob. After that, it is one of the Cunninghams in the jury who supports Atticus delaying the verdict and the Cunninghams were proved to be prejudice, ignorant and violent but there is something about them which makes them deserve respect. A similar contrast is made when the Negroes are shown as a warm close knit community Scout refers to them as a solid mass of colored people. We as a society have gotten so emotionally complicated that we have developed a prevalent selfishness and laziness towards understanding others. It is easier to label someone as a gang-banger, because it dehumanizes them (Crash, 2004). The quote over here from the movie says how easy we have made to racially discriminate someone just to make ourselves feel better. The feeling of degrading someone who is not from the same race as us is overwhelming; the concept of labelling a black person or a person from a different indigenous group has been continued from an era where maybe not even our fathers were born in. Similar to the quotes from the movie, there is a good number of evidences from the novel out of which a few are mentioned here. Hassan is emotionally attached to Amir as a friend and considering him his brother. Hassan puts his life on the line for Amir, winning the kite fight competition was not until Amir returns with the losing kite to Baba in order to do so Hassan puts his l ife on the line not thinking about the consequences he has to face to redeem the kite for Amir. In the process he has to face Assef who physically and mentally abuses him, racially tortures him calling him a flat nosed Hazara. Hassan never did let go of his love and affection for Amir and Baba though Baba and Amir both mistreated him for being a Hazara boy and a low cast boy. Though Baba wanted to show his affection for him, he could only do it indirectly by either taking Hassan out with Amir for drives or paying for his cleft lip surgery. The time has come/to say fairs fair/to pay the rent/to pay our share (Midnight Oil, 1987). These lines taken from the song Beds are Burning, provides us with evidences that try to think from a different perspective of not judging people only by how they look or whats their color is. It says try getting into other peoples skin and pay for the sins that we have made being racists Amir and Baba had committed sins that they tried to redeem being in lo ve with each other. The ink is black, the page is white/Together we learn to read and write/A child is black, a child is white/The whole world looks upon the sight, a beautiful sight/And now a child can understand/That this is the law of all the land, all the land(Three Dog Night,1957). The verses describes prejudice discrimination amongst black and white which have now been surely cleaned off, it says that now black and white will work together no one can be on its own, we all have to work in collaboration with each other. The perception of racial discrimination no longer exists is what the verses portray but in the novel To Kill a Mocking Bird Tom Robinson who is accused of raping a white girl. He represents the mocking bird, innocent, loving and caring trying to make everyone happy just like the mocking bird itself which does not harm anyone but sings beautiful songs makes them happy and heals their wounds. Tom Robinson was just accused for a crime which he did not commit but because he was black and from the minorities the prejudice still continued. Finally racism not only appeals the greater audience but also gives a broader aspect in our current times, but it should not be the way it is. To a great extent lack of self education, ignorance and personal issues all lead to prejudices and racial discrimination. Even though more and more people are being educated every day, more connections are being made all over the world in all walks of life, still discrimination and racism prevails. Ignorant human beings amongst us roam around freely, still practicing the cruel act of racism. Who in my opinion should be punished for the sins they are committing, sins which are definitely their deeds and non-redeemable. Being prejudice or a racist is no one mans job and it is definitely not inherited but the concept is what matter, teachings and ideas from our ancestors about black being bad and white being the good is what is still killing our future generations which are indeed getting ready for this difficult race and fight. To accomplish thi s task our generation and the one coming ahead of us will certainly have to erase the stereotype of being and living in a racist society. All men are same, be they be white, black, brown or yellow all our of one bred, we all have the same rights and we for sure have the same mind, the only difference is the way one thinks and judges the other. If only people could start erasing the differences that are created by lack of self education, ignorance and social injustice.

A Dirty Job Chapter 7

7 THANATOAST While Charlie's Beta Male imagination may have often turned him toward timidity and even paranoia, when it came to accepting the unacceptable it served him like Kevlar toilet paper – bulletproof, if a tad disagreeable in application. The inability to believe the unbelievable would not be his downfall. Charlie Asher would never be a bug splattered on the smoky windscreen of dull imagination. He knew that all the things that had happened to him in the last day were outside of the limits of possibility for most people, and since his only corroborating witness was a man who believed himself to be the Emperor of San Francisco, Charlie knew he would never be able to convince anyone that he had been pursued and attacked by giant foulmouthed ravens and then declared the tour guide to the undiscovered country by a sultry oracle in fuck-me pumps. Not even Jane would give him that kind of quarter. Only one person would have, could have, and for the ten-thousandth time he felt Rachel's absence collapsing in his chest like a miniature black hole. Thus, Sophie became his co-conspirator. The tiny kid, dressed in Elmo overalls and baby Doc Martens (courtesy of Aunt Jane), was propped up in her car seat on the breakfast bar next to the goldfish bowl. (Charlie had bought her six big goldfish about the time she'd started to notice moving objects. A girl needs pets. He'd named them after TV lawyers. Currently Matlock was tracking Perry Mason, trying to eat a long strand of fish doo that was trailing out of Perry's poop chute.) Sophie was starting to show some of her mother's dark hair, and if Charlie saw it right, the same expression of bemused affection toward him (plus a drool slick). â€Å"So I am Death,† Charlie said as he tried to construct a tuna-fish sandwich. â€Å"Daddy is Death, sweetie.† He checked the toast, not trusting the pop-up mechanism because the toaster people sometimes just liked to fuck with you. â€Å"Death,† Charlie said as the can opener slipped and he barked his bandaged hand on the counter. â€Å"Dammit!† Sophie gurgled and let loose a happy baby burble, which Charlie took to mean Do tell, Daddy? Please go on, pray tell. â€Å"I can't even leave the house for fear of someone dropping dead at my feet. I'm Death, honey. Sure, you laugh now, but you'll never get into a good preschool with a father who puts people down for their dirt nap.† Sophie blew a spit bubble of sympathy. Charlie popped the toast up manually. It was a little rare, but if he pushed it down again it would burn, unless he watched it every second and popped it up manually again. So now he'd probably be infected with some rare and debilitating undercooked toast pathogen. Mad toast disease! Fucking toaster people. â€Å"This is the toast of Death, young lady.† He showed her the toast. â€Å"Death's toast.† He put the toast on the counter and went back to attacking the tuna can. â€Å"Maybe she was speaking figuratively? I mean, maybe the redhead just meant that I was, you know, deadly boring.† Of course that didn't really explain all the other weird stuff that had been happening. â€Å"You think?† he asked Sophie. He looked for an answer and the kid was wearing that Rachelesque smart-ass grin (minus teeth). She was enjoying his torment, and strangely enough, he felt better knowing that. The can opener slipped again, spurting tuna juice on his shirt and sending his toast scooting to the floor, and now there was fuzz on it. Fuzz on his toast! Fuzz on the toast of Death. What the hell good was it to be the Lord of the Underworld if there was fuzz on your underdone toast. â€Å"Fuck!† He snatched the toast from the floor and sent it sailing by Sophie into the living room. The baby followed it with her eyes, then looked back at her father with a delighted squeal, as if saying, Do it again, Daddy. Do it again! Charlie picked her up out of the car seat and held her tight, smelling her sour-sweet baby smell, his tears squeezing out onto her overalls. He could do this if Rachel was here, but he couldn't, he wouldn't, without her. He just wouldn't go out. That was the solution. The only way to keep the people of San Francisco safe was to stay in his apartment. So for the next four days he stayed in the apartment with Sophie, sending Mrs. Ling from upstairs out for groceries. (And he was accumulating a fairly large collection of vegetables for which he had no name nor any idea of how to prepare, as Mrs. Ling, regardless of what he put on the list, always did her shopping in the markets of Chinatown.) And after two days, when a new name appeared on the message pad next to his bed, Charlie responded by hiding the message pad under the phone book in a kitchen drawer. It was on day five that he saw the shadow of a raven against the roof entrance of the building across the street. At first he wasn't sure whether it was a giant raven, or just a normal-sized raven projecting a shadow, but when he realized that it was noon and any normal shadow would be cast straight down, the tiny raven of denial vanished in a wisp. He pulled the blinds on that side of the apartment and sat in the locked bedroom with Sophie, a box of Pampers, a basket of produce, a six-pack each of baby formula and orange soda, and hid out until the phone rang. â€Å"What do you think you're doing?† said a very deep man's voice on the other end of the line. â€Å"Are you insane?† Charlie was taken aback; from the caller ID, he'd expected a wrong number. â€Å"I'm eating this thing I think is either a melon or a squash.† He looked at the green thing, which tasted like a melon but looked more like a squash, with spikes. (Mrs. Ling had called it â€Å"shut-up-and-eat-it-good-for-you.†) The man said, â€Å"You're screwing up. You have a job to do. Do what the book says or everything that means anything to you will be taken away. I mean it.† â€Å"What book? Who is this?† Charlie asked. He thought the voice sounded familiar, and it immediately sent him into alarm mode for some reason. â€Å"I can't tell you that, I'm sorry,† said the man. â€Å"I really am.† â€Å"I've got caller ID, you nit. I know where you're calling from.† â€Å"Oops,† said the man. â€Å"You should have thought of that. What kind of ominous power of darkness do you think you are if you don't even block caller ID?† The little readout on the phone said Fresh Music and a number. Charlie called the number back but no one answered. He ran to the kitchen, dug the phone book out of the drawer, and looked up Fresh Music. It was a record store off upper Market in the Castro district. The phone rang again and he grabbed the handset off the counter so violently he nearly chipped a tooth in answering. â€Å"You merciless bastard!† Charlie screamed into the phone. â€Å"Do you have any idea what I've been going through, you heartless monster!† â€Å"Well, fuck you, Asher!† Lily said. â€Å"Just because I'm a kid doesn't mean I don't have feelings.† And she hung up. Charlie called back. â€Å"Asher's Secondhand,† Lily answered, â€Å"family-owned by bourgeoisie douche waffles for over thirty years.† â€Å"Lily, I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else. What did you call about?† â€Å"Moi?† Lily said. â€Å"Je me fous de ta gueule, espce de gaufre de douche.† â€Å"Lily, stop speaking French. I said I was sorry.† â€Å"There's a cop down here to see you,† she said. Charlie had Sophie strapped to his chest like a terrorist baby bomb when he came down the back steps. She had just gotten to the point where she could hold up her head, so he had strapped her in face-out so she could look around. The way her arms and legs waved around as Charlie walked, she looked as if she was skydiving and using a skinny nerd as a parachute. The cop stood at the counter opposite Lily, looking like a cognac ad in an Italian-cut double-breasted suit in indigo raw silk with a buff linen shirt and yellow tie. He was about fifty, Hispanic, lean, with sharp facial features and the aspect of a predatory bird. His hair was combed straight back and the gray streaks at the temples made it appear that he was moving toward you even when he stood still. â€Å"Inspector Alphonse Rivera,† the cop said, extending his hand. â€Å"Thanks for coming down. The young lady said you were working last Monday night.† Monday. The day he'd battled the ravens back in the alley, the day the pale redhead had come into the store. â€Å"You don't have to tell him anything, Asher,† Lily said, obviously renewing her loyalty in spite of his douche wafflosity. â€Å"Thanks, Lily, why don't you take a break and go see how things are going in the abyss.† She grumbled, then got something out of the drawer under the register, presumably her cigarettes, and retreated out the back door. â€Å"Why isn't that kid in school?† Rivera asked. â€Å"She's special,† Charlie said. â€Å"You know, homeschooled.† â€Å"That what makes her so cheerful?† â€Å"She's studying the Existentialists this month. Asked for a study day last week to kill an Arab on the beach.† Rivera smiled and Charlie relaxed a little. He produced a photograph from his breast pocket and held it out to Charlie. Sophie made as if to grab it. The photograph was of an older gentleman in his Sunday best standing on the steps of a church. Charlie recognized the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, which was just a few blocks away on Washington Square. â€Å"Did you see this man Monday night? He was wearing a charcoal overcoat and a hat that night.† â€Å"No, I'm sorry. I didn't,† Charlie said. And he hadn't. â€Å"I was here in the store until about ten. We had a few customers, but not this fellow.† â€Å"Are you sure? His name is James O'Malley. He isn't well. Cancer. His wife said he went out for a walk about dusk Monday night and he never came back.† â€Å"No, I'm sorry,† Charlie said. â€Å"Did you ask the cable-car operator?† â€Å"Already talked to the guys working this line that night. We think he may have collapsed somewhere and we haven't found him. It doesn't look good after this long.† Charlie nodded, trying to look thoughtful. He was so relieved that the cop wasn't here about anything connected with him that he was almost giddy. â€Å"Maybe you should ask the Emperor – you know him, right? He sees more of the nooks and crannies of the city than most of us.† Rivera cringed at the mention of the Emperor, but then relaxed into another smile. â€Å"That's a good idea, Mr. Asher. I'll see if I can track him down.† He handed Charlie a card. â€Å"If you remember anything, give me a call, would you?† â€Å"I will. Uh, Inspector,† Charlie said, and Rivera paused a few steps from the counter, â€Å"isn't this sort of a routine case for an inspector to be investigating?† â€Å"Yes, normally uniform personnel would handle something like this, but it may relate to something else I'm working on, so you get me instead.† â€Å"Oh, okay,† Charlie said. â€Å"Beautiful suit, by the way. Couldn't help noticing. It's my business.† â€Å"Thanks,† Rivera said, looking at his sleeves, a little wistful. â€Å"I had a short run of good fortune a while back.† â€Å"Good for you,† Charlie said. â€Å"It passed,† Rivera said. â€Å"Cute baby. You two take care, huh?† And he was out the door. Charlie turned to go back upstairs and nearly ran into Lily. She had her arms crossed under the â€Å"Hell Is Other People† logo on her T-shirt and was looking even more judgmental than usual. â€Å"So, Asher, you have something you want to tell me?† â€Å"Lily, I don't have time for – â€Å" She held out the silver cigarette case that the redhead had given him. It was still glowing red. Sophie was reaching for it. â€Å"What?† Charlie said. Could Lily see it? Was she picking up on the weird glow? Lily opened the case and pushed it into Charlie's face. â€Å"Read the engraving.† James O'Malley, read the ornate script. Charlie took a step back. â€Å"Lily, I can't – I don't know anything about that old man. Look, I have to get Mrs. Ling to watch Sophie and get over to the Castro. I'll explain later, okay? I promise.† She thought about it for a second, staring at him accusingly, like she'd caught him feeding Froot Loops to her bte noire, and then relented. â€Å"Go,† she said.

Civilization Which Aspects Define - 1491 Words

Alex Hummel World Civilization 1 Midterm Paper Civilization is a word that cannot be used too loosely. How then, is civilization defined? It is difficult to define in one word or phrase because a complex society or â€Å"civilization† depends on many different aspects. There are characteristics of a civilization that are more essential than others, some of which may be more important to one group than to another. However, a definition for civilization can be narrowed down to a few fundamental aspects that are necessary for one to exist. For a complex society to exist, it must have means to provide for a growing population. Acquiring resources is vital for a civilization to flourish. Next, the earliest civilizations all seemed to†¦show more content†¦Kings considered themselves as gods and took the position to create justice and order. As stated earlier, writing may not be essential for civilization but it defiantly gives us evidence of a civilization by providing a written record. Egypt too created and in dependent writing system called hieroglyphics. It is similar to Mesopotamian cuneiform but it is unique enough to be considered independent. Some scholars believe that hieroglyphics may even predate cuneiform. Egypt and Mesopotamia possess similar characteristics for civilization and it is amazing how different the two cultures are. To contrast Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, we take a look at West Africa and the Niger River Valley. The Niger River Valley may have become civilized much later than Mesopotamia and Egypt. Because of this the first cities of West Africa were thought to be trade centers. Archeologists once thought that trade had originally brought cities to West Africa and outsiders had introduced city building. However, upon further investigation, this viewpoint is challenged. Technology was much more advanced by the time African cities were constructed. Iron smelting had been developed and introduced to the people of the region. 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What Are Some of the Injustices Against Native Americans

Many people who dont fully understand the history of the United States interactions with Native American nations believe that while there once may have been abuses perpetrated against them, it was limited to a past that no longer exists. Consequently, there is a sense that Native Americans are stuck in a mode of self-pitying victimhood which they continue to try to exploit for various reasons. However, there are many ways that the injustices of the past are still realities for todays native people, making history relevant today. Even in the face of fairer policies of the last 40 or 50 years and numerous laws that are designed to correct past injustices, there are a myriad of ways that the past still works against Native Americans, and this article covers just a few of the most harmful instances. The Legal Realm The legal basis of the US relationship with tribal nations is rooted in the treaty relationship; the US made approximately 800 treaties with tribes (with the US refusing to ratify over 400 of them). Of those that were ratified, all of them were violated by the US in sometimes extreme ways that resulted in massive land theft and the subjection of Native Americans to the foreign power of American law. This was against the intent of the treaties, which are legal instruments that function to regulate agreements between sovereign nations. When tribes tried to seek justice in the American Supreme Court beginning in 1828, what they got instead were rulings that justified American domination and laid the groundwork for future domination and land theft through the power of Congress and the courts. What resulted was the creation of what legal scholars have termed legal myths. These myths are based on outdated, racist ideologies that held Indians as an inferior form of human being who needed to be elevated to Eurocentric norms of civilization. The best example of this is encoded in the doctrine of discovery, a cornerstone of federal Indian law today. Another one is the concept of domestic dependent nations, articulated as early as 1831 by Supreme Court Justice John Marshall in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia in which he argued that the relationship of tribes to the United States resembles that of a ward to his guardian. There are several other problematic legal concepts in federal Native American law, but perhaps the worst among them is the plenary power doctrine in which Congress presumes for itself, without consent of the tribes, that it has absolute power over Native Americans and their resources. The Trust Doctrine and Land Ownership Legal scholars and experts have widely differing opinions about the origins of the trust doctrine and what it actually means, but that it has no basis in the Constitution is generally acknowledged. A liberal interpretation argues that the federal government has a legally enforceable fiduciary responsibility to act with the most scrupulous good faith and candor in its dealings with tribes. Conservative or anti-trust interpretations argue that the concept is not legally enforceable and, furthermore, that the federal government possesses the power to handle Native American affairs in whatever manner it sees fit, no matter how detrimental to tribes their actions may be. An example of how this has worked against tribes historically is in the gross mismanagement of tribal resources for over 100 years where a proper accounting of revenues generated from tribal lands was never conducted, leading to the Claims Resolution Act of 2010, more commonly known as the Cobell Settlement. One legal reality Native Americans face is that under the trust doctrine they dont actually hold title to their own lands. Instead, the federal government holds aboriginal title in trust on Native Americans behalf, a form of title that essentially only recognizes the Native American right of occupancy as opposed to full ownership rights in the same way a person owns title to land or property in fee simple. Under an anti-trust interpretation of the trust doctrine, in addition to the reality of the plenary power doctrine of absolute Congressional power over Native American affairs, there still exists the very real possibility of further land and resource loss given a hostile enough political climate and the lack of political will to protect Native lands and rights. Social Issues The gradual process of the United States domination of Native nations led to profound social disruptions that still plague Native communities in the forms of poverty, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, disproportionately high health problems, substandard education, and substandard healthcare. Under the trust relationship and based on the treaty history, the United States has assumed the responsibility for healthcare and education for Native Americans. Despite the disruptions to tribes from past policies, especially assimilation and termination, native people must be able to prove their affiliation with tribal nations in order to benefit from Native American education and healthcare programs. Bartolomà © de Las Casas was one of the very first advocates for Native American rights, earning himself the nickname Defender of the Native Americans.   Blood Quantum and Identity The federal government imposed criteria that classified Indians based on their race, expressed in terms of fractions of Indian blood quantum, rather than their political status as members or citizens of their tribal nations (in the same way American citizenship is determined, for example). With intermarriage blood quantum is lowered and eventually a threshold is reached where a person is no longer considered Indian, even despite connection to communities and culture that have been maintained. Although tribes are free to establish their own criteria for belonging, most still follow the blood quantum model initially forced on them. The federal government still uses the blood quantum criteria for many of their Indian benefit programs. As native people continue to intermarry between tribes and with people of other races, blood quantum within individual tribes continues to be lowered, resulting in what some scholars have termed statistical genocide or elimination. Additionally, the federal governments past policies have caused Native Americans to eliminate their political relationship with the US, leaving people who no longer are considered Native American because of the lack of federal recognition. References Inouye, Daniel. Preface, Exiled in the Land of the Free: Democracy, Indian Nations, and the U.S. Constitution. Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 1992. Wilkins and Lomawaima. Uneven Ground: American Indian Sovereignty and Federal Law. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.