论文部分内容阅读
【Abstract】Through Hosseini’s two novels： The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns，the author shows us a portrayal of Afghans’ life during Afghanistan War in 1970s.Hence it arouses readers’ curiosity to want to know more about the Islamic culture，to see what Islamic women’s condition is like under theirculture and to examine the relationship between terrorism and Islam，ifsupposed there was one.This paper will take a brief look into the two questions above，and will seek for answers for some doubts about Islam.After seeing all those endless wars andthe life for war victims，what is the real meaning for human to fight against each other？ At the end of this paper，it tries to answer that，too.
【Key words】Afghanistan； feminism； terrorism； Islam； war； harmony
Literature Review
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns，are bothbooks of Khaled Hosseini’s--an Afghan-American writer.The first one is dedicated to the children of his homeland，while the latter specially to the women of Afghanistan.Both stories share the same background that took place between the mid-20th century andthe beginning of the 21st century，which is the time Afghanistan met an upheaval time of her history.At the beginning ofeach story，the authorshows a portrayal of a common and peaceful Islamic way of life for the protagonists，then the historic event—Russian invasion，and afterwardswar and forces of violence that subsequently followed，had dramatically changed people’s life there.In The Kite Runner，the author presents a portrait of Hassan who is the victim of the social tumult and of those orphans caused by tragedies during that time，either losing parents or being abandoned by those unaffordable moms who lost their husbands during waror by violence-forces.In A Thousand Splendid Suns，the author has taken the last four decades of that country’s tumultuous history of war and oppression，but this time he focuses on the figure of women who doubly suffered not just by the culture tradition of Islam but also by that when it comes to war time which makes their situation even worse.Two stories are both heartbreaking and encouraging，theyshow the world what real lifewas like forthose people suffered from war，and inspire people worldwide to reconsider the meaning of war，to get to know how the refugees still need help from outside，and let them see how they have been struggling to triumph over the force of violence-forces which continue to threaten them even today.And besides，since two stories have the same setting in Afghanistan，which is an Islamic country，after finish reading two books，it arouses people.s curiosity to get to know more about the Islamic culture，especially when it comes to women’s condition in their daily life，some oppressions they have been suffering are even far beyond non-Islamic people can understand.And as recently there are bunches of news about terrorism here and there in some western countries，this may also intrigue people to think if there has something to do with Islamic culture indeed.At least，we need to take some insights and seek for some answers. Female.s image in Hosseini’snovel and women.s movement in Islamic world
In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns，two protagonists Mariam and Laila share one husband，and they are supposed to obey all their husband’s wills，whenever they offend him，they got beaten，sometimes violently.And in many cases，women are not allowed to go out public without their husband’s permission or their company.And no matter how one’s marriage has become a great disaster，it can only be the husband who has the right to put an end to the marriage，no right for women to divorce.All of these polygamy，patriarchy，and violence oppressions，readers can obtain quite a close and clear viewin the novel.Then people can’t help to ask： why in this way，since it is obviously wrong to treat women like that？ Is there really no other way out？If that is the forever life for every Islamic woman，their rightful needs can’t never be heard don’t even mention to be satisfied.
However，this might be the common image of Islamic woman.But according to the article The Rise of the Islamic Feminists by Elizabeth Segran，we can glimpse a light that Islamic women have finally been aware of the inequality forced on them and have the courage and strength to fight back for themselves.As the article introduces，in 2009，a global movement called Musawah—“equality” in Arabic—began to make the case that women can fight for justice and equality from within Islamic tradition.“At its core，Musawah operates on the belief that Islam is not inherently biased toward men： patriarchy within Muslim countries is a result of the way male interpreters have read Islamic texts.With this framework for action，Musawah empowers women to shape the interpretations，norms and laws that affect their lives，then push for legal reform in their respective countries.”There is also a Malaysian organization called Sisters in Islam which is an organization carry out women’s movements in Islamic world.Musawah’s approach is modeled on it，and “their work relies on two main tools： progressive interpretations of the Koran and international human rights standards.”
It is relieving to see that Islamic women have gradually found out a way that can simultaneously respect the Islamic law and attain their justice and equality.The influence of Musawah and Sisters in Islam is still spreading out in Islamic countries，and will lead to more and more liberation for Islamic women.What have been originallyassumed impossible and unchangeableis now taking place bit by bit.People should really believe in the power of justice. The causes of social chaos and catastrophes
For a decade，there have been news of terrorist attacks，here and there all around the world，each out of people’s precognition，and thousands of innocent people involved，making cruel tragedies，hurting hundreds of families.By now，there have been more than a thousand of such terrorist groups，and members of most of these organizations，from al-Qaeda，Jemaah Islamiyah，Boko Haram to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams that is ISIS，the one who has been acting actively this year，they are allMuslims，believing in the religion of Islam.After seeing all that had happened，some non-Islamic people even start to question the religion itself，blaming for its doctrine that leads people to do those antihuman affairs.
In the article of Psychological insights into Indonesian Islamic terrorism by Arie W.Kruglanski，the author tried to figure out the causesthat lead to terrorism on the psychological level.According to his analysis，it is terrorists’ belief systems，the ideology that undergirds their actions，and “the crucial elements of this ideology are（i）the expression of a grievance based on perceived injustice，or unfairness suffered by Muslims；（ii）the identification of a culprit responsible for the injustice； and（iii）the identification of a method to redress the injustice，namely violence and terrorism aimed against the culprit.” In the two novels readers can see how people of Afghanistan be humiliated or get hurt even killed by those foreign soldiers who invade their homeland.And you’ll never know on which day you may come up with a bomb nearby，and get killed.Now and then，you hear people say or witness all by yourself that someone who maybe close to you being bombed into pieces，some parts of the torso rest on the roof where you can see clearly.That was the status of Afghans under war time.They lived under the emotion of fear and panic and helplessness.Even after war，humiliation and oppression on the colonized stillgo on.This might be the grievance and injustice part as Kruglanski mentioned.If anything goesfar too extreme，it will provoke forces to fight back in order to maintain some balance.So those oppressed Muslims feel need to fight for themselves，and firstly they need to identify the culprit responsible for what they have been through，and then a method to redress the injustice.
But why were they inclined to violence？ In the article，the author tried to answer that，too.It also stems from their ideological belief system which there is a quest for significance，that is the need to feel one’s life matters and has meaning.And besides of this significance pursuit，there are other motivations like survival，comfort，pleasure，and so on which can be referred to as the “love of self”.The author thinks that there are three types of conditions under which the quest for significance is awakened.“These are a loss of significance，threat of such loss，and an opportunity for significance gain.”Hence those believe in jihad yet remain not to act upon those beliefs “threatens a considerable loss of significance： either one lives under the burden of sin，or one decides to join the jihad.”Then they defined a new，improved self-identity based on violence in the name of Islam，and do what they believe they should do. So does that mean the belief in jihad is what to be blamed for？ Tothe defense of Islamic followers，they have stood out to straighten all the misunderstandings towards Islam.They proclaim that Islam has always advocated peace，mercy，tolerance，and kindness.The ideology of Middle Path in Islam is a noble spirit that guides people to behave moderately，and it’s obviously against extremism.Those extremists have misparaphrased the real meaning of jihad.To connect extremism and terrorism with Islam，confusing people’s judgments，making them believe that Islam is the root for terrorism，are all those western country governments’ strategies with their political purposes.Extremism and terrorism don’t belong to any of the ethnic groups or religions，objecting terrorism should not aim at specific religions.And such terrorism is more a result of some culture conflicts rather than a product of one culture itself.
No matter what people choose to believe what the real cause of terrorism is.One iron fact people should see is that war is the real culprit for all social chaos and catastrophes.It only brings more wars and more destruction to human world，including extremism and terrorism.No one can deny that they are both products of war itself.
Where is the end of these culture conflicts and wars？
Khaled Hosseini’s two novels bring us into the world of Islam，provide a whole and closeview of Afghans’ life before and after war.They inspire people to explore into the culture of Islam，and see problems there which should arousepeople’s concerns.By telling these two heartbreaking stories，if the author is suggesting something，I think he wants to tellus how miserable and unbearable life would be for war victims.And those refugees in Afghanistan still need help from the outside world，especially orphans.Besides，Afghan women have been through a lot of oppressions，but they’ve been acting brave and strong，and can fulfil some of their pursuits even under their limited abilities，they are great！ Moreover，what the author wants to suggest most，I think it is that people should review their behaviors and reconsider the meaning of war.
Human have always been seeking for justice.Every person has his own understanding of the word，which dominates their judgments and responses.Of course human is quite a complicated creature on this planet，many of their activities cannot be simply explained out or rationalized.On the occasions of international affairs，whenever some feel it an inevitable choice to seek for military force to settle things，maybe they should give it a pause，and reconsider what war ultimately means.It wouldmean millions of thousands of innocent lives，and hundreds of thousands of families breaking down.If only they would give it a second thought and see problems in another way，perhaps wars can be avoided.Since war is the last thing human beings would need，it can only bring destruction and constant nightmares to people’s normal life.Once war is launched，inevitably there would be more fights and more wars to act upon it，it’sjust like an endless circle，never know where the end is.
【Key words】Afghanistan； feminism； terrorism； Islam； war； harmony
Literature Review
The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns，are bothbooks of Khaled Hosseini’s--an Afghan-American writer.The first one is dedicated to the children of his homeland，while the latter specially to the women of Afghanistan.Both stories share the same background that took place between the mid-20th century andthe beginning of the 21st century，which is the time Afghanistan met an upheaval time of her history.At the beginning ofeach story，the authorshows a portrayal of a common and peaceful Islamic way of life for the protagonists，then the historic event—Russian invasion，and afterwardswar and forces of violence that subsequently followed，had dramatically changed people’s life there.In The Kite Runner，the author presents a portrait of Hassan who is the victim of the social tumult and of those orphans caused by tragedies during that time，either losing parents or being abandoned by those unaffordable moms who lost their husbands during waror by violence-forces.In A Thousand Splendid Suns，the author has taken the last four decades of that country’s tumultuous history of war and oppression，but this time he focuses on the figure of women who doubly suffered not just by the culture tradition of Islam but also by that when it comes to war time which makes their situation even worse.Two stories are both heartbreaking and encouraging，theyshow the world what real lifewas like forthose people suffered from war，and inspire people worldwide to reconsider the meaning of war，to get to know how the refugees still need help from outside，and let them see how they have been struggling to triumph over the force of violence-forces which continue to threaten them even today.And besides，since two stories have the same setting in Afghanistan，which is an Islamic country，after finish reading two books，it arouses people.s curiosity to get to know more about the Islamic culture，especially when it comes to women’s condition in their daily life，some oppressions they have been suffering are even far beyond non-Islamic people can understand.And as recently there are bunches of news about terrorism here and there in some western countries，this may also intrigue people to think if there has something to do with Islamic culture indeed.At least，we need to take some insights and seek for some answers. Female.s image in Hosseini’snovel and women.s movement in Islamic world
In the book A Thousand Splendid Suns，two protagonists Mariam and Laila share one husband，and they are supposed to obey all their husband’s wills，whenever they offend him，they got beaten，sometimes violently.And in many cases，women are not allowed to go out public without their husband’s permission or their company.And no matter how one’s marriage has become a great disaster，it can only be the husband who has the right to put an end to the marriage，no right for women to divorce.All of these polygamy，patriarchy，and violence oppressions，readers can obtain quite a close and clear viewin the novel.Then people can’t help to ask： why in this way，since it is obviously wrong to treat women like that？ Is there really no other way out？If that is the forever life for every Islamic woman，their rightful needs can’t never be heard don’t even mention to be satisfied.
However，this might be the common image of Islamic woman.But according to the article The Rise of the Islamic Feminists by Elizabeth Segran，we can glimpse a light that Islamic women have finally been aware of the inequality forced on them and have the courage and strength to fight back for themselves.As the article introduces，in 2009，a global movement called Musawah—“equality” in Arabic—began to make the case that women can fight for justice and equality from within Islamic tradition.“At its core，Musawah operates on the belief that Islam is not inherently biased toward men： patriarchy within Muslim countries is a result of the way male interpreters have read Islamic texts.With this framework for action，Musawah empowers women to shape the interpretations，norms and laws that affect their lives，then push for legal reform in their respective countries.”There is also a Malaysian organization called Sisters in Islam which is an organization carry out women’s movements in Islamic world.Musawah’s approach is modeled on it，and “their work relies on two main tools： progressive interpretations of the Koran and international human rights standards.”
It is relieving to see that Islamic women have gradually found out a way that can simultaneously respect the Islamic law and attain their justice and equality.The influence of Musawah and Sisters in Islam is still spreading out in Islamic countries，and will lead to more and more liberation for Islamic women.What have been originallyassumed impossible and unchangeableis now taking place bit by bit.People should really believe in the power of justice. The causes of social chaos and catastrophes
For a decade，there have been news of terrorist attacks，here and there all around the world，each out of people’s precognition，and thousands of innocent people involved，making cruel tragedies，hurting hundreds of families.By now，there have been more than a thousand of such terrorist groups，and members of most of these organizations，from al-Qaeda，Jemaah Islamiyah，Boko Haram to the Islamic State of Iraq and al Shams that is ISIS，the one who has been acting actively this year，they are allMuslims，believing in the religion of Islam.After seeing all that had happened，some non-Islamic people even start to question the religion itself，blaming for its doctrine that leads people to do those antihuman affairs.
In the article of Psychological insights into Indonesian Islamic terrorism by Arie W.Kruglanski，the author tried to figure out the causesthat lead to terrorism on the psychological level.According to his analysis，it is terrorists’ belief systems，the ideology that undergirds their actions，and “the crucial elements of this ideology are（i）the expression of a grievance based on perceived injustice，or unfairness suffered by Muslims；（ii）the identification of a culprit responsible for the injustice； and（iii）the identification of a method to redress the injustice，namely violence and terrorism aimed against the culprit.” In the two novels readers can see how people of Afghanistan be humiliated or get hurt even killed by those foreign soldiers who invade their homeland.And you’ll never know on which day you may come up with a bomb nearby，and get killed.Now and then，you hear people say or witness all by yourself that someone who maybe close to you being bombed into pieces，some parts of the torso rest on the roof where you can see clearly.That was the status of Afghans under war time.They lived under the emotion of fear and panic and helplessness.Even after war，humiliation and oppression on the colonized stillgo on.This might be the grievance and injustice part as Kruglanski mentioned.If anything goesfar too extreme，it will provoke forces to fight back in order to maintain some balance.So those oppressed Muslims feel need to fight for themselves，and firstly they need to identify the culprit responsible for what they have been through，and then a method to redress the injustice.
But why were they inclined to violence？ In the article，the author tried to answer that，too.It also stems from their ideological belief system which there is a quest for significance，that is the need to feel one’s life matters and has meaning.And besides of this significance pursuit，there are other motivations like survival，comfort，pleasure，and so on which can be referred to as the “love of self”.The author thinks that there are three types of conditions under which the quest for significance is awakened.“These are a loss of significance，threat of such loss，and an opportunity for significance gain.”Hence those believe in jihad yet remain not to act upon those beliefs “threatens a considerable loss of significance： either one lives under the burden of sin，or one decides to join the jihad.”Then they defined a new，improved self-identity based on violence in the name of Islam，and do what they believe they should do. So does that mean the belief in jihad is what to be blamed for？ Tothe defense of Islamic followers，they have stood out to straighten all the misunderstandings towards Islam.They proclaim that Islam has always advocated peace，mercy，tolerance，and kindness.The ideology of Middle Path in Islam is a noble spirit that guides people to behave moderately，and it’s obviously against extremism.Those extremists have misparaphrased the real meaning of jihad.To connect extremism and terrorism with Islam，confusing people’s judgments，making them believe that Islam is the root for terrorism，are all those western country governments’ strategies with their political purposes.Extremism and terrorism don’t belong to any of the ethnic groups or religions，objecting terrorism should not aim at specific religions.And such terrorism is more a result of some culture conflicts rather than a product of one culture itself.
No matter what people choose to believe what the real cause of terrorism is.One iron fact people should see is that war is the real culprit for all social chaos and catastrophes.It only brings more wars and more destruction to human world，including extremism and terrorism.No one can deny that they are both products of war itself.
Where is the end of these culture conflicts and wars？
Khaled Hosseini’s two novels bring us into the world of Islam，provide a whole and closeview of Afghans’ life before and after war.They inspire people to explore into the culture of Islam，and see problems there which should arousepeople’s concerns.By telling these two heartbreaking stories，if the author is suggesting something，I think he wants to tellus how miserable and unbearable life would be for war victims.And those refugees in Afghanistan still need help from the outside world，especially orphans.Besides，Afghan women have been through a lot of oppressions，but they’ve been acting brave and strong，and can fulfil some of their pursuits even under their limited abilities，they are great！ Moreover，what the author wants to suggest most，I think it is that people should review their behaviors and reconsider the meaning of war.
Human have always been seeking for justice.Every person has his own understanding of the word，which dominates their judgments and responses.Of course human is quite a complicated creature on this planet，many of their activities cannot be simply explained out or rationalized.On the occasions of international affairs，whenever some feel it an inevitable choice to seek for military force to settle things，maybe they should give it a pause，and reconsider what war ultimately means.It wouldmean millions of thousands of innocent lives，and hundreds of thousands of families breaking down.If only they would give it a second thought and see problems in another way，perhaps wars can be avoided.Since war is the last thing human beings would need，it can only bring destruction and constant nightmares to people’s normal life.Once war is launched，inevitably there would be more fights and more wars to act upon it，it’sjust like an endless circle，never know where the end is.