A Thousand Splendid SunsEssay Preview: A Thousand Splendid SunsReport this essayA Thousand Splendid Suns EssayShelter is something beneath, behind, or within which a person is, or feels protected from harm. Its a place where you feel safe, where you feel you have a hedge of protection surrounding you. A shelter can be a harbor, a retreat, a person or a home. In general, people refer to their home as a place of refuge where there is a sense of peace and comfort. For the majority of the population, home is where the heart lies, but for others, nothing can be further from the truth. Home for the women in A Thousand Splendid Suns, for example, is not a safe haven. In fact, home is the most dangerous place of all.
In Afghanistan there are laws which restrict women rights. Women are considered the weaker and fragile sex and therefore, second class citizens. They dont choose who they marry, or have a say in any decisions for that matter. Regardless of the importance, it is the male in the household that makes all the choices for Afghani women. Afghan women are nothing more than prisoners in their own home. They are told how to dress, what to eat and are not even allowed to go outside without a male accompaniment. Fathers are proud to give their girl child away to any man, because in that society, having a girl is considered a curse. At the tender age of 14, young girls are offered to 40 year old men to marry and bear children in the hopes of obtaining a male heir. To make matters worse, in this typical scenario of an innocent 14 year old girl marrying, the child will not only become a wife but rather she will be one of many wives to be used and abused at the whim of a man.
Once the child is given away, she moves to new husband his house. Home for her is a place of sadness full of duties to be performed. It is also a place of fear and confinement. In a sense, her home is her prison; a place where she must do as she is ordered or face unimaginable consequences. For women in Afghanistan, there is no place to run or hide or for that matter even scream. If she does, no one will listen. From the moment they are born, Afghan women are condemned to a life of unhappiness, confinement and exploitation.
This situation was clearly illustrated in A Thousand Splendid Suns. After her parents died, Laila, a 14 year old girl, was forced to marry a 40 year old man named Rasheed. Afghani law prohibited Laila from working, or even leaving the house without a man. Her only option for survival was to marry Rasheed, a disgusting man she wasnt in love with or even attracted to. Laila found herself living with an old grotesque man who had many other wives. Her life became unbearable. Laila was in love with a boy named Tariq. She longed to be with him and dreamed of sharing her life with him. Instead, her parents had an arrange marriage with Rasheed was forced to marry him. Laila, like any other unfortunate girls in Afghanistan, became the victim of abuse.
Laila and her fellow refugees find themselves living in a world of relative peace and no terror. These are not just Afghan orphans. These are real refugees. Many of the refugees are children. Their stories in these stories are true stories. They are children of a conflict. The country has changed, but as soon as the conflict has ended, there will be many new immigrants joining the refugees.
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In 1992, U.S. forces were attacking the people of Afghanistan in the northern regions. There were few opportunities for international involvement, and the conflict was going on without a problem. It’s a war that can’t be left to peaceful resolution. It is being conducted by the U.S. military, which has a vested interest. And the conflict has only gotten worse since 2004—the U.S. troops are still running the war. On the international stage, the war is being pursued relentlessly, and the military seems incapable of dealing with its own problems. For years, U.S. taxpayers have been supporting the Taliban, whose people have been slaughtered, and our allies, which support al Qaeda in Afghanistan. There is nothing to stop American support in supporting the Taliban for decades. To do what not to want is just plain despicable.
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In the course of her working as a lawyer, Khatami has worked on numerous issues regarding the conflict. It is her experience writing and lecturing on many issues within the international law community that have helped define the context. Khatami graduated from UCLA to become a law professor in 2007. As a Harvard law professor, Khatami has lectured on various issues pertaining to international criminal law, security, terrorism, human rights, and international law in order to help guide U.S. foreign policy, while also engaging on the issues of human rights and counterterrorism in the 21st century. The book is dedicated to helping people understand human rights and how they relate to human rights and how to deal with conflicts between people. Khatami offers extensive background on international issues and is an experienced attorney. Khatami also teaches in her spare time. She has had numerous mentors in different international legal systems include the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Japan, the United States, and other respected international agencies, including the United Nations Court of Justice, the United Nations Economic and Social Committee, U.N. Commission on Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, the Human Rights Council