Author: janetski.1

Text Review Assignment – The Hate U Give

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In the novel, “The Hate U Give”, it focuses on the story of a young girl named Starr, who is doing her best to fit into the new community around her, as well as fight for the systemic injustices in our system. She moves to a new high school called, Williamson Prep, which is a predominately white school. She has trouble fitting in and finding friends, but comes back into contact with a former friend of hers, Khalil. Her and Khalil become close again, and go off to a party together. The party is ruined after gunshots stopped the party. Khalil is driving Starr home, when he is stopped by the police. Officer 115 is who stops them, the encounter gets hostile and ultimately ends in the officer shooting and killing Khalil. The rest of the novel is about Starr fighting for the injustice faced by Khalil, while also attempting to get her fellow peers, most of who are white, to understand how she feels. It’s a very conflicting storyline of two cultures, and how they intermix to create the necessary change within the community. 

This novel is very indicative of much of the injustice and power struggle we have discussed in this course. One of which being the One versus the Other concept. The power struggle which the One versus the Other concept inflicts can directly be seen in the encounter between Khalil and Officer 115. This power dynamic which the officer felt over Khalil is strictly related to the race factor of the situation. The officer was mainly focused on Khalil not from a, “did he do anything wrong standpoint?”, but from a standpoint of his race and how that’ll effect the outcome of this situation. The officer is looking at it, from a lens of Khalil being a threat, so he feels the authority to cause this situation to turn hostile. 

The situation between Khalil and the officer can also be seen as an example of injustice. The event ends up leading to a trial in which the officer is not indicted on the charges faced against him. This sparks much outrage from the community, about the injustices in our legal system to not stand up for victim in this scenario. 

The idea of identity can vastly be seen in the character, Starr, as she is trying to fit into her predominately white community she is living in. This is a big struggle for her, as she wants to make friends with these people, but also wants her peers to understand her as a person. This can relate to Marjane Satrapi’s novel, “Persepolis” because Marji’s character is trying to fit in her new home of Austria. She wants the people around her to understand her, just as Starr is attempting to do with her peers. It’s an interesting concept of othering, which isn’t meant to occur, but is based on the environment and circumstances surrounding Starr as a whole. 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiN0rD_98D0AhWKZM0KHWDaCmwQyCl6BAgKEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3MM8OkVT0hw&usg=AOvVaw1kvl1ibWoaCmDRXuQDPbWj

Context Presentation: Interpreter of Malacies and When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

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Jumpa Lahiri’s novel, “Interpreter of Malacies”, from 1999, is a collection of short stories which focuses on different stories of cultural divides of characters and their surrounding environments. These stories focus on the cultural divides which can be seen between Indian, Pakistani and American cultures, and how people learn and adapt culturally.

One example is the story of Mr and Mrs Das traveling to India with their children on a family trip. The story is told through the eyes of their tour guide, Mr. Kapasi, who is often finding it hard for himself to understand the ideals of this American family. The idea of cultural divide is shown through the struggling marriage of the family. It’s a story of a person of Indian culture trying to navigate with this family to adapt them to the Indian culture.

This idea of clashing cultures can also be seen in “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”. This time it’s shown through the eyes of Lillia. The story focuses on the close bond with her and Mr. Pirzada after he has left his family to move to America after the Pakistani Civil War. The close relationship they develop over time, emphasizes how Mr. Pirzada is attempting to adapt to the American culture even while he’s worried about his family back home. Once Mr. Pirzada moves back after the War, the realization for Lillia is how to adjust to life without Mr. Pirzada. It is quite the culture shock for her. This short story is told because of the events of the Pakistani Civil War.

The Pakistani Civil War began because of growing tension post election, when East Pakistan officials won those elections and declared for more “autonomy” for themselves (Dummett). This sparked outrage for the Western part of Pakistan and eventually led to the civil war. The war was at a standstill for much of 1971, until a reporter named Anthony Mascarenhas, published an article in the UK Times about the suppression Pakistan was putting the Bangladeshi people under (Dummett). This reporting from Mascarenhas was brave of him to do, as much of Pakistan was run by military. This article invoked India to step in and put a stop to this war. The article helped countries see the violence Pakistan was causing, and shortly thereafter the article released, the war itself ended and Bangladesh gained control of the country, eventually calling it their own.

 

Bibliography:

Dummett, Mark. “Bangladesh War: The Article That Changed History.” BBC News, BBC, 16 Dec. 2011, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16207201.

Lahiri, J. (1999). Interpreter of maladies: Stories.

Diary of Systemic Injustice Showcase: Women in Afghanistan

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One example I have seen recently of systemic injustice is in Afghanistan where the Taliban government has told women to stay home from school and work. About two months ago, the Taliban seized control of the Afghanistan country’s government. The Taliban had initially stated they would not implement many of the same harsh restrictions towards women as they did when they seized the government after the September 11th attacks. That statement did not hold true for long, as the Taliban recently began implementing many of those same restrictions towards women as they did in 2001. 

 

This can easily relate to one topic we’ve discussed this semester in the “Subaltern”. The women of Afghanistan are being oppressed by the Taliban, and slowly becoming less and less apart of society due to restrictions put upon them. They are slowly becoming the Subaltern of society. This is very dangerous for Afghanistan women all over the country. It is diminishing the rights that many Afghani women had fought for over the past twenty plus years. “Hundreds of thousands have entered the workforce — a necessity in some cases as many women were widowed or now support invalid husbands as a result of two decades of conflict” (CBS News). Many women in Afghanistan are now at the mercy of the Taliban who are not shy in pronouncing their belittlement of women with their society. This can also put an impact on many future girls as well because not only are the women who worked for freedom being oppressed, but also the future women of Afghanistan. They are not being allowed to learn, which in the eyes of the Taliban give them even more control over women because they can tell them what to do since they “haven’t learned anything yet”.

 

This type of event is really telling of much of our society across the world, and how many of these fights or struggles for women to gain power is not just prevalent in Afghanistan. For example, many women in the United States are fighting for equal pay, including the United States women’s national soccer team. This has been an ongoing battle for many years. It indicates how much women still have to continue to fight for equal rights in certain aspects across the world. This is absolutely something I feel needs to be addressed not only to help the women of Afghanistan, but also women here in the United States.

 

Below is a link to the article as well as a link to a CBS News interview with Malala Yousafzai and about what she believes the future of Afghanistan for women will look like. It’s a very interesting watch that I would recommend taking the time to watch.

 

Link to the Article: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghanistan-taliban-women-girls-work-school-sharia-rules/

 

Malala Yousafzai Interview: http://<iframe src=”https://www.cbsnews.com/video/extended-interview-malala-yousafzai-on-the-future-of-women-under-taliban-rule/” id=”cbsNewsVideo” allowfullscreen allow=”fullscreen” frameborder=”0″ width=”620″ height=”349″></iframe>

Taliban tells women and girls to stay home from work and school - CBS News