RN10-Oral History response.

I read two stories that expressed tragedy and mistreatment of human beings. The first one was a man's reflection of his childhood; the story of his mother being kidnapped and killed. The second one was the story of a 19 year old girl who had lived in Iraq and had experienced multiple wars. Their stories reveal how cruel injustices effect children and shape people's views of the world. Through these people one can see different perspectives of the world and feel the emotions that go along with them. Both stories are very sad, but within them there still manages to be hope and beauty; and this is expressed in the people themselves.
In the kidnapping story, the boy's innocence and life were taken away from him. His mother was abducted with the motive of money and was ruthlessly shot. I can not even imagine what this poor boy must have felt, especially only being eleven at the time. What happened to his mother represents the relentless evil that comes along with money. It also shows that how after a terrible event, seems things to just fall into place in ways that are uncontrollable. In this boy's case, not only was his mother snatched away from him, afterward he had to move to another country to live with his father; someone he was not close with. It shows how people's greed and need for power can destroy another person's life. However, despite everything this child went through he maintained an amazing strength. Through his interview we were able to see that this strength was taught from his mother, and honored to respect her.
The second story was of a girl named Shamiram Youkhanna who was born in Iraq and had lived there for part of her youth. Her story details life surrounded from war. She tells accounts of bombs being dropped just mere miles from her home, of schools only opening for an hour, and of families being controlled by fear. Her story expressed the injustice of war, and how it effects families and communities. She also talked about how drastically life changed, because no one worked, no stores were open, and the farthest place one would go was to their neighbors. Is is not often we hear stories like these, stories of the pain and sufferening that is happening at the hands of the American government. Through her interview the reader is able to gain a different perspective of the wars in Iraq, and is also able to understand the emotional affects it has on people. Through her interview she expressed much anger for Americans, because she had seen cruelty done at their hands. However, she in now living in America and attending school which shows that she doesn't hold her hate against everyone and has promice for a better future.
Their stories both had themes of tradegy at the hands of someone else, and they also express the emotions of growing up deprived of innocence. It made me think of Dorothea Lange's photographs; where families were being torn apart and the children unknowingly took the wrath. I learned a lot through reading these two interviews; and although I didn't learn any new words I learned a little bit about what it would be like to experience a catastrophe. If I were to expand my research based on these histories, I would look more into kidnapping statistics in Africa and also learn more about certain country's local authorities. I would also review the war that was happening in Iraq under Clinton's rule, and concluse with finding more stories of the war from the perspective of the Iraqi people.
Discussion Questions:
-How do you think the young boy's kidnapping affected his adulthood?
-How do you feel hearing about someone's fear and anger towards America?
-If you could ask either of these people your own question, what would you ask them?