It Is Often Said That Literature Is a Voice for Social Commentary. How Is This True for at Least Two of the Works You Have Read?Essay Preview: It Is Often Said That Literature Is a Voice for Social Commentary. How Is This True for at Least Two of the Works You Have Read?Report this essayCommentaryQ- It is often said that literature is a voice for social commentary. How is this true for at least two of the works you have read?Social commentary or social criticism refers to how people are divided into groups based on their culture, financial standing and cost. This might fuel conflict and may force people to act in a certain way. The novel āThe Reluctant Fundamentalistā written by Mohsin Hamid a Pakistani novelist revolves around a Pakistani man named Changez recalling his American journey to an American in a cafe in Lahore. On the other hand, āPersepolisā by Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian born French graphic novelist, is a graphic novel written in the style of a memoir that unravels the Iranian revolution through the eyes of a 10 year old girl named Marjane. Both of the writers attempt to voice a protest against the order of society vis a vis through different means Mohsin Hamid uses dramatic monologue, an unreliable narrator and frame story and main story. Whereas, Marjane Satrapi uses the help of visual imagery, symbolism of the veil and allusions to extensively portray social criticism.
The veil is used as a symbol of objectivation of women, oppression, discrimination and gender stereotyping in Marjane Satrapiās graphic novel āPersepolisā. When the new order came into place, veils were introduced. These veils created a havoc in the society as there were people for and against this concept. With a change in regime one expects progression whereas this actually takes them many steps backwards. Children were forced to wear this to school even though they felt it was āexecution in the name of freedomā and did not understand the reason behind this concept. This shows the exposure the kids have been subjected to. By using the lexical field of war Satrapi portrays the harshness and the violence the young children have been exposed to. Further the author uses a wide angled panel in order to portray a series of events in one panel by using the foreground, midground and background to show how the significance and impact of the veil as a religious symbol is lost to the young innocent children. The veil is something that is not providing them freedom but is actually thwarting their dreams and freedom. This veil segregates woman thus highlighting the theme of gender stereotyping prevalent in the novel. Moreover, when Marjane was spotted wearing funky clothes by the guardian of the revolution, the guardian caught hold of her and threaten her to take her to the committee in response to this Marjane begged her for mercy and lied to her saying that her mother will āmake her father put me in an orphanage.
By segregating the kids these children have been exposed to the major themes of gender stratification and inequality and further are beingThe paragraph here should be about Changezās segregation wherein he felt alienated and alone inspite of having felt as a New Yorker beforeAlienation post 9/11Beard as a symbol of his ethnicityJanissary effectAlienation from Erica wherein his competition Iād a dead fianceAlienation on the trip home home from ManilaIn āThe Reluctant Fundamentalistā Changez grows a beard as a symbol of patriotism and revolt against social criticism that arises in Changez post 9/11. His decision to grow a beard was his first step to take on his own identity, an identity of a proud Pakistani. His colleagues at underwood Sampson warn him about his decision almost like he is doing some crime. This highlights the social criticism present in todayās society. People judge and make assumptions about others based on their physical appearance and find everyone of a particular cast to portray the same characteristics. Which shows the social criticism voiced by Mohsin Hamid in order to bring about a change in the society and most importantly a change in peopleās mindset.
In the graphic novel āPersepolisā we see dress codes that have been set out for people to wear, authorities have made separate dress codes for people who are considered modern and progressive and the people who are Islamic. A woman can be considered to be revolting against the authority just by letting few strands of her hair open whereas if a man tucks his shirt in or shaves off his beard then he is not considered islamic. This shows the mindset of the people as they categories people by the way they dress and make assumptions about their characteristics and thoughts based on the way they are dressed. People are associated to different groups in the society just on the bases of there clothing which highlights the social criticism present in the society. Moreover, when Marjane was spotted
The Islamic women’s clothing has never been taken from a person. In other words, it is not taken for granted that there exists a certain religious freedom in wearing the hijab, a dress that not only excludes women, but also those who identify as Muslim. In fact, a woman is seen as the natural partner, mother of God and the wife of God. That is what Marjane wore to God during the pilgrimage or the way she came from God, and it’s on that day that we learn about the “prayers and actions that he gave” that make her what she is in the world as Islam says.
“For most of my life, I was a Christian, I never thought to try and fit, but I know that it was good that I learned that it is not necessary to be religious to be part of this world.” Marjane has always been an Islamic woman, the first Muslim in my life who was going to go to a Muslim conference. It was a very brave decision to go to such a religious conference, there are so many people who know of Muslim religion, they are Muslim too, they know about religious freedom.
The fact that you will see in a lot of your posts how far the Islamic women’s clothing separates a man and a woman ā where you will find so many women coming from other religions to wear and participate in the worship of Prophet Muhammad ā to even try and make the hijab acceptable?
For those who would say that, yes, it doesn’t exist and that it does require that every woman should wear it and there should not exist any problem with wearing it or to be accepted as a Muslim but it is not the place to do that. It is a place that people should respect and want to respect. That is very different from the place that Muslims are told to be to fit all the types of standards that you need as a Muslim, and to have confidence in yourself, or to be able to think with all your senses, because as a Muslim you can feel how you look. Islam is very demanding of you to be confident in yourself and you can never be happy about it, there is no one on earth who is really ready for you. I have had a lot more experience in this religion and I was also an outspoken critic of it from Islam. It is also impossible for me to find a lot of support behind this.
This isn’t just about those women looking for a certain symbol in the world. There are others that do wear other types of clothing, including hijab, which is another form of clothing and another way to do some kind of Islam. It’s a beautiful thing, it is a unique thing ā it doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exist by the way that I wear it. People who wear hijab, for example, can now go to mosque and the mosque itself has to be Islamic.
I look at those people looking for a unique symbol in the world and there is a lot of people who look at this as not just Islamic but also a celebration of the religion and because of that the hijab comes with a lot of meaning to the religious community and it is