TGOST Ch. 21 and Final Review

All I have to say is, It's about time! I have been waiting for Ammu and Velutha to get together and have an affair. They even came right out and said it earlier, I just didn't know when it was coming. It took the whole story though. They focus on the small things when they meet, like the small insects (bugs, again? jeez...) and each others' bodies. I thought the Tomorrow? Tomorrow thing was cute that they did at the end of each night. Like a promise to each other. It was kind of like they had that instead of a marriage, since they could never be together in public, like their own silent vows, just to each other, that only they knew about.

I am really undecided on whether I liked this novel or not. It was very hard to follow at times because it switched between the past a present so much. It was also very sad, but there was so much to get out of this novel. I really liked the main storyline of everything, I just think it would have held my attention more if it would not have jumped around so much. I really liked all the little symblolism and all the little foreshadowing. All the little things that you pick up on while reading this novel really fits with the title. It really is all about the small things. I really liked how the last word was "Tomorrow". It made it seem like there was more to come, like it would never be over, which I thought was very cute. I think there were more things that I liked about this book than I didn't. It was hard to get in to in the beginning, but the end was worth it. The more I think about it, the more I liked it.

TGOST Ch. 19 & 20

The twins are at the Police Station with Baby, and they tell the investigator that they went to Velutha's house by choice, and that Sophie's death was not murder. The police are not about to let this happen because then they would have killed an innocent person (Velutha). Baby tells a bunch of lies, and she tortures the children so they will go along with her. She is a horrible person as far as I am concerned. I would never be able to live with a secret like that on my shoulders for the rest of my life. First of all, it is horrible that she manipulates the innocent children, and second of all, she does it to go against an innocent man, who could die. I can't believe she is so heartless. I don't care who it is, if they are dying so painfully, how could you lie and just prolong it? I really do not like baby at all!

Baby tells the children that they could go to jail for what happened, but she says that they can get out of it by answering yes to the investigator's question. The officer only needs one of the twins, so Estha then has to go and identify Velutha, who is barely alive. All of his bruises and cuts can be seen from the beating, and it is a very horrible sight. Yet another event to add to the list of things that scarred Estha for life. All Estha does is say yes to the questions he is asked. After all this happens, Baby is afraid that they will find out that she is lying. Ammu must run away without her children, and Estha is sent away to live with his Babu.

The part at the train station is very sad because this is the last time the two will see each other, but they do not know it. "I'll be home for you soon" is said, and we know this is not true, so it is very sad. There are also some things that happened in this chapter that I found quite disturbing, and I will just leave it at that...

TGOST Ch. 17 & 18

Estha is sitting on his bed watching Rahel sleep, which is kind of weird, but it reminds him of his mother. He ironed Rahel's clothes for her, which I thought was kind of weird. Even though I do not personally believe this, I thought that would be seen as a woman's job, and Rahel would have ironed Estha's clothes, not the other way around.

It talks about Sophie's death, and the official version that was in the papers. It is kind of weird that the children thought that they were going to get in trouble and go to jail because of it, but it is auctually Velutha that is taking the blame. I thought they mentioned that there was someone sleeping under the bush that the children did not notice. Velutha swimming across the river and the Sophie's death must have been in the same night. Why else would Velutha be sleeping out under a bush. I didn't think that when they noted a man sleeping under a bush, it would be a big deal, but I guess it is. They also talk about the Pickly factory, and that Velutha is also getting in trouble for being communist in the company.

The story then goes back to the day of Sophie's death, and it describes all the policemen there with their handcuffs, investigating. The policemen find the twins and Velutha in his History house. They beat him, and they almost kill him. The children have to sit there and watch every second of this. Yet another event to add to the list of things gone wrong for these children. No wonder why Estha doesn't talk any more. I would never talk either if I had to deal with the things that he has gone through. I can't believe that the policemen think they have done a good thing for the children. They think that they have saved them from this untouchable man, but really this is just one more thing that will scar them for life. I have two words to describe this: ridiculous and crazy.

TGOST Ch. 15 & 16

Chapter 15 is very short, and it is about a man, whose name is never mentioned in this chapter. He is sitting at the top of thirteen steps. He takes off his clothes and swims across the river to the house. He left no trace that he was there, and he was naked except for nail polish on his fingers. Since the nail polish is mentioned, I assume that this man is Velutha. This seemed very random, and I don't really know why this was here. I'm sure it will come into play later. I thought it was interesting that the painted nails were used to distinguish and identify this man.

Estha, Rahel, and Sophie are planning to run away to the History House in the boat on the river. Sophie insisted that she come along because it would make the parents more sad, and grateful if the children ever cam back. It is dark out, so the children can't see. They hit a log and the boat tips over. Rahel and Estha get to shore, but when they get there, they realize that Sophie is not with them. They run up and down the shore calling her name a couple of times, but she does not respond. They wonder if she is dead, and worry that they will go to jail. They don't seem like they want to find her very badly though, since it does not go into much detail about them looking for her. Maybe it was just because it was dark.

It's about time we find out what happened the night Sophie died. The story has been jumping back and forth forever, and it finally got to the point. I really don't like how the story is so jumpy, it makes it very hard to follow.

TGOST Ch. 13 & 14

The story of how Chacko and Margaret met is told. They were both in England, he studying on a Rhoades scholarship, and she was a waitress. She told him a story about two brothers, one pessimist and the other an optimist, and they laughed a lot. I really liked this story. I thought it was very cute, even though the two were only in love for a short time, if even at all. The author really makes it sound that they are crazy about each other though. I really liked the story about the two brothers also. I thought it was pretty funny. It was kind of sad that the couple got a divorce right after Sophie was born though. It seemed like it hurt everyone involved, and even though it says she didn't know what she was doing or how bad it was hurting him, how could she not have known? That just doesn't make sense to me.

Margaret and Chacko exchange letters, and Margaret says that she is very happy with Joe in England. I don't really know why they would exchange letters if the divorce was so hurtful in the first place. This also didn't make sense to me. I guess writing back and forth made everything okay. Then Joe dies suddenly, and Chacko invites Margaret and Sophie to visit him, so they decide to go to India. Margaret never forgave herself for leaving Sophie.

Then the chapter kind of breaks and switches points of view. Sophie Mol's death is brought up again. It said that Mammachi and Baby Kochamma first heard the news. They had started to worry because the three children had been gone for quite some time and they knew that the river might be dangerous because they had just gotten quite a bit of rainfall. Why wouldn't they go look for the kids if they had been gone for a long time and no one had heard from them, especially if there was any chance they could have been doing something dangerous?

Vellya Ppaapen comes over to their house, drunk. He taled alot, and he revealed the affair between Ammu and Velutha to the family. Then, it jumps around alot around the time of Sophie's death, and I got really confused. I wish the author would just tell the story in order without jumping around so much. It is so hard to follow what is going on.

Comrade Pillai talk about the Paradise Preservative and Pickle company. I don't think it is going so well. The two also talk about Velutha. Comrade Pillai thinks that Velutha should be fired, and this is because he knows about the affair.

These chapters were very out of order and hard to follow. I really didn't like them.

TGOST Ch. 11 & 12

This chapter starts out talking about a dream of Ammu's, which I found really weird, no offense. It was about her and a one-armed man, and it was just really weird. First it talks about how he can only do one thing at a time, and then they are in an ocean or something, and he cannot swim with one arm, but she can. The two don't touch though. This just seems very weird and random to me.

Rahel and Estha find their mother dreaming, and they watch her and think she is having a nightmare or something. They wake her up slowly because it says that you can never wake dreaming people up suddenly or you will give them a heart attack. She says that she was having a good dream, and that she was happy. The children seem unconvinced.

Ammu realizes that the kids have been to see Velutha, and she tells them they should not have, but she does not seem very passionate. There is no yelling or screaming. She just kind of says, how many times have I told you not to go over there, that's bad. The twins then see the stretch marks of being pregnant on Ammu's stomach, and they ask her many questions. They decide which stretch marks each of them made by kicking their mother's stomach. Ammu gets tired of the children being so close to her and shrugs them off. I thought this was kind of mean the way it was said in the book. It was like the children were just toys that could be pushed aside when they were unwanted. Ammu seems very depressesed because when she looks at her body in the mirror, she cries a lot.

Chapter 12 is all about Estha and Rahel at the temple watching some dancers act out a play. The play is about a family and their problems, and it is very violent. The siblings are very interested in this play, probably because it reminds them so much of their own family and their problems. I think that this helps the two realize that they are not the only ones in the world with problems, and it might make them feel a little better. This play also might symbolize a big decision for Estha, since the play relates to the family. In the play the son makes a very big decision about the other sons. This part really showed the culture of India, and it was kind of cool.

TGOST Ch. 9 & 10

Present day, Rahel is watching toads, yet another "small thing" as she thinks about the day that she, Estha, and Sophie Mol went to visit Velutha, and how good he treated them. She mentioned that he was nothing like the parents, that he did not judge them or anything. He was just himself, and he let everyone be themselves also.

Rahel also thinks about Estha as she goes to the old pickle factory. She says something about the day that Sophie Mol arrived. That was the day that Estha thought two thoughts, and sealed one in a jar. I'm curious to see what these two thoughts were. It seems like they affected Estha alot because of how reserved he always is. Maybe this is what made him that way because the last line of the chapter is "It's true. Things can change in a day." Maybe that day was the one that changed Estha, the day that something really bad happened to him.

Chapter 10 is a flashback to Estha sitting in the factory, stirring some kind of jam. It then reveals his two thoughts mentioned in the last chapter, and I was kind of disappointed. I thought they might reveal something big about his charater, altough I think they foreshadow something, but they were rather disappointing. Estha is still thinking about the Orangedrink Lemondrink man from the movie theatre described a few chapters earlier, and he is scared. Rahel then comes to the factory and interrupts. Rahel and Estha make a secret plan together while they are at the factory. The two go to Velutha's house across the river, but their boat sinks. They see Velutha's sick brother in the death corner, where other members of his family have died. When Velutha comes back home, he seems very excited that Rahel and Estha are at his house, being Ammu's children.

The author mentions directly in this chapter that Ammu and Velutha will have an affair. This is the first time that the author comes out and says it, but I've thought that it was going to happen for a while now.

TGOST Ch. 7 & 8

There is a lot of talk about insects at the end of chapter 6 and the beginning of chapter 7. The author makes a note of a lot of the little things in the story, like bugs. I suppose that is why the book is called The God of Small Things. At the beginning of Chapter 7, Rahel is looking through Pappachi's study for things that her and Estha had when they were children. Estha just stands by the door and watches his sister.

Then it flashes back to Ammu, and when she came back to Ayemenem. It mentioned that she was very talkative, as if trying to cover something up. This was the last time that Rahel saw her before she died. She died while away on something for business in a hotel room. Rahel and her Chacko watched her being creamated because the church would not bury her, but neither of them cried. Rahel said that she hated Ammu at this point.

Mammachi is playing the violin out on the veranda while she thinks about things. Her mind wanders to Margaret Kochamma, and it is obvious that Mammachi does not like her through the music coming from the violin. There is a party for Sophie Mol, and everyone seems to show good behavior at the beginning. Rahel and Velutha play in the backyard, and Ammu is jealous. She tells Rahel not to be so close to Velutha, but she seems to be just jealous. Maybe something will happen with this "love triangle" later on.

TGOST ch 5 & 6

There is a lot of focus on a the river in the beginning of chapter 5. The locals have used it for many things, like boating and taking baths, but this river has a bad smell and people cannot swim in it anymore. At the end of Chapter 5, Rahel and Comrade Pillai are looking at black and white photographs. There is also something mentioned about the children and parents being mixed up or something?

In Chapter 6, Rahel is at Cochin Airport and Sophie Mol is coming in on a flight. When Sophie and Chacko's ex-wife finally arrive, it is kind of awkward. Chacko keeps calling her his wife, but she does not correct him. It seems as though she wants to, but nothing ever comes out of her mouth. Maybe this symbolizes something later to come?

Sophie seems like she is very stuck-up. She has Rahel and Estha play fashion models with her in the airport. It shows that she has a little bit of an imagination, but she seems bossy. Sophie also seems like she is very spoiled, and she gets everything that she wants. Baby Kochamma tells Sophie that she reminds her of a character from The Tempest, a Shakespeare play, and Sophie does not understand at all. This makes me think that she is somewhat stuck up, being that she is from England. She seems like she only cares about herself, and I think that this will hurt her later on.

TGOST Ch. 3 & 4

It seems as though Rahel's brother has just completely let himself go. Everyting seems to be a mess. I thought it was extremely weird that she just kind of stood there and watched him as he changed when she walked in. I find it weird that he did not notice her standing there watching him either. Maybe he just didn't want to notice her?


I get why Estha is kind of weird and reserved now. At the movie theatre, while they were watching The Sound of Music, what happened was just weird and gross. Estha sounds like he was being kind of annoying, singing all the songs and everything. The drink man at the counter was really creepy. I thought it was really, really gross that drink man flirted with Ammu in front of Estha, after what he just did. How old was Estha when this happened? I'm kind of confused, but I'm thinking he had to be kind of young, like a teenager?

There was also talk about communists in the the Paradise Pickles company. I did not know there were communists in India, or even the Middle East. I guess I just didn't really know what they were? This story is very depressing so far. It seems like nothing is going right for any of the characters, and this is only the beginning. Hopefully things will turn out better for them.

The God Of Small Things Chapter 1 & 2

Let me just start off by saying that I was extremely confused by the start of this book. I can't really tell if the characters are male or female because their names all sound so similar to me. When the book starts off, it seems like so many characters are introduced and the backgrounds of these people are given. It is hard to keep all these people straight when you just hear a little about them and then it moves on to the next character.


As the book starts out, a person named Rahel, who is a woman coming back to her homeland of India. She is coming back to see her twin brother Estha and her mother Ammu. There was also a bigger part about Baby Kochamma which is her grand aunt. This part really confused me. I didn't know why they called Rahel's grand aunt a baby, or how that even worked. Rahel talks about how she and her twin brother used to be like one person, but they had grown apart over the years.

Rahel goes back to her old house and starts to remember familiar sights, sounds, and smells. She also remembers things that happened in her childhood, especially her cousin Sophie Mol's funeral. It says that Sophie drowned on a family trip to England or something like that. I think that this is going to come into play later in the novel, since this is the first thing that Rahel remembers when she comes back to her home. It also mentions how the title is starting to play into the book because Rahel noticed the "small things" at the funeral, like a bat crawling up Baby Kochamma's clothes and Sopie "screaming" as they buried her. It also says that this is the first time that the twins have seen each other in twenty three years, since the funeral.

I thought it was crazy that one little thing in the book mentioned about death said that thirty was viewed as an age old enough to die. In our culture, thirty is so young and that person would still have so much life left to live.

I think that I like Ammu so far. I liked that she did not listen to everything that her husband told her to do, like sleep with the man so her husband would not get fired. She seems like a strong and powerful woman, and I am excited to see what she does in throughout the story.

I'm not really sure what to think of the rest of the characters. No one seems to get along very well with one another. It seems like they are always arguing and fighting. I'm not really sure why, maybe a reason will be revealed later in the story??

Themes of the 4 Short Stories

Throughout all of these short stories, the recurring theme seemed to be the relationships between parents and their children. Each and every one of them seemed to have a dysfunctional aspect to them. In the first story, "The Life You Save May Be Your Own," the mother ships the daughter off to get married to a man she hardly even knew. In "Rules of the Game," the mother does not think that the daughter should play chess and show her weaknesses, but once she succeeds, her mother parades her all over the town showing her off to everyone. The third story, "The Book of the Dead," included a mother and father who hid the dark secrets of her father's past from their daughter, Annie. A rebellious son with parents who made a wrong decision to send him to a worthless tutor was featured in "Teenage Wasteland." In all of these stories, it seems to be the parents who have made bigger mistakes than the children have. Although there may be cultural differences, like in "Rules of the Game," there is still no reason to go parading your daughter around the town, bragging that she won another chess tournament. That is just embarrassing. The only story where I see that the parents are not clearly at fault is the last one because if Donny would have tried a little harder in school, none of the problems they had would have begun in the first place.

Teenage Wasteland

In this story, Donny is a character who is very easy to relate to. I know that my parents push me very hard to succeed, and they are always checking up on my grades. They want to know where I am at all the time. It gets very annoying, and it seems very controlling, but I know that they do it because they want the best for me. It is just easy to relate to Donny because he doesn't feel like he has any freedom to do the fun things that he wants. I didn't really like the tutor Cal either. It seemed like he was just in it for the money, although he provided a safer hangout spot for the kids, rather than in an alley somewhere or something like that. It seemed like Cal always took Donny's side and defended him, but Cal wasn't doing his job either, He was supposed to be tutoring Donny so that his grades improved, but they only dropped. I thought that it was really random how the story ended. Like one morning, the family just woke up, and their son was gone. They didn't even seem that sad. I know it said that they were still looking and it had been three years, but I think that I would have looked harder at the beginning. I also feel bad for the other girl in the family because it seems like all the focus is on Donny. She just gets pushed off to the side for later, and you can tell by how much she is mentioned in the story. If the parents are not careful, they will have not only one but two runaway children.

The Book of The Dead

I liked this story because it had many twists and turns in the plot that were unexpected. When the father sits down with his daughter at the lake and they talk about his past at the jail, I did not expect him to say that he was actually a guard at the prison. I thought it was weird that the father just went for an eight hour walk and did not tell anybody where he was going. I would have gotten worried too if he was gone that long and no one had heard from him. I think that all the years of lying to his daughter had finally got to him, and Annie's father felt it necessary to reveal his dark past. If I was Annie, though, I don't think I would have been nearly as calm as she was, just finding out that her father has been lying to her for her entire life. I would have also been upset when I found out that my favorite statue representation of him had been tossed to the bottom of that lake. I was surprised to see the two of them still go to Gabrielle's house without the statue, but I liked how the two fathers were related, with the dark stories of their pasts pulling them together. I was surprised to see the Annie's mother so calm in this situation, also. They made it seem like Annie's father did this all the time and there was nothing to be worried about. I also thought it was weird that her mother had been lying to her all of her life about her father, too. I couldn't believe that the two of them hid all of his dark secrets from their daughter, and they still had such a positive outlook on the whole situation.

Response to Other Blogs...

I visited Lisa and Kyrstin's blogs, and they both said basically the same thing. This religion is way over our heads. We all seem to get that they believe that the universe is a stage and God is the director. We get that there is a clear definition between black and white, good and evil. Other than that, though, most of it was over our heads.

I thought it was funny when Kyrstin was talking about how you act in your past life determines your next life, she said you could end up being a king or a grasshopper. That made me laugh a little. I also liked that Lisa mentioned the Shakespeare quote in her entry. I didn't really think about it, but now that she mentioned it, it really applies well to this religion. I just think that this would take a lifetime of study to truly understand, which makes me perfectly content with the religion that I believe in.

Mythology of Hinduism #3

I did get like this one as much as the first one. I thought it talked a lot more about christianity and the bible than about hinduism. I still think that hinduism is a weird religion because they see everything as one big play. The universe is one giant play. I also thought it was weird that he said the universe is just like god playing hide and seek with himself. I picture the universe to be one giant area of empty space, even though I know that there are planets and stuff in it. How is he supposed to play hide and seek? This concept is obviously over my head.

I think it is interesting how they look at life as a big play, while we look at it as creation and it all relates back to how our God built everything. Our religions are kind of similar in that in Hinduism, their god is the director and kind of makes everything happen, which is similar to Christianity. Even though God is not refered to as a "director," he is still responsible for the events that go on in our lives.

Honestly, I think this religion is interesting, even though I don't believe in it, but most of it seemed over my head. At the beginning, I felt as though they were talking about stuff and I should have known what they were talking about, but I didn't. There is so much to this religion that I can't even comprehend all of it. I don't know how these people practice it.

Mythology of Hinduism #2

I was so confused at the beginning of the podcast. I could not understand why they were talking about hide and seek and black and white. I thought maybe I was listening to the wrong thing. When it started getting into how it related to hinduism, I understood a little better. They were trying to explain the clear defininition between good and evil. I thought it was interesting that they related it to the game of chess when he said that traditionally white goes first because black represents the devil. I thought the concept of how the Brahma is reborn every 4,320,000 years, called kalpa, was weird. I don't undestand how that works. I mean, how long have people been believing in this religion, and how would they know that he is reborn after such a long time. It is unimaginable to me. I thought it was interesting that there is a stage in his life where he knows exactly who he is because I think that not only in this religion, but all people are striving to find out who they are. I found it interesting that persona was related to the masks that actors used to wear on stage, but now the word has been completely inverted and refers to the person beneath the mask. Are they trying to say that people today wear "masks" instead of showing who they really are, or am I overanalyzing this? It seems like this religion relys mostly on magic and illusion, and they say that everything is an illusion. I liked the story about the man who got thrown down a hole by one of the faces of the gods, and came out on the other side as a princess, but woke up again as himself. I thought it was weird, but I liked it. I thought it was kind of cool, althought I don't believe in it, that they said death is just the phase where you forget everything to be reborn again. I also liked that they said how you live your current life determines what you will be in your next life. For example, if you are good in this life, you will be reborn as a king.

Rules of the Game

This story was extremely weird, and to be honest, I think that Chinese culture is a little bit weird. It was mentioned in this story that they ate five course meals every time they sat down at the table. How are they so skinny if they eat all that food all the time? I also thought it was weird and gross that the pharmacist-like healer of the Chinese culture had a store where he sold insect shells, leaves, and other things from nature for people to heal themselves with. I could not believe that the kids sat in the alley and looked into the store, watching the owner of the shop count out the bug shells and give them to the customers. Another thing that I found disgusting was the way she described the fish market. The fish were all just sitting out in the open in containers full of ice, and she described the one type as having two eyes on one side just sitting there looking up at you. That would make me never want to eat a fish again, but I guess that is just the difference in cultures. I thought the little girl's name was weird. Her parents could have been a little bit more creative in coming up with her name than just calling her the street they live on combined with their last name. Waverly Place Jong would not be what I want to be called for the rest of my life! I found it a little creepy when Waverly asked her mother about Chinese torture, and she said that Americans were lazy and the Chinese had the best business, medicine, art, and torture. I thought that was a creepy combination. I think it would be confusing to be a Chinese American because they have different calenders, so you would be a different age in the two different cultures. For example, Waverly was seven in America, but she was considered eight by the Chinese calender. She seemed like a very smart girl, especially for her age, and I was very impressed with her dedication to learning the secrets of the game of chess.

The Life You Save May Be Your Own

I didn't really like this story or Mr. Shiftlet. I thought he was a very rude man, and he just acted like a respectable person to get Mrs. Crater to give away her daughter. It did not seem like this is the first time Mr. Shiftlet had stolen a daughter from a mother. It seemed like he may have had some prior experience. I thought that Mrs. Crater had a good first impression of him, and she should have stuck to it. Mr. Shiftlet seemed like he thought he was better than everyone else, even though he only had one arm and he went around doing housework for people. Mr. Shiftlet thought of himself more highly than he should have. I thought it was incredibly rude that he just left his newly married wife laying on the counter in the diner, especially since she was deaf, she couldn't talk, and she had no idea where she was. Then what made the whole situtaion worse was that he went and picked up a hitchhiker, like the little boy was better or more interesting than his wife. I know that she was deaf and she could not talk, and that would be a recipie for an incredibly boring marriage. He still married her though, and he should have a loyalty to her, more than what he showed when he left her sleeping on the counter. Although Mrs. Crater seemed like a smart woman, she did not show much judgement in choosing a husband for her daughter. She married her off to the first man who came along and showed the least little bit of interest, and it goes to show that was a bad decision. It would be terrible to be in the daughter's position because she does not know what is going on, and her mother controls her life.

FINAL REFLECTION!!

I auctually really liked this book. I liked how Khandra was so real with the characters. It made you feel like you would if you auctually were that person. I never knew that Afghanistan was this violent. I thought that public executions were a thing of the past...but I guess not. I liked this book because it gave insight on how different our cultures really are, and it made me realize just how lucky I am to be living in America, even though I may not think it all the time. I also liked how the characters didn't meet until very late in the book. It made you want to keep reading because you knew it was going to happen eventually, you just didn't know when or how. I liked the twists and turns that the story took, too. I definitely never would have predicted that Mohsen died. If anyone, I would have predicted Zunaira would have been the one to be killed by her husband. I would have continued the ending just a little more if I was the author, so it is known for sure just what happens to Atiq. I think that he dies, but I am not sure. Just a couple more sentences, and I think I would have been satisfied. Overall, though, I really liked this book, and I am interested to read The Kite Runner, since the two are supposedly similar.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 15

Atiq gets Zunaira into his office, and his wife gets positioned in the cell before Quassim arrives. When he finally gets there, Quassim's women take the prisoner, but Quassim wants to talk. When Atiq resists, Quassim sees a shadow in the corner of his office, and Atiq says that is his wife. Quassim talks Atiq into letting the women in his office (Zunaira) go to the stadium to watch the show with all of Quassim's women. They go and Musarrat is killed. When everyone goes to leave, Atiq goes to find Zunaira in the crowd and she is nowhere to be found. Atiq goes crazy looking for her. When Atiq goes home, he has a dream that Zunaira has come home, but when the veil is removed, it is Musarrat with have of her face gone from a gunshot wound. Eventually he starts running the streets, ripping off every woman's burqua in sight, and he still cannot find her. The men who "own" own the women Atiq is violating go after Atiq, and attack him. They shout many ways to execute Atiq, but I'm guessing that they beat him to death. With the way they were going, it did not sound like they would be satisfied until he was dead. I have no idea where Zunaira went, but I don't think that she made it too far yet. I think that she is still hiding around the city, and that she will run away later.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 14

This chapter was a big surprise that I almost saw coming. Atiq is at the jail, and his wife comes to visit him. She proposes a plan to get Zunaira out alive. She wants to switch places with her, so Musarrat will be the one who is auctually executed, and she says that no one will know or care as long as there is a woman under the burqua being punished. Musarrat says that she can feel she does not have much time left, and she'd rather not be left suffering. All she wants to do is make her husband happy, something she has yet to do in their marriage. I think this is very admirable of her, even though her husband does not treat her that well, but she still wants to do everything she can for him.
"Something is taking place inside you that would make you the envy of saints and kings." Musarrat is talking to Atiq, and she says that he has finally found true love, something that most do not find in this country. He is truly happy, and there is an extra little twinkle in his eye. Not many people are happy with their spouses in this country because they view them as posessions, not people. That is why this feeling is truly envious.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 13

Atiq decides to go to Qassim's house to try and plead with him. He wants to get Zunaira set free. I thought it was weird that Atiq got so obsessed with this woman so quickly that in about a day, he is risking his job and life to save her's. Although this visit to Qassim is not very productive, Atiq keeps trying. Everyone that Atiq talks to about the prisoner thinks that Atiq is going mad because he never did anything to help anyone else before, so why is he starting now, especially for a "criminal" that he just met. I think that Atiq is crazy, especially when he goes to the jail to set her free. He just opens the gate and tells her to go. She doesn't understand what he is doing, so she just sits there. I would probably think that this man is crazy too if I were a person sitting in jail and he just came over, opened my cell, and told me to run away. I thought it was either very admirable or very crazy that Zunaira didn't want to go because she did not want to mess up anyone else's family. I think that now that her husband is gone, she realizes how much she misses him, and she regrets the fight. Even though she had good reasoning behind her anger, I think she took it a little too far, and it ended up fatal.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 12

Zunaira has given Atiq a new breath of life. He just sits there and watches her sleep. This even caused him to miss the prayers, although I find this creepy. Zunaira has taken off her burqua finally, and Atiq is hypnotized by her beauty. When he goes home late, even Musarrat can sense the difference. Atiq tells her all about the new prisoner, and when Atiq realizes that he forgot to feed her, Musarrat offers to make a meal for her. She says that anything that makes her husband happy will make her happy. Maybe Musarrat can sense that her days are numbered, and she is doing everything in her power to do everything she can for her husband while she still has time left. I think may be something will happen to her and maybe Atiq and Zunaira will run away together? I like how the author used the comparison of women to ghosts because this seems like it is exactly how women are viewed in this society. They are ignored until something is wanted from them. Their burquas almost make them look the part of a ghost also. The only part I don't get is when they "make mournful sounds when they come into the proximity of men." Does this mean that men do something to hurt the women, or is it just because they are being ignored, or is there something else I am missing?

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 11

A militiaman comes to Atiq at the jail and tells him that Quassim will be coming, and that he is not to leave the jail today. The militiaman seems to get annoyed with Atiq because he does not want to stay at the jail all day waiting, even though that is kind of his job. Atiq just wants the man to leave, but he doesn't want to tell him to go. Atiq mentions that Nazeesh finally got up enough courage to leave Kabul for good. Atiq really makes the militiaman mad when he asks about a man named Qaab, who had died about two years earlier. The militiaman thinks that Atiq should know this and that he just trying to make a fool out of him. The militiaman tells Atiq what happened, but leaves soon after, convinced that Atiq is crazy. Later the same afternoon, Quassim arrives at the jail with two militiawomen, and the prisoner. The prisoner had killed her husband, and she is to be publiclly executed at a big rally the following Friday at the stadium. This prisoner happens to be Zunaira. Finally, all the charaters have become connected! I think that Atiq is going to help Zunaira escape, or atleast try to before she gets killed.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 10

Mohsen spends his a lot of the time in his days at the nearby cemetery. He just goes there and wanders through all the gravesites. When he goes home, Zunaira runs to her room. She refuses to speak to him or even look at him. She even decided that she will never again take off her burqua, even in the comfort of her own home. She is still punishing Mohsen for the terrible act that he committed in Kabul's town square. Zunaira has been doing this ever since they went out into the streets together, and she has not spoken to him in ten days. One night, Mohsen decides to confront her about it, and follows her behind the curtain to her room. They get into a HUGE fight, and she says that she never wants to see Mohsen again. The fight gets violent when Mohsen starts to shake and almost choke Zunaira, and keeps saying that she doesn't ever want to see her husband again, and that things can never be the same between the two of them. Mohsen tries to rip of Zunaira's burqua, but she won't let him. She starts to bite and scratch him. This almost flips a switch in Mohsen and makes him really mad, and he hits her across the face. When Zunaira gets up and tries to run away he tries to follow, and she turns around and rams him into the wall. Mohsen hits his head off of something, and he is killed instantly. This is not how I thought this chapter would end. I expected it to be Zunaira to die, not Mohsen. I thought it was kind of odd to see this fight happen because women are just supposed to be there as a sort of slave, to do things for the men. It was weird to see this woman taking control of her life. It was like a totally different world behind closed doors.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 9

Two men are riding in a 4X4 in this chapter, and they talk about their deceased mothers. Qassim doesn't really seem to care that his mother is no longer alive, even though the driver tries to tell him that they could have stayed another night in the town. They see Nazeesh in the mountains as they are driving along, and Mohsen is in the graveyard. While the Quassim and the driver are driving, they talk about their wives. It seems like Quassim treates his women almost like dogs because and he talks about how they were disobedient and unentergetic. This man seems as though all he cares about is himself, and he has no reguard for others feelings. Quassim and his drivers go to Khorsan's to eat, and they see Atiq there. Atiq tries to leave quickly without being seen, but Quassim sees him and stops him to talk. Quassim says that Atiq looks so depressed and asks if he needs anything, like money. Quassim wants Atiq to come out with him later, and but Atiq doesn't want to. Quassim tells Atiq a story about a man who was extremely smart, and one day during a class, someone came in and whispered something in his ear. After that, he dissappeared forever, and Quassim said it was because he didn't know himself. At the very end of the chapter, Atiq comes home to find Musarrat lying on the floor. He immediately assumes she is dead, and he just stands in the doorway looking at her.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 8

Mohsen is sitting in the mosque listening to the speaker, Mullah Bashir, talk about how the muslim population is going to take over the world and that the western world as they know it is over. He says that there are too many starving people who are underprivledged in the west for them to be powerful anymore, but this is basically what is happening to the people in Kabul too, isn't it? As the service keeps going on, Mohsen keeps turning around to make sure Zunaira is still on the steps across the street. I thought that maybe one of the times he turned around, she would not have been sitting there and the Taliban would have taken her somewhere. Mohsen talks about how the only people really listening to the speaker were in the front rows, and the rest of the people just don't care. One man was even sleeping. I thought it was awful that the taliban patroled the mosque and whipped those who were not paying attention, like Mohsen when his head was turned. It sounds like they are running a cult, or trying to brainwash these people into believing what they should, even though the people don't really have a choice because they would be tortured if they didn't follow all the rules.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 7

Atiq is walking around the city, and he starts to describe all the cildren wandering the streets. He says that he always wanted children. It just made me think a little when Atiq said that although he wanted children before, he is now thankful for the fact that he is sterile. If he wanted kids so bad, why couldn't he just go out on the street and adopt one? It seems like there are enough orpans around. Atiq sees Nazeesh and at first, he doesn't talk to him, but then he decides to go back. I couldn't believe that Nazeesh was being so secretive talking about music. Why is the taliban limiting these people to no joy in their lives, especially not public joy? Atiq keeps walking and Mizra makes a comment to him which makes him mad. He walks faster and runs into Mohsen and Zunaira. I thought this was an interesting way for the two different families to cross each other's paths. I wonder if they will keep running into each other like this and somehow start talking or something? Or if they will just continue to be strangers? I like how the couple laughs when Atiq runs into them instead of getting mad. It shows that there is a little happiness left in their lives in this desert of depression. I thought it was so rude how the taliban came over and told Mohsen to go to the mosque and left Zunaira standing in the street until the speaker was done.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 6

The next morning, Mohsen and Zunaira act like nothing had happened between them. It is mentioned that everyting is going crazy in Kabul and a man who was going crazy was blindfolded and whipped to death in the town square. This seems so cruel and humiliating to me. Once they start to talk, they talk about a lot of things, but none of it really means anything. It goes on to describe how they met at college. Zunaira was a beautiful girl studying to be a lawyer, and Mohsen was studying political science. All the boys dreamed of marrying Zunaira, but she chose Mohsen. Mohsen decides that he wants to take a walk with Zunaira in the marketplace, but she says that she does not want to. She does not like wearing a burqa because it takes away everything she is as a person. She is not a person or an animal, but just a thing walking through the marketplace, receiving stares from many people who think that they are better than she is. Zunaira sticks up for herself, saying that it is degrading to have a woman wear a burqa while men do not have to wear anything. I agree with Zunaira on this. Why do women have to completely cover, while men can show their faces, necks and arms. I think that if one has to cover up, then the other should, too. It's only fair. At the end, Zunaira decides to go on a walk with her husband like old times. It seems like everything just keeps falling apart for Mohsen, with the state of the city and his wife, but here it seems like it takes a slight turn for the better because he and his wife are not fighting and they are doing something that they used to do before the war destroyed their lives.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 5

Atiq goes to the mosque to pray again, and after he is finished, he wanders around the city for a little bit. Atiq decides that he is going to spend the night in the jailhouse after he had the fight with his wife. I don't understand why Atiq would go to spend the night at the jailhouse when earlier that day he left to go for a walk because he said it was so depressing. After Atiq is in the jail for a little bit, a man named Nazeesh comes in and asks if he can stay there for the night. Nazeesh lost two sons in a battle against the Soviets. It is very depressing because it seems like everyone in this city has had something devastating happen to them. Atiq said okay, and Nazeesh gave him some of the dried meat and apples that he had brought. Nazeesh then gets very secretive, and then tells Atiq that he is planning to go away as soon as his foot heals. Atiq tells him that he is no serious, and that he will never actually leave Kabul. Nazeesh argues, but eventually gets fed up with Atiq and decides to leave. While Nazeesh leaves, he mumbles that Atiq is right, and that he probably won't end up leaving Kabul. He doesn't really know what is holding him back because it seems that he has no desire to stay in Kabul, but he just can't up the courage to just leave. After Nazeesh leaves, Atiq decides that he is going to go home, too, and he decides that he is not going to take pity on his wife anymore.

When they say that everyone is a beggar in this town, I don't know how anyone could go on without wanting to ask for something. It seems like everyone has lost just about everything, and there is nothing left in the city. They must beg because no one has enough money for even the essentials because everything has been wiped out by the war.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 4

Khandra starts out by describing how dreary the city of Kabul looks now that it has been attacked. He describes all the taliban members patrolling the streets while Atiq goes on his way to the mosque to pray. He goes in to relax before they start to pray, and then they are all called to do one of their daily prayers. A small man tries to to get Atiq to pray in the line with them, but Atiq refuses, and kind of hurts the little man in the process. After they are all done praying, Atiq still tries to delay going home because he still does not want to face his wife, and he listens to a group of wounded veterans' stories about being attacked during the war. I thought it was interesting and kind of weird that one man kept saying that the dead stunk very badly, while all of the others were persistant on the fact that their dead did not stink at all, that they smelled quite good. This was because they were blessed because they were serving their god. One man also talks about how an angel came down very close to him. When Atiq finally goes home, he finds that his house is very clean, and all the chores are done, even though he knows that his sister was not supposed to return yet. He finds that his sick wife, had done everything and they get into a fight about her wasting all of her strength as soon as she gets some of it back. He wants her to save her strength to heal the disease, but she feels that she needs to perform her duities as a wife unitl the day she dies. They argue about this for a while, then Atiq finally leaves in fury.
Mohsen and Zunaira are still fighting also, and Mohsen decides to go outside for a breath of fresh air as well. While he is sitting on his front step, he sees Atiq walk very quickly past him, and Mohsen can tell that Atiq was very angry.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 3

In this chapter, it describes Mohsen and Zunaira's house, how it got bombed during attacks, and how the taliban told them they needed to fix the windows because they didn't want anyone to walk by and be offended by a woman who has revealed herself inside her home. They barely have enough food to eat, and they are barely making it through their daily activities. Mohsen also thinks that he is going insane. This chapter makes me feel bad for Mohsen at times, but then at other times I don't. I realize that he regrets his decision to throw the rocks at the woman, but if it bothers him this much, he should not have done it in the first place. I also feel bad for his wife after he reveals his secret of helping to stone the woman. I don't think she knows how to react because no man has ever revealed this much of their personal feeling to her before. I like her for the way that she is sticking up for women in front of her husband because it seems like very few women do in this country.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 2

In this chapter, Atiq is described as the jail keeper. He is very depressed, and he seems like he is just done living his life. He spends his days in the small, dark, and spider web-covered cubbyhole he calls his office. The atmosphere of the jail is eating away at him, along with the thought of having to go home and care for his dying wife. She has a disease in her blood, and the doctors have given up hope for her to live through it. Atiq is starting to question mullah because is his wife's sickness. Atiq decides to leave the jail and go for a walk. While walking along the street, a horse and cart comes speeding by, and he almost gets run over. At the very last second, he jumps out of the way and lands by Mizra Shah's store, who was an friend that he grew up with. Mizra says that Atiq looks depressed and Atiq tells him about his wife. Mizra says that Atiq should just divorce her, but Atiq feels that he cannot because she saved his life. I cannot believe the way Mizra talks about women and pretty much their worthlessness. It seems as though they are just slaves to the men in this society. I feel bad for Atiq's wife becasue she is so sick and no one has hope, and I wonder how Atiq has not just married someone else by now because it seems like that is what everyone else does.

The Swallows of Kabul Chapter 1

In the first chapter, a woman is stoned to death because she is believed to be a prostitute. I thought it was kind of weird that it was not militia men, but militia women, that escorted this woman out of the prison. I didn't know that women could have a part in their army, since they are looked down on over there. I also couldn't believe that after she was obviously dead, the people just kept stoning her, and that they looked for her blood where they hit her with the rocks. This sounds like a terrible place to live. It is described as nothing but battlefields, cemeteries, and sand. These people also seem to have no consideration for others, as they just walk around in the market with a whip to get through, or drive their truck through a mob of people without slowing down.