Kabul Beauty School Final Reflection

Overall I really liked this book. I liked how the affects of one person had such an impact on a lot of women living over there. The beauty school changed so many of their lives by better the ability these women had to get a higher paying job. It also gave an insight to the way the women live their lives everyday and how they are treated. I really wish the lives of all the people over there were so much different and that they would see the example that is set by the people who go over there to help and try to follow it to make their lives better.
My favorite part of this book was when Sam finally decided to tell his father that he and Miss Debbie were married. It was my favorite part because this was the most important and loving thing that Sam could ever to for her and he finally did it and it meant the world to her not only because it showed his affection for her but also because Miss Debbie's father died when she was little and she found this as way get to know what it was like to have a father.
My least favorite part of the book was when the Afghan women tell the stories of their lives. It was my least favorite part because I felt so bad for how all these women were treated on a regular basis. I feel that no women should ever be treated so badly and that every women no matter where they live should all the same rights as a man.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 10

If I would have been those girls at the beauty school who Shaz gave the cell phone number to I would have been so upset. In my opinion I think they should have turned her into the police for doing that because the text messages and calls that man made to all of those girls were horrible. Plus if their husband were to find out I could only imagine the beating they would go through because their husbands could think that they were cheating. I wanna know why she thought that by giving him the numbers to the girls that would make him love her more when he was basically just using her to get to them. If I were her I would not have done that at all because it would basically be like saying to her that she is not good enough.
I am so happy for Miss Debbie when Sam's dad finally knows that they are married. I would have felt the same way she did their entire marriage. That Sam was ashamed of it or something. When Papa Sam and Miss Debbie talk and he tells her that he is so greatful that she has married his son and they have a happy life together surprised me because Sam made it sound like he would hate her and that he would not approve of the marriage. I do not understand why if Papa Sam knew about the marriage since it first happened why he never said anything. You think he would have because he would want to voice his opinion not wait three years to have them tell him.
I feel really bad when the government shuts down the beauty school that she worked so hard to make happen. But I guess with the times they have over in Kabul it was bound to happen it was only a matter of time before they had a good enough reason.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 9

If I had male neighbors that were threatening to kill me I would have been scared. I would have never had the guts to go over to their house with a gun and threaten them back. I would be to afraid they would just up and kill me right there. I don't see how her husband doesn't get upset or mad that she does this. If I were him I would be worried for her life because these men are basically raised to disrespect women and they aren't used to women acting out in this way. I do think however that it is the right thing for her to do because by her acting this way it gets the police to finally come and do something about these mens behavior. This resulting in them finally changing the way they act and leaving all the tenants on the street alone.
I really don't understand why the women attending the beauty school treat Robina they way they do. I mean she is trying to better her life just like all the women there. It is not her fault that she has to live by herself with out a man so I do not think that these women should treat her like she is a whore because she lives with her sisters. It isn't like she has been proved to be a whore and will disgrace the school like Hama had done.
I'm happy that Bahar's husband had finally got some medical treatment to help him so he does not act the way he did by mistreating Bahar. This should go to show the all of Miss Debbie's effort have improved the life of the women over there because if Bahar had not attended this school and been able to get a higher paying job she would have never been able to save the money to get her husband the help he actually needed.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 8

If I were Miss Debbie I would feel really disrespected if my husband was having another kid to another wife after we were married. I know the customs are different for them but still he knows she is American and is trying to change some of his ways to accommodate her. I would also be scared like she is because so far his other wife had done nothing but bear him daughters and over there they want sons. Then she finds out that she finally gives him one and could lose him to his other because she does not want to have anymore children. What I don't get is that Miss Debbie already has two sons of her own. So, why can't her already having two sons still count? Like is it because they aren't his by birth? Like they still treat each other the same way.
It would be hard over there to be a women and having the men over there control you all the time and have all the say in what happens in your life. That would frustrate me so much not to be able to make my own decisions on what happens to me. If I was Mina i would just take my son and run away. But if she did that they would most likely die so I can see why she wouldn't. It would be hard though to have to take all the beatings she gets and the fear of losing her son to her awful husband all the time. I would not be able to stand this and I don't see how the women over there do. I also don't understand why there families let the men treat their daughters like that. Wouldn't their daughters getting beat and mistreated all the time make their family look bad?

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 7

If I were Miss Debbie I would be very frustrated with always having my sponsors having to take back some of there funding. It would also have to be really hard for her to make the money herself to support her school after losing part of her funding. Like I know she and some graduated students work in the beauty shop to raise money but what I don't get is how are their supporting their own families when they are working here all the time to raise money for the school. Some of these women are the primary supporter to their families and if they are spending all their time there who is supporting theirs? I know they get money in tips from the western women who can afford it but in my opinion I don't think the tips would be enough to support their whole house holds.
I used to feel really sorry for Hama and the life she had been living the whole way through the story up until now. Now I think she is a pretty lowly character. Miss Debbie goes through all the trouble to try to get her a better life over in America by calling one of her friends over there and and asking if she can go over and live there so she can get away from her said to be uncle but he really isn't so he can't rape her anymore and all Miss Debbie told her to do was stay away from him. Instead Hama continues to go with him and let him treat her like this. If I was Hama I would be so greatful of Miss Debbie's offer and I would do everything I could to listen. I would not keep seeing him and let him disrespect me in that way. Miss Debbie's son even has interest in her and is willing to have a form of an arranged marriage to save her from this but she still continues her behavior. Finally Miss Debbie makes her choose between her and the beauty school or Ali. I would have done the same thing as Miss Debbie because with Hama's behavior she was getting a name for herself and it was not a very good one and with her attending the beauty school it was giving them a bad name so I believe Miss Debbie made the right choice.
I'm very happy that Sam and Miss Debbie work out their relationship problems. I like how in the story their relationship kinda breaks the barriers between the two different ways and combines them into one almost. It shows that everyone can if they want to form their lives so everyone in the world have the opportunity to unite.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 6

Nahida has to be one of the bravest and most ambitious women I have read about. The way she sticks up for herself and does not give in to her husband no matter how much and how hard he beats her is amazing. She has big dreams and doesn't stop until she accomplished them and did whatever it took to do it. If I were her I don' t think I would be able to have stood up to him and taken all the beatings he gave her.
If I would have been Miss Debbie and found out that one of my girl maids was sexual harassing my students I would have fired her on the spot and not have just kept warning her. I think thats wrong. I mean seriously its bad enough the men mistreat the women but for the women to mistreat each other will just make all of their gender problems even worse. Like the guy Grabbing Miss Debbie's butt repeatedly while she was shopping with Roshanna. Especially after her telling him not to and punching him the face you think he would have got the message but clearly the men over there are to bright to gestures. Then I think it is extremely wrong that she goes and takes him to the police after he insists on doing it and all he gets is hit with a stick. Now if this would have been a women she would have been thrown into one of those horrible prisons. Now how is that even remotely fair at all?
I didn't know that they had earthquakes in Kabul. That was kinda interesting for me to find out.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 5

I felt really bad when I read that the house she had grown up in and spent most of her life living in had burnt down. My reaction when my house burnt down however was much different from hers. I was devastated by it. She just seemed to accept it and move on.
I feel really bad that her and her husband had to live so far away from each other for like three months. I know she wants to stay in America to be with her family and her children but I don't get why she just don't move her family over seas so she can live with her husband and teach more at the beauty school? I also don't see why she does not tell her family that she got remarried. I think that is something pretty important and her family deserves to know. I also wonder if her mother knows or not that there is something going on with her and her new husband or not. They never really say. I so know that she has heard their phone conversations and is kinda curious. I kinda feel bad that Miss Debbie has to deal with the fact he has another wife because of an arranged marriage. I mean I know she knows that he don't love her and it wasn't his choice but to me that would still be hard to live with.
I really can't stand the way men treat women over there. Some of them just treat them like a piece of meat and women aren't. Its also said that these men are supposed to have the most respect for women and they do until they marry one then some of them are just awful and I think thats wrong that they should keep the respect for women.
I would have reacted the same way Miss Debbie would have if they would have told me they weren't letting me back into the school and I could not even get all the donated supplies out. I don't see why the womens ministry won't let Miss Debbie teach I mean all she is doing is trying to help all these women so they can make and income and support their own families. I don't see at all how that is a disgrace to their culture.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 4

I would find it very frustrating as well if i had just started teaching and none of the girls were getting what I was teaching. However, instead of just teaching the stuff I had to teach over and over again the same way I would have come up with a new and different way to approach teaching it.
I would also have been very hurt going to the women's prisons in Kabul. The way the women are treated there is horrible. I think it is very wrong for them to be treated this way especially because a lot of the so called crimes they were said to have committed cannot even really be called crimes in my opinion. A women leaving her abusive husband would most likely be saving her life in some cases and I think it is wrong that they get thrown into jail for that. The men over there really need to lose their huge egos and realize they are in the 21st century and women are equal to them.
I think that the way Miss Debbie's marriage was arranged was the way that all arranged marriages should. She actually got to meet the man before any of the arrangements were made and they got to go on group dates. If all the people in Kabul would do this a lot of the marriages over there would a lot happier and most likely save a lot of women from going to the nasty womens prisons. It also confuses me that the parents say they love their children and everything yet they marry them off for money so how can they say they actually love when they would easily choose money and gifts over them?
I love how for every get together or party the women in Kabul go to like the graduation of the first class at the beauty school all the women got so dressed up and put on all that makeup yet no one can even see it. Like what is the point in wasting the time and money in supplies to put it on when its not even seen?

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 3

The first part of this chapter was a little drier than others. It basically was talking about the preparation she and the rest of her team had to undergo to make this beauty school happen. The ending of the chapter was better because it told the stories of the girls who were wanting to apply to the school.
The stories that the woman go through really make me sad. The story Baseera told about her life was really sad and would be really hard for most American girls to live. I know I would never be able to get engaged at the age of twelve then get married at fourteen. That would really suck because then you would not get to live your life the way you want to at all with living there because your new husband would run it. Also, having kids at the young of an age would be a lot to handle. However, a lot of girls in America get pregnant at the age because they are careless with their actions so I do not feel any sympathy for them like I would for Baseera because its not her choice.
If I were Miss Debbie I believe it would be hard to leave my family for a long period of time like she did to go over and start the beauty school. Like I do not see how she could go over there for that long and miss her children growing up. But, I guess she is just following what she feels she has to do.
I thought it was cool how she needed men to help her unload and sort the many supplies they brought over for the school and how all of the men did not know how to act to the fact that she lifted and carried the boxes herself. I like that after a little while with helping her the warmed up to the fact that she could do stuff for herself and not rely entirely on a man. Now if all the men over there could do the same it would make there country all better.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 2

This chapter really shocked me. The first part of the chapter talks about her first coming to Kabul to help the people over there and then the last part of it talks about the tragic things that happened in her life that lead her to where she is now.
I like when she talks about the shops that are found over in Kabul. When she first arrives at Kabul the place seems very bland and not like a very nice place to be in, but then as you get closer to the towns they brighten up with the businesses. I don't really think that is fair that the men only get to run the businesses out in the town and if the women want to run businesses they have to run them from inside their homes. Even though the Taliban is gone over there and most things have started to change I think that Kabul is still very far from where is needs to be with the way freedoms and rights of women. I also do not get why they are made to dress that way. The entire time I read all you do is here the women complain about wearing them. Also, the men all see there wives without them and I do not really see a difference if they see there wives to seeing other women. Its not like they have not seen a women before. I do like that when men and women such as Roshanna, Miss Debbie, and Daud become close friends and are alone in groups in the guest houses that they can be comfortable with each and not exactly follow all the rules like they would outside.
The second part of this chapter made me feel really bad for Miss Debbie. The dealing with her husband beating her and her not being able to leave him would really suck. If I were I would never put up with it and I really do not see why she does. He is not a good husband at all. I found it weird however that he did allow her to go to a course to learn what do in case of those emergency situations. Then like a few weeks after she takes that course 9/11 happened and she went there to work hands on by helping the firefighters. I thought this though very devastating was a great opportunity for her.

Kabul Beauty School Chapter 1

Kabul Beauty school has a good way of catching the readers interest in the begging because she starts out by telling you a story of rather tragic thing that happens while she is there. I also like that as you read through the book Deborah Rodriguez makes comparisons about the ways and traditions of Americans verse those of the people in Kabul.
The first chapter of this book was very interesting. I felt really bad for Roshanna with her having went through getting raped in her first marriage and being called cruel names and then trying to have another marriage without her husband finding out that she is not a virgin. I thought it was interesting the way Deborah came up with to save her friend from her new husband finding out. It was a bit weird her cutting her hand to put blood on the cloth to make it appear that Roshanna was still a virgin.
At the wedding I thought it was kinda weird how the men and women are separated and not allowed to dance with each other. What I thought was even weirder was that some of the women dressed up like men and danced with each other and both the men and women grinded with each other. I think that would be a little akward. I also could not even imagine that the women in kabul who are not allowed to do like anything would even know how to dance like that.

Hinduism #2

Hinduism seems really confusing to me. I mean like they seem to tempt to make life simpler because they use black and white to define the the good and bad things in life but they have so many other things in their religion that are much more complicated. Like reincarnation for example is really complicated because you have to go back and relive their lives so many time and each time you have to try and figure out what you need to do to be able to change to move on to Nirvana. I also dont really believe in reincarnation because I dont think that you get to keep reliving your life till you figure out the right way to live it. I believe that you are giving one life and one life only to do with it what you may whether you make wise decisions or not. Kalpa seemed kinda weird to me because I don't see how a person can like suddenly come back after 4,320,00 years and live a whole new life and suddenly remember who he was at one point and then now the next. Anyway no one lives for that long so how do they truely know that this really even happens? I mean come on this whole part of their religion could all just be hear say. They could all just be living their lives according to one big lie.

Final Reflection

When I first started reading this book I did not think that i was going to be to interested in it. But as i got reading it it turned out to be a very good book. My favorite part of the book was when they would talk Mohsen and Zunaira's life because you would think that it is going have them living a decent life considering what the taliban has done and that it is not going to affect them as much as say Atiq and his wife Mussarat. As you on thought you find that the taliban affects everyone in Kabul.
The part in the book that I did not like is how the taliban treats women. They show them no respect at all and they treat them like they are an object that is pretty much incapable of doing anything.
If I was the author of the book I would have told where Zunaira went off too. I would not have just left the reader to ponder the thought of where she went off to because pretty much had no where to go because she had no living family that she knew of and her husband is dead. I also would have ended up haveing her stay with Atiq because his wife so generous to save her life.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Fifteen

They all go through with the plan of the two women switching places. Mussarat goes into the jail cell and Zunaira goes into Atiq's cubby and hides. Qassim goes into Atiqs office and sees Zunaira and asks Atiq who she is. He replies by telling him that she is his wife and then Qassim offers for her to go to the stadium and watch and Atiq says that she will go. Whne they get there they watch Mussarat be killed and then when they leave Atiq looses Zunaira in all the crowds of people. He then goes home and has an awful dream and goes and roams the streets unvailing women trying to find Zunaira. The men who the women belong to are extremely offended by his actions and beat him to death.
I'm not very sure where Zunaira would be hiding or even where she would have gone to because she even said she had no family to return to.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Fourteen

The line "something is taking place inside of you that would make you the envy of saints and kings." means that Atiq after haveing such a harsh life and hating everything about it has just suddenly changed and allowed himself to become happy and live his life fuller tahn he used too.
Atiq's wife suggest that him and Zunaira run off together so they can live a happy life adn Atiq does not understand why she is telling him to do that. he figures that she would be mad that someone else makes him more happy. The thing that makes her happy though is that Atiq is finally allowing himself to feel real feelings for something in his life. Atiq's wife then makes the suggestion that she and Zunaira switch places because she is about to die from her disease and that is a way that Atiq and Zunaira can live happy lives together.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Thirteen

When Atiq goes to Qassim's house to tell him that he thinks Zunaira is innocent Qassim does nothing but tell Atiq that she did kill her husband and that he will not set her free. This angers Atiq and he goes to the jailhouse. When he arrives at the jailhouse Zunaira is not expecting anyone to come in so she tries to protect her face. When she realizes who it is she does not worry. Then Atiq tells Zunaira to run away and and go far away from here. When he tells her to leave and that he will take the blame for it she refuses to leave. Atiq does not understand why she will not go. Zunaira tells him that she has ruined one household she does not want to ruin another. Sh also says that she has lost her only connection to the world and that she has no family to go to anyway.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Twelve

The affect Zunaira has on Atiq is kinda surprising because the whole way through the book Atiq is depressed and never looks at the good side of things. Then he sees Zunaira and she makes him open up just by the sight of her. He can not keep his eyes off her. He even becomes so mesmerized by the sight of her that he forgets to pray.
I think that the author chose to use that analogy because he describes the way that the taliban has forced woman to become. They have to cover themselves completely and are not allowed to talk in the presence of certain people. This makes them practically like ghosts because they are not allowed to do anything.
Mussurat's reaction to Atiq seeing Zunaira is a good one because she is happy that there is someone out there who can bring the poet out in Atiq and take away the depressed feeling he is always feeling.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Eleven

Atiq is at the jailhouse and he is with a militiaman. Qassim tells the militiaman that he does not want Atiq to leave until he gets there. While they are waiting on Qassim the two men begin to talk. While Atiq is there he begins to wonder if he going to become like Nazeesh. Then Qassim arrives at the jailhouse and he brings in a women who is in trouble for killing her husband. It turns out that the women is Zunaira.
I hope that Zunaira does escape from jail because i do not particularly want to see her die because in this story she seems to be the only one who wants to stand up for what she believes in whether the taliban likes it or not.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Ten

In this chapter Mohsen and Zunaira are fighting like they never have before. Mohsen can not stand for Zunaira to be mad at him so when he comes home he tries to make up with her. When he confronts her about their problems she just flat out tells him she does not ever want to see him again. This upsets Mohsen and they begin to fight even more and Mohsen asks Zunaira why she feels this way and she tells him because he does not stick up for her to the officers in the taliban. They begin to fight even more and then Mohsen does what he never thought he would and he hits Zunaira. After this happens he begs for her forgiveness and she goes to leave and he grabs her arm. The next thing she knows Mohsen is laying on the floor bleeding and she does not know what to do.
I do not like how they are fighting because in the beginning of the story they are like the perfect couple despite the fact that the taliban is ruining their lives. Now however they are letting the affects of the taliban get to them and it has ruined the one good relationship in Kabul.

Swallos of Kabul Chapter Nine

In the beginning of this chapter Qassim is riding in a 4x4 on his way home from his mother's funeral. He is talking with his driver and his driver asks him if he wanted to stay another night and he declines because he says he does not really know his mother. His driver starts to talk to him about how he did not know his mother but he still cares for her. Qassim is not very interested this conversation. As they get closer to Kabul Qassim offers to take him to eat. When they arrive to eat Atiq is there. Atiq notices them and tries to leave without being seen. Qassim sees him and talks to him about how he believes that he is depressed. Qassim offers Atiq money but Atiq says he does not need. Qassim also offers him to join him and his old war buddies when they go out and just talk and drink tea.
I think that it would be good for Atiq to go out and talk with Qassim and his friends because it would give him a way to let out all the feelings his has bottled up inside. If he keeps all those feelings about his wifes sickness and with being fed up with being a jailor it could start to affect him mentally like a lot of the other men in Kabul.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Eight

In this Chapter Mohsen is in the mosque because he was forced to go there by the taliban officer. Mullah Bashir is leading this prayer and he is thought of as a very great mullah by the taliban. Mohsen feels bad that he had to leave Zunaira sitting outside in the hot sun during the sermon so he looks back at her but then later gets in trouble by an officer who cracks his whip. After the sermon Mohsen goes outside to meet Zunaira and he goes to help her walk back to the house but she pulls away and tells him not to touch her.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Seven

Atiq is out in the blazing hot sun and he sees some hundreds of sickly looking children. When he sees them he feels uneasy. Before Atiq saw these kids he regretted the fact that god never gave him and his wife children but now he sees all of these kids and considers himself lucky. As Atiq is walking down the street he passes Nazeesh's house. Nazeesh sees him and pretends to sleep while Atiq passes him. Atiq realizes and then comes and starts to talk to Nazeesh. While he is talking to him he apologizes for the hurtful words he had said the previous night. Then Nazeesh says that he should be the one apologizing because he interrupted him when he wanted to be alone. Nazeesh then asks Atiq if he thinks that what he said the other night was true and Atiq replies back in a rude way. Atiq then leaves Nazeesh and begins to walk and think about how it feels good for him to be mean like that to people. As Atiq is walking however Mirza Shah sees him talking to himself again and begins to talk to him and tell him that people are gonna think he is crazy if he keeps doing that. Then Atiq gets upset with Mirza's comments and leaves. As he leaves he runs into Zunaira and knocks over Mohsen. Mohsen then gets up and an officer from the taliban comes over and ask him if he thinks this is a circus. Mohsen starts talking to the officer and then officer hits him with the whip and Zunaira pulls him and tells him that they need to go. Then the officer yells at her for speaking. The officer then makes Mohsen go attend the prayer while Zunaira stays by the wall.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Six

In this chapter Zunaira is no longer holding the fact the Mohsen helped with the stoning against him. Kabul has gone from bad to worse and it is said that an isolated person is doomed. Much like the man that was whipped to death because he ran through the streets screaming god has failed. Mohsen then arrives back home and he asks Zunaira to go out and walk through the market with him. She declines because she does not want to go out there because she would then have to wear a burqa. This would cover her face and she does not approve of that because she used to be a magistrate where she fought for women's rights and she believes that wearing this burqa makes women become objects. She then realizes that her husband is very disapointed because he believes the Taliban is ruining there relationship because he can not go out into the streets and even hold hands with his wife. He thinks that just because they forbid this that they should still go out together because they can still walk side by side.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Five

In this chapter we start off with Atiq at the mosque again. This time he is there for the Isha prayer. While he is there he reads his texts and then he gets and overwhelming feeling like his head is going to burst. Then the congregation meets outside and the only the veterans are still there. Atiq then goes into the streets and ends up at the jail house. He decides he is going to stay there for the night since things are overwhelming at home. While he is there he is startled by Nazeesh. Nazeesh is a new character in this chapter. He is a sixty year old man who is having troubles at home with a loved one being ill just like Atiq. Nazeesh brings Atiq some food. While they are eating they begin to talk about Nazeesh's father being very ill and how Nazeesh is fed up with him complaining all the time. Nazeesh then says that he is going to leave and never come back. Atiq disagrees with him and tells him that he has said he is leaving many times yet he never does. They begin to have a little argument then Nazeesh leaves the jail house but on the way out he says that he agrees with Atiq that he know he says he will leave but he never does.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Four

This chapter starts off with Atiq at a mosque praying. Outside the mosque there are militiamen from the taliban standing guard. Then the pray begins and everyone forms into lines. Atiq however does not and a short elf like man tugs his vest to lead him into line to pray and Atiq is very offended by his gesture so he grabs the man by the wrist as hard as he can before he would scream. The man then walks to the front of the line and leaves Atiq. After praying Atiq listens to some veterans talk about war stories and some of the veterans their begin to arque about the dead men's bodies stinking. Atiq then goes home and sees that his ill wife Musarrat has cleaned the entire house. They then begin to talk and Atiq does not understand why she thinks that she has to prove everything to him.
Mohsen and his wife Zunaira are fighting because Zunaira is upset with Mohsen for participating in the stoning of the prostitute. Mohsen wants to reach his hand out to his wife but to him his body feels paralyzed. Zunaira is the same way but after awhile she gets up and goes behind the curtain. Mohsen waits for his wife to come back and after two hours when she does not he goes to see what she is doing. He sees her with her knees to her chest and she is facing the wall. He leaves before she knows he is there and goes outside.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Three

In chapter three Mohsen Ramat is in house with his wife Zunaira. Mohsen seems to be a respectful husband to Zunaira. As Mohsen and Zunaira begin to talk she asks him why he did not come for lunch and he explains to her that he felt very sorry that he missed it but he became very confused today and could not find his way home. Later as they are talking Mohsen feel that he needs to confess to Zunaira that he took a part in stoning the prostitute earlier that morning. When he tells her of this Zunaira then becomes very angry and leaves their conversation and goes to the kitchen.
Mohsen is very different from Mirza because mohsen actually loves his wife and believes that she is something special. Mirza on the other hand think that women are pretty much just something for him to own. He does not believe that they should be loved or treated with respect. But I do not see how two men from the same culture have totally different views on how to treat women because you would think that since they were raised in the same culture they would both think that its appropriate to treat them the same.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter Two

In chapter two Atiq starts to become fed up with his job as a jailer and he starts to doubts the promises of his mullah. His body is becoming very worn down and the darkness of his employment is taking root in his soul. Atiq is also feeling really bad for his wife and the condition she is in and hopes that a miracle will happen since the doctors have said they can do no more. He is thinking about this while he in the street of the market place. This thought bothers him so much that he is almost struck by a horse and buggy going down the street. Then he meets up with his childhood friend Mirza Shah. Mirza can sense that something is bothering Atiq and asks him what it is. At first Atiq is does not want to tell him but then later gives in. When Mirza hears that a woman is the cause of all his pain he tells Atiq that he should not let a woman he owes nothing to be the cause of it.
I believe that it is wrong for Mirza to put Atiq down for having real feelings for his wife just because he did not end up in a marriage were he had an actual connection to one of his. It seems to me that Mirza does not have any respect for women at all because he says that men give them a roof, protection, honor and a name. This just shows how much different their customs are from ours over here and in other countries.

Swallows of Kabul Chapter One

They way they went about killing the prostitute in the first chapter was kinda harsh in my oppinion because yea I know she did wrong but I think the humility of being caught doing that and perhaps a lighter punishment would have been enough. That or if that was the punishment that they wanted to go with I believe the people whom she involved in the crime should have been the only ones present at the stoning not the whole city. I do not understand why people who had no involvement in the crime would want to be a part in it. Its not like she did any wrong to them. Stoning as the punishment is not very common around here anymore most people are just sent to jail. Prostitution however is very common and not usually punished that harshly.