In many literary cases, male and female characters are portrayed differently. It is very common for women to be considered second-class citizens allowing them to be at the mercy of a man. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, women who experiences first hand the terrible circumstances and treatment of women in Afghanistan, while men have the privilege of living a life of luxury and freedom. In Survival in Auschwitz, men and women both experience the same Nazi wrath; however the positions in the concentration camps tend to vary between genders leaving the physical work to the men. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini and the memoir Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi, it is evident that characters have differing roles in society due …show more content…
to gender, which leads to the influence over decisions, the restriction on personal choices, and the development of the plot along with the characters. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, men have a strong grip over the women, limiting the freedom women have to control their own lives and leave an impact on the Afghan society. Women’s freedom is revoked due to the fact that society considers them second-class citizens, leaving them with a very limited role in society. The men consider the women nothing greater than their property and they must only obey their husband. Men live opposite lives of the women in Afghanistan because they are on the ruling end of the spectrum rather than the end that does not have control. In the Afghan society, “boys [are] better [because] they carry the family name” (Hosseini 67). Before the Taliban, women are slowly starting to make headway towards gaining equality; however, the control of the Taliban pushes women even further back in their fight for equality. Men are still able to receive an education and hold employment as their way of providing for themselves and their families, along with the ability to do anything they please. Now, the women’s’ role in society is mainly to bear children and provide meals for their husbands. If a women lets their husband down on one of their few roles, then it can be said that they have failed and they “now know what [they’ve] given [men] in [their] marriage”, which is nothing (Hosseini 104). Men are the reason as to why women feel so much pain in their lives. The husband’s abuse of his wife, both physically and emotionally, is a very common occurrence during this time in Afghanistan and is a way of highlighting the social differences and inequality between men and women. If the wife does something that the husband does not view as meeting his standards or she upsets him in any way, his immediate response is physical abuse. Men also use emotional abuse as a way to make the women feel inferior to the men, which is a factor to the women living in fear. Due to the fact that men have such power over women, there are many inevitable things women face such as “a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman” solely because they are women (Hosseini 364). Another part of a women’s life that they are unable to avoid due to the reign of men, is that once their fathers deem they “have a suitor”, the daughters must marry him against their will (Hosseini 46). Women learn to cope with the hardships that they face in the presence of their social rights because their mothers raise them believing that “women like us. We endure. Its all we have” and endurance is the upmost important aspect of their survival (Hosseini 19). The women need to learn to push past the obstacles in order to develop their lives and their independence, because, despite the control the men have over them, the women have a burning desire to be successful. The repercussions that women face because of gender roles halt the obvious development of the female characters in A Thousand Splendid Suns, but they learn to manipulate their way around their gender restrictions and, despite the hold the men have on them, they build such an overpowering inner strength that they will one day be able to “pick up a newspaper” and see a woman’s “picture on the front page” (Hosseini 166). In Survival in Auschwitz, the Jewish men and women are under Nazi control with no room for independence; however, while the harsh conditions of the concentration camps are equal for both genders, the roles between the men and the women vary.
The Holocaust is a devastating event that affects “all Jews, without exception” and defies the normal gender separations (Levi 14). Men and women alike, along with children, file into the concentration camps together because “misfortune ha[s] struck [them] together” (Levi 19). Almost always, families are split up and men are forced to leave their wives and their children when “the night swallow[s] them up” and they begin their journey under Nazi rule, while “[their] women, parents, [and] children disappear” (Levi 20). The experience of the Holocaust differs between men and women due to their biological makeup, but the women are not spared in any way. Women are not able to endure such brutal conditions as well as the men can and are much more vulnerable, causing their bodies and their mental states to deteriorate faster. Upon entering the concentration camps, “mothers [do] not want to be separated from their children” because their role in society outside of the concentration camps is to care for their children; and, their maternal instincts cause the women to feel a harsh pain and a longing for their children and families (Levi 19). The Jewish people even start to think that the Nazis are treating the Holocaust as “a game to mock and sneer” at them while they watch them suffer and cope with the brutalities and the separation of their families (Levi 24). The Holocaust robs the Jewish people of all of their independence, humanity, and sense of self-worth during the holocaust and they will “carry the tattoo on [their] left arm until [they] die” (Levi 27). The Nazis “transform [the Jews] into slaves”, causing them to “reach the bottom”, and they begin their “demolition” of a human being, which causes any distinguishing factor
between a man and a women to disappear (Levi 55, 26). The Nazis brainwash the Jews so much they begin to become numb, having no feeling of who they used to be, essentially meshing the men and the women together. The Holocaust is not only a physical extermination, but it doubles as an emotional extermination; assassinating every unique aspect and emotion that sets each prisoner apart from the rest. The concentration camps take away any sense of freedom that the Jewish people have including their ability to make decisions, preform tasks at their own will, and they even limit the Jew’s use of their own language. Working is the one role that the men and women have throughout their mundane life in the concentration camps; they “work, sleep and eat; fall ill, get better or die” (Levi 36). The men mostly preform physical tasks in the concentration camps that are extremely hard on their bodies, while the women tend to work more in factories or on tasks that do not break down their bodies as much as the men’s tasks. In Survival in Auschwitz, the characters deteriorate rather than develop over time, and this result is not due to gender but rather to the overall environment and surroundings of Auschwitz. Gender effects the roles that each character has in society and has influence over the experiences that they receive in their lives as the characters develop throughout the books. In the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns, women are under the rule of the men in their society, which causes the lives of men and women to vary greatly. The women have typical female duties and are in charge of raising the family and taking care of the house, while the men are able to work and provide for the family’s monetary needs. In the memoir Survival in Auschwitz, there is only a slight variation in gender through their roles in the concentration camps and some of their emotional experiences. Other than that, the men and the women share very similar experiences during the Holocaust.
First, prisoners viewed the “Zauna” as a deplorable living condition because it was part of a concentration camp, but it at least presented a chance for Jews to live rather than immediate die in the gas chamber (245). Additionally, Jewish women tried to ease their mental suffering by asking prisoners about the status of their other family members, such as husbands and children, with questions such as “Surely they’re not dead?” or even more hopeful, “Tell us, are they at least a little better off?” (248). It was as though, if they could know that their families were ‘okay,’ their emotional suffering might be assuaged, even if only in the smallest sense. Borowski describes that “Despite their rough manner, they [Jewish women] had retained their femininity and human kindness”
It is almost unimaginable the difficulties victims of the holocaust faced in concentration camps. For starters they were abducted from their homes and shipped to concentration camps in tightly packed cattle cars. Once they made it to a camp, a selection process occurred. The males were separated from the females. Then those who were too young or too old to work were sent to the showers. Once the showers were tightly packed, the Nazi’s would turn on the water and drop in canisters of chemicals that would react with the water and release a deadly gas. Within minutes, everyone in the shower would be dead. The bodies would be hauled out and burned. Those who were not selected to die didn’t fair much better. Terrible living conditions, forced labor, malnourishment, and physical abuse were just a few of the things they had to endure. It was such a dark time. So many invaluable lessons can be learned from the holocaust and from those who survived it. One theme present in Elie Wiesel’s novel Night and Robert Benigni’s film Life is Beautiful is that family can strengthen or hinder one during adversity.
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One was considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself. Elie Wiesel was considered to be one of those men, for he had his father working side by side with him. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, a young boy and his father were condemned to a concentration camp located in Poland. In the concentration camps, having family members along can be a great blessing, but also a burden. Elie Wiesel shows that the relationship with his father was the strength that kept the young boy alive, but was also the major weakness.
In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, narrates his experience as a young Jewish boy during the holocaust. The Jews were enslaved in concentration camps, where they have experienced the absolute worst forms of torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment. Such pain has noticeable physical effects, but also shows psychological changes on those unfortunate enough to experience it.These mutations of their characters and mortality showed weaknesses of the Jews’ spirit and mentality, leading them to act vigorously and being treated like animals. However, these actions proved to Jews that the primary key to surviving their tortures was to work selfishly towards one another.
“If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things.” The famous Greek philosopher Plato once said this, and society still has not fully fathomed this idea regarding gender equality. Fahrenheit 451 is a novel written by Ray Bradbury, set in a dystopian society. It touches on censorship, individuality and technology dangers, but the most prevalent recurring theme is based on gender roles and stereotypes. In the story, Guy Montag is a firefighter, whose sole mission is to burn books and any houses that contain them. Everything changes when he meets a young and insightful girl, Clarisse, who changes how he sees the world. Montag’s wife Mildred, is a housewife not only to him, but to an entirely fake family composed
The systematic victimization of women by patriarchal societies is extremely prominent throughout the book “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, written by Khaled Hosseini. For example, Mariam has been victimized since birth with her father not being around, her not getting a proper education, she is outcasted by everyone around her. This patriarchal society allowed her to be married off to Rasheed at the age of 15. Another way this theme is displayed is through Laila. She was a young girl that was living a fantastic life but once her father and mother were killed she was taken in by Mariam and Rasheed, which then lead to her becoming a victim. Rasheed abused her mentally, and physically with no remorse. She had to abide by his
Once again the Jews were picked as scapegoats to help push the political and social agendas of those who held higher office in the form of the Holocaust. Through the processes of propaganda and mass media, the Nazi party was able to desensitize an entire nation of people towards the process of dehumanization. In the reading of Elie Wiesel’s novel Night we were able to gain a personal first hand account of what atrocities were committed against these people in the process of stripping them of their humanity. Upon entering the concentration camps, Eliezer gives us insight into the internal feelings that one experiences when he is stripped of his humanity. He states, “never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (Wiesel
The Holocaust was a traumatic event that changed everyone that survived. The psychological effects that survivors experienced were Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”), shock and depression. PTSD is a type of anxiety disorder that occurs after you have been through an extreme trauma that involves a threat of injury or death. The prisoners in concentration camps were being tortured, putting them in constant danger of injury or death. People with PTSD experience symptoms such as flashbacks which cause these people to relive the trauma over and over. These people also experience nightmares which make them feel unsafe even when they sleep and physical symptoms such as their hearts racing or sweating due to instinct to fight or flight danger. PTSD may also result in avoidance symptoms such as staying away from places, events, or objects that are reminders of past traumas. The way people think about themselves as well as others around them often change because of the trauma they suffered. This interfered with their social lives as well as their relationship with themselves because they began to feel gui...
Primo Levi, in his novel Survival in Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted upon the prisoners of the concentration camp by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes “the denial of humanness” constantly forced upon the prisoners through similes, metaphors, and imagery of animalistic and mechanistic dehumanization (“Dehumanization”). He makes his readers aware of the cruel reality in the concentration camp in order to help them examine the psychological effects dehumanization has not only on those dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He establishes an earnest and reflective tone with his audience yearning to grasp the reality of genocide.
The death camps were mentally inhumane on the prisoners; especially during the first few days because most inmates had some to all of their family taken away and killed. The camps tore families apart and people watched as their loved ones left to be killed. Elie Wiesel talks about the last time he saw his mother and sister and how when he left the train he and the others were forced into groups with, “‘Men to the left! Women to the right’ Eight words spoken quietly in differently, without emotion. Eight simple short words, yet that was the moment when I left my ...
During an in class discussion of the book 100 Years of Solitude, a fellow student suggested the women characters seem to be much more stable than the male characters. She stated that, “the women are the ones who take care of the house while the men go off and fight their silly wars.” She continued to note that the men seem to constantly immerse themselves in useless projects while the women are forced to take care of the home and dissuade their husbands’ irrational need for adventure and change. She was making the observation that the women behaved as the rational ones in the city of Macondo while the men took interest in shiny trinkets and inventions and left all care taking to the women.
To first define gender specific experiences, it is imperative to identify which attributes make an experience exclusively female. Although many Nazi persecuted women were mothers, it is important to view the female account in more than maternal terms. Undoubtedly, the forced separation of mother and child was deplorable, but there is much more to the female experience. Women were also wives, sisters, aunts, daughters, and friends; all of these relationships contribute to what constitutes the female specific account. As noted in The Holocaust: Theoretic...
The discussion of Muslim dress in relation to modesty is globally controversial and reiterated in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini in 2007. The three main types of modest Muslim dress are the burqa, hijab, and niqab. These accoutrements can emotionally and physically affect women in positive and negative ways. Some women feel that the burqa protects them from the world and increases their body positivity, while others argue the burqa is dangerous for health and leaves women prisoner to cloth. These garments are symbolic for the oppression of women globally, but others argue that the usage of the burqa is taken out of context to justify foreign actions in the Middle East. The burqa effects women negatively and positively,
Inequality has been a major problem since the dawn of civilization. Within inequality, is women’s rights during the Taliban’s rule. They were restricted to stay home, without education. Also, man gained all the power in a household. Women were stripped of freedom and were left with nothing but their burqa and their hatred for man. This is evident in both the book Thousand Splendid Suns, written by Khaled Hosseini, and the film Osama directed by Siddiq Barmak. In both of these compositions, the main character is a subject to the utmost inequality by gender. The inequality affects their individuality, their loved ones, and the entire country.
The women of Afghan go through great lengths; obstacles, both momentous and physical hinder their path as they tolerate oppression. Written by Afghan-american author Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns depicts a woman's life during a time period of 1959-2003 and how changes in Afghan society force female characters to endure. In this fictional novel, the story follows an illegitimate girl, Mariam as she ages, learning of society through her experiences. By constantly being exposed to the characteristics and customs of Afghan society the female character progress, learning to endure gender bias, male dominance, and strict rules.