Kill All Birds with One Stone
~Blog Post #4~
Topic J
May 11, 2015
By: Madison Edwards
While reading the The Swallows of Kabul, especially during the last few chapters, I often forgot about the title of the book. I became so caught up in the soaring emotions of each character that I forgot to keep the title in mind and reflect on how it related to the situation of women in the Middle East. Once I stopped and thought about it, I realized that The Swallows of Kabul is a beautifully poetic, yet tragic commentary on the situation of these women.
After witnessing Zunaira take off her burqa, Atiq becomes aware of how he perceives women: “For him, women are only ghosts, voiceless, charmless
ghosts, that pass practically unnoticed along the streets; flocks of inform
swallows—blue, yellow, often faded, several seasons behind—that make a mournful
sound when they come into the proximity of men” (144). This is the only point in the book where Khadra references the title. The mysterious "swallows of Kabul" are the women of Kabul. They are described as worn-out birds who float around Kabul without being noticed. They do not interact with anyone or anything. They exist solely to be taken advantage of. Swallows are small birds that exist all over the world. They often are called barn swallows: birds who make nests in barns, attics, windows, and other outer surfaces of buildings. Barn swallows have an annoying, shrill call. They are often unwelcome and unwanted by humans. This description perfectly describes how women are viewed in the Middle East.
It is also interesting to see how the idea of feminism is played out in the novel. My perceptions for the novel have completely changed since the first time I opened the book. I originally thought that the book we mainly talk about sexism that occurred in the Middle East. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, it did offer cometary about the life of women in the Middle East; however, the book hid these message with elegant wording. The novel not only talked about the injustice of women but of all humans under the rule of the Taliban.
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