I strongly believe the characters and conflicts in My forbidden face reflect real life concerns. In this book there are a few themes that strongly relate towards our life today. When we reflect on the characters in the novel these are the themes that come up Overcoming obstacles, family and Human rights. The reason why I agree is because it teaches me that the themes in the novel reflect towards our everyday life and shows how our society works , it also helps us compare how fiction people in novels juxtapose to people in our society and our world.
In “My Forbidden Face” women in Afghanistan was seen to be strong, courageous and intelligent they were known to be on top of the hierarchy. They dominated work forces such as teaching, medical, and even played a part in the Government. Since the Taliban came into power, Women’s top standings were abolished. Women were left to nothing, the Taliban was seen as a major obstacle to face. Women had to climb back up the hierarchy through personal growth and development. Through the quote “It’s shameful to treat us like this” (no.52) Narguesse an airline attendant colleague with Soraya took off her burqa daring to make the gesture of rebellion. Her colleagues screamed their anger at the Taliban trying to make them feel empathetic. This shows that they are trying to stop the Taliban inequalities by expressing themselves leaving the Taliban feeble. The women are breaking down the Taliban bit by bit. In our country there are many gender inequalities and stereotypes , there is no complete stop to it but the use of physical/verbal force can make a difference and help overcome the obstacle of gender inequalities. The next step was to overcome her illness which was depression Latifa developed it when her mother turned ill. This is a major obstacle in her life as in many young teenagers life today 20% of people in Australia suffer from depression and Is also a major cause of teenage suicide. Latifa overcame the obstacle of depression by reading books about English and to stay caught on her studies for University, this is Latifa’s way of managing her obstacle . Latifa’s life was full of obstacles and barriers, there were many restrictions made and it closed the gap for Latifa’s life, most of these obstacles are also reflected to real life concerns.
Latifa and other women living under the Taliban regime experienced the worst racial discrimination and gender inequality in their lives. There was no such thing as freedom, women had many restrictions it was like they were not even wanted in the world. This is seen in the quote ”How can we get external support if all we are is faceless shadows without a voice”. Women are seen to be only used in the house. The radio sharia laws state that Women must wear burqas, women were not allowed to work outside the house, women who leaves their house must be accompanied by a mahram, public transport is segregated, no male doctor is permitted to touch a woman’s body. Gender inequality is also seen in our society nowadays, the discrimination of women is a common type of discrimination and can mentally affect the woman. This is seen in the quote “I disappear beneath my burqa” the women of Afghanistan have accepted that they should not be seen or heard. The Taliban have successfully brainwashed the women of Afghanistan. The radio sharia laws go to the