Ethnic Eradication
This image represents the Taliban’s Stoning of the man and woman at the soccer game. The drain is the Taliban and blocks out the people that are considered as “religiously inferior”. In this sense, the drain is the Taliban (and, more importantly, the radical embodiment of Islam itself). The leaves blocked by the drain are the people left by that do not fit the Taliban’s & Koran’s religious standards. The surrounding granite symbolizes the Taliban’s idea that the religious ways of the Koran are the only and one way to be thought of life. Amir’s reaction to the stoning is a horrified look, and he turns away, asking Farid when the violence will be over. This confers how other people that are not such strong, radical believers of the Koran do not see it as a necessary solution for getting rid of people not believing so strongly.
I really like the drain metaphor, it works really well to say that the drain shows how some people are not able to fit into the Taliban's mold. Another metaphor could possibly be that the stones represent the stoning itself, as if you cannot fit through the drain you're left to the stones that are your demise.
ReplyDeleteI like how you used the leaves as people shut out by the Taliban. Another way the grate could be seen is as Amir's secrets regarding Hassan that he shuts everyone away from until very late in his life.
ReplyDeleteI really like how the drain represents the Taliban: filtering out people who do not fit their standards. In addition, I liked your additional analysis describing outsiders and Amir's reaction to the stoning.
ReplyDeleteI like how you described the granite as the Taliban's fixed perception of their ideals, and also feel that it could also be portrayed as the barrier Amir has erected during his stay in the US, which has pent up his feelings for Kabul. His return has opened a drain, and his true feelings begin to leak out.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy how you played around with your words. For example, my favorite line, or lines, was, "Reaching new heights like trees in a forest,/ Branching its leaves off in various directions,/ Bearing fruit which will/ Nourish people’s lives for many years to come." The metaphor is pretty significant in addressing the poem's central message.
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