Hi, this is my Chicago optional essay.
I'm worried cuz I wrote about only one book. Should I write about at least two?
Any comments/critiques/corrections will be greatly appreciated!
Mariam bounces in the truck as it rolls along the unpaved road. Her destination is Ghazi Stadium, the site for public executions. She is afraid, and so am I. Clouds of anguish clog my inside, burning my throat as I watch her on her way to death- a heroic, beautiful, yet tragic end. Watching the world for the last time through her burqa, Mariam kneels. The executioner's Kalashnikov swings down. I cry all night long.
Khaled Hosseini's "A Thousand Splendid Suns," left me shaken for days after reading it. The novel is a traumatic story about war, gender injustice, and violence, conveyed through the view points of two Afghan heroines, Mariam and Laila. The two protagonists struggle against their brutal marriage with Rasheed, the unending war in Kabul, and the oppressive rule of Taliban. Throughout the story they suffer from their husband's verbal and physical assaults, yet develop a friendship that later defines their identities. Much as I had pitied both women, I hated Rasheed for the issues he represented. He personified the illogical and dangerous belief that some particular groups of humans were God's mistakes, and therefore should be treated as inferiors. In the real world, this very belief is arousing hideous acts of violence such as the acid attack on Kabul's school girls in 2008. It is what brings Mariam's tragic execution in the story, as the Taliban-operated jury would not consider a woman's justification in killing her husband in order to save her friend's life. Both female protagonists, however, prove through their friendship that humanity can still prevail in these victimizing conditions. Although I was heartbroken to see Mariam die, I was also relieved at her obtaining a new sense of identity through her sacrifice. She was not an "unwanted thing," a beaten wife and a victim of blind traditions, but "someone who had loved and been loved back." She leaves the story as an ultimate victor, and I applaud at her strength and heroism.
(327 words)
This is one of the best, most eloquent and thoughtful reviews of a book I have ever seen! I hope you do not have to cut any of it in order to make room for discussion of a few other books.
Perhaps at the end of the essay, you can name a few other favorite books so as to fulfill the requirement, but use them as reference points for explaining why this book is foremost in your mind.
