Impact of War on Jameela's Life - Essay Example

Impact of War on Jameela's Life Wanting Mor brings a wasted landscape to life and illustrates the effects that war has on the civilians who are caught up in conflict, especially so, children. It revolves around Jameela a young girl living in a poor village in Afghanistan. She has been surrounded by war for her entire life and most of her extended family is killed by a bomb while attending a family wedding. Her life is miserable and empty of hope. This paper will reflect on the various effects that the war has had on the life of young Jameela. To illustrate this, it will use some of her life experiences which she has been forced to undergo and which have gone a long way in shaping her into the lady she grows up into being. This paper will follow Jameela with all her experiences and encounters and in the process demonstrates the long run impact that the war has had on her life. The war had far reaching effects in the life of young Jameela. In fact, the entire changes that are taking place around her are as a result of the war. The degradation of the values and traditional lifestyle which are core to the Muslim faith is central to the story. She undergoes many challenges in her life which she eventually overcomes with the silent advice of her mother plus her staunch following of her Muslim faith and her determination to achieve. “I thought she was sleeping” (Khan, 2010, pg. 9), this humble and touching opening statement to the book captures the lack of words by Jameela at the death of her beloved mother (Mor). From then onwards, Jameela hangs on to her mother’s memories and all that she had taught her, to go through her dull life and eventually Jameela is able to emerge intact at the end of this sad story. The true impact of the war can best be explained by the author when she writes, “The roads barely exist. What isn’t churned up by the tracks of military machines is pork-marked with bomb craters. These days the machines belong to the Americans, but before they belonged to the Russians and in between those two invaders, we had the Taliban.” This shows how the people have never experienced true freedom from oppression. This is because the war brought injustices and fear which overshadow the lives of the people on a day-to-day basis. This is further confirmed from the book by a conversation between Suraya and Jameela. Jameela asks, “What about the soldiers? They didn’t do anything wrong.” Suraya scowls. “They’re invaders. They want to control us. They won’t be happy until they change us so we’re just like them” (Khan, 2010, pgs. 134-135) After her father remarries on moving to Kabul, Jameela is turned into a virtual slave by her stepmother. She is given the responsibilities of cooking for the family, cleaning and spending her nights sleeping on the floor. This is the same way she was treated by the couple they had lived with before. She had similarly laboured under the woman’s orders. She endures all this hard work without complaining as she knows her Mor would have wanted her to be good. She remembers Mor’s words, “Jameela, remember the man who asked the prophet (peace be upon him) for advice. What did the Prophet (peace be upon him) tell him? Don’t become angry.” The war has brought about an anti-American sentiment. Jameela is insulted by the westernization that is taking place by the inflow of the American soldiers. She is more comfortable with her Chadri and is repulsed by “the women who wear body-hugging clothes and dance with men”. This is something which to her is not acceptable in her faith. Jameela depends on her beliefs and it is the Muslim faith that sustains her and makes her maintain her traditional values and uphold good behaviour. The war has made her become more religious as she has taken to praying seriously. Their moving to Kabul open up Jameela to a completely different world from the one she was used to back at the village. A world of excess wealth and a society that disregards the core values of a religion that she holds dear. The behaviour of the couple they live with shocks her. They drink alcohol and hold parties where the women and men dance together. “The women wear clothes that do not properly cover them and at times they wear short dresses that come from Paris”. Jameela is also ordered to remove her porani by the couple but she refuses due to her faith. The war has also had a positive impact on her life. While living at the village, she was a poor girl living in a war-torn village with no hope of ever knowing how to read and write. Her confidence was low as she had a birth defect, a cleft lip which she always hid behind her porani (shawl). However, all this changed after she was taken in by the orphanage. The orphanage is supported by donations from the Americans and it provides her with an opportunity to learn and be educated. Moreover, it’s the American doctors who offer to operate on her cleft lip. By doing this, the doctors take away the shame that she had lived with all her life and had learnt how to hide by covering herself her porani throughout. Conclusion In conclusion, the war brought with it numerous challenges especially so, to women in post-Taliban, Afghanistan, as it is portrayed through the life and eyes of Jameela. She had to pass through difficulties of abandonment, betrayal and lack of education. She overcame the challenges and this experience helped in turning her from the meek little girl that her mother left, into a responsible and independent young adult. In the end Jameela blossoms into a lady with endless capabilities. Cited Works Read More