Pictured above is Aung San Suu Kyi and to the right pictured is a picture of the cloth Gelareh Asayesh has to wear in her native country.
Part I:
The writer of this essay feels contradiction when she returns to her home land of, Terhan. She has to dress up and cover her head with garments when she walks the streets of her homeland. This is not the case in her home located in Florida of the United States. She feels like she is letting the people down whom she has befriended in Florida when she wears these garments. But on the other hand, she feels ashamed when she is in the states because she doesn't have to wear the garments and feels she is letting her family down in her native country. All of this put together makes her unsure about exactly what to do to resolve this conflict of interest. She shares this because there is a lot of people that have family over in other countries that are treated differently in the United States. When some of these people come over and leave their families behind, it is like abandoning them because even though their families have to suffer, they are free. For me work and church is a big contradiction in my life. My parents have both been church goers and have shared their faith with me. I have learned a lot and believe in many of the same things my parents do, but I do not feel like the religion is mine. I feel that I have been thrown into the mixer by default and I am just expected to go. To go along with this feeling, I work every Sunday during church. Normally I can leave work to attend church, but if I am unable to, I feel somehow I am letting my parents down. But then again while sitting in church, I feel that I am letting my co-workers down because often times they struggle if I am not able to be there helping them. It has caused me a lot of hard ache and I have struggled to come up with a solution that pleases both parties. This is much of what Asayesh is going through in her essay. She really doesn't want to let her family down or her friends in Florida. But going to either place she is going to let at least one of these groups she loves down. This is the same problem that I am dealing with in my church versus work issue.
Part II:
As Aung San Suu Kyi's son is giving the speech for the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of her, he explains all the wonderful accomplishments that she has made in Burma and how these accomplishments have effected the people in their country. After this statement he says, "I know that if she were free today my mother would in thanking you also ask you to pray that the oppressors and the oppressed should throw down their weapons and join together to build a nation founded on humanity in the spirit of peace", ("The Revolution of Spirit",Bloom 597). To be so honest about what your mother stands for shows how strong of a bond that Kyi's son must have with her. He is so honest about his mother and even says that she is suffering the consequences of her doings but still wishing the best for everyone. This shows truly what a strong woman she is and how much some people care about their native country.
After doing some research on Kyi, I have discovered that she has been released from house arrest and is running for Parliament of her country Myanmar. This was just recently approved and she is very excited about running for this position.
The slide show on this site is very good and I would suggest going through it to see what kind of timeline the events were leading up to this point.
I loved how he tells that his mother might be suffering, but she is still wishing the best for everyone and this is so much like her character in the rest of the article. Because her beliefs seems so grounded and spiritual that she has beared the responsiblity of all others. She knows that she can handle the imprisonment if at the end of the day she is still the people around her. what a strong and peowerful woman!
ReplyDeleteIf there were more people like her, the world would seriously be a much better place. There aren't many people willing to give up their lives for an entire country. You got to respect her no matter what side your on.
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