Emotional Reaction

Entry 3: Emotional Reaction

One part of the novel to which I had an emotional reaction was the time when Malala was discussing the escalated Taliban violence after a peace treaty was signed. She describes the video of a teenage girl being beaten, “A teenage girl wearing a black burqa and red trousers was lying face down on the ground being flogged in broad daylight by a bearded man in a black turban...they hit her thirty-four times. A crowd had gathered but did nothing. One of the woman’s relatives even volunteered to help hold her down” (170). This really shows the extremes of Taliban violence and it’s effect of people. The fact that everyone is just standing, and watching as a teenage girl is being beaten to death shows how corrupted and desensitized they are, and maybe in fear of the Taliban themselves. It is really upsetting to me that no one is interfering, and a girl is probably going to die. If I were one of them I wouldn’t want to be a bystander, even if I physically couldn’t do anything I would at least make an effort to go get someone who could. The horrible thing is that Malala later goes on to say that the girl’s only offense was leaving the house with a man who was not her husband. That the Taliban would injure or kill someone for an offense so small is truly shocking. The fact that one of the girl’s relatives actually volunteered to hold her down is horrific. This really shows how extremely the corruption from Taliban violence was affecting the people. I was so surprised by this because Malala is so family-oriented, and this provides a very strong contrast between Malala’s family and the family of the girl being beaten. People are so brainwashed by their fear of the Taliban that they would willingly assist in the murder of their own family. I couldn’t imagine anyone ever doing this, and the fact that it actually occurred is cruel and beyond heartbreaking. Overall, I think this passage perfectly describes the atmosphere at this time, and it could not be any more disturbing.