Kite runner role of women free essay sample

Jamila Taheri is Soraya’s mother and the General Taheri’s wife. She lived in Afghanistan, where she married then powerful General Taheri and her family had to emigrate to the USA just before the change of regimes when the Soviet army invaded Afganistan. She is a mature person, her personality was defined by Afghan traditions, values, culture. In the USA she is exposed to different culture and society traditions. Although the space given to Jamila in the book is modest, but her role as a character is very important because she was basically the one that allowed Amir and her daughter Soraya to converse and later conveyed her admiration for Amir to her husband the General Taheri. Jamila plays the role of a typical Afgan wife and mother, she obeys her husband without a question and wants nothing more than to see her daughter married. She is a loving mother but also a women of a sensitive, subtle and creative nature. We will write a custom essay sample on Kite runner: role of women or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Jamila’s relationship with her husband is unloving. The General made her think that she was not worthy or good enough. It seems that the General Taheri has the power over her. They sleep in separate rooms, and have done for as long as Soraya can remember. The fact that Jamila was a promising singer and had to give up a singer’s career after marring a conservative, dominating man I read as a symbol that she â€Å"lost her singing, voice† and she has no voice (no say) in the family dominated by her husband. The writer shows this in a very subtle (and painful) way, Amir finds out that Jamila is an amazing singer, but the General refuses to let her sing in public. She wanted to sing at the wedding, only one song, however she was not allowed to. On the other hand Jamila is a strong person who managed not to lose her values, i. e her personality. She is open minded and has a strong feeling of what is justice, who accepts people by their values not the social ranking. She is also tolerant, capable of forgiving mistakes and accept people as they are, differently from her husband. When Amir adopted Sohrab, Hassan’s son, she stood for her opinion against General’s opinion. The General did not like Amir’s decision to bring the Hazara boy into the family because of social ranking. Jamila understands Soraya and supports her wish to become a teacher which is she passionate about, differently from the General Taheri (father) who wants her daughter to have a prestigious occupation of a lawyer. It is Jamila who pursues the General Taheri to accept Amir into the family. The General did not like Amir because of his not â€Å"serious† occupation – his love to write books. Jamila became the bridge for Amir and Soraya allowing them to talk without people gossiping. As if her (Jamilas) presence legitimized whaterver was happening between us- though certainly not to the same degree that the generals would have. Khanum Teheris (Jamila’s) chaperoning made our meetings, if not gossip-proof, then less gossip-worthy, even if her borderline fawning on me clearly embarrassed Soraya. (150). In my opinion, it is very symbolic that half of Jamila’s face is paralyzed. After Soraya ran away with an Afghan boyfriend, Jamila had a stroke and got the right side of her face paralyzed. To my mind, her paralyzed side of the face symbolises her relationship with the past, her husband, the Afgan conservative traditions, suppression of her creative nature. Her other side of the face is alive and symbolises her soul, her values, open – mindedness, her loving heart for Soraya (of course), for Amir. It was her redemption first of all when Soraya and Amir met and married. Before that Jamila was repressed by her past, relationship with her the General Taheri. As a loving Afgan mother Jamila wanted her daughter to be happily married and living with Amir, what is more, her open-heartedness redempted Amir as well , having Sohrab, the son of his half-brother live together with them.