What is the Taliban? Webster’s dictionary defines the Taliban as “a fundamentalist Islamic militia”, which means they are basic Islamic band of soldiers. They claim to be a religious political movement, and do things because their god, Allah, would want them to. People in Afghanistan were originally very excited with the rise of the Taliban, because the Taliban initially wanted to bring back Islamic values and to make Afghanistan a better place. Soon though, the Taliban’s management slowly turned bad, and the conservative group became a problem for the Afghan people.
The Taliban plays a big role in the novel, “The Kite Runner”, as the story takes place in Afghanistan. This story begins in 1975 before the Taliban takes over the country. There is a boy named Assef; he is a Pashtun who idolizes Hitler, and is disgusted by Hazaras. He commits probably the most unforgiveable and unforgettable sin to Hassan as a child. His sinful acts as a child lead to his role as a member of the Taliban in his future. The things he does to people are horrible and vile. He feels no remorse, and does it because that’s what he thinks Allah wants him to do. “God says that every sinner must be punished in a manner befitting his sin. Those are not my words, nor the words of my brothers. Those are the words of GOD!” (Hosseini P. 270). The Taliban are largely looked down upon, yet people are fearful for their lives that they cannot say anything. Farid whispers to Amir, “And they call themselves Muslims.” (Hosseini P. 271). The Taliban think they are religious people doing good, because – as I said before – it’s what they think Allah wants them to do. Little do they know, it is the last thing He wants.
Your last point is very true. The Taliban want to believe that what they are doing is the right thing and all this violence is for God. They want to believe that he has shown them the way, but looking at Farid’s quote and the fact that the people are frightened of them and not cheering alongside them, this only proves that they are the only ones who believe it. And I am betting that there were even Taliban members who questioned it, but did not speak up because they too were frightened or content with having the power that they did.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, I enjoyed that Kinza decided to have the dictionary definition and her more understanding definition. I wouldn’t have thought to look it up.
I agree with Meghan, good idea to put a definition in. Your quote from page 270 is somewhat ironic to me. The Taliban were saying there that they must punish sinners and that is what Allah would want, yet they are sinners themselves. Sexually abusing children is definitley a sin, yet they do not see this as a bad thing. They can sexually abuse children, yet they must stone people who sin! This makes the Taliban and Assef big hypocrites.
ReplyDeletei agree with Danielle. For me i consider the Taliban to be a very hypocritical group. Many times in the book they go back on laws that they have created. This increases there power because when people see this it shows how much more power they have over them. They can create rules and break them with no consequence but if a civilian does it its and entirely different matter.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comments. However, I feel that Hosseini did not include the Taliban in the novel just to be historically accurate. I believe that the Taliban played a metaphorical role in the novel as well. Just as Hassan was raped as a young child, taking away his happiness and innocence, the Taliban metaphorically “raped” Afghanistan, taking away its traditions and culture. I think that the "rape," in both senarios, caused the ejection of the effected from their original being.
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