Concerns in Implementing Biometric Technology

Concerns in Implementing Biometric Technology Though this seems to be an advantage, the integration of this system into the existing system is tedious. Some of the major concerns in implementing biometric technology are as follows, The system relies on complex data processing algorithms which consumes considerable amount of time. Lack of manufacturing and integration of special purpose hardware in the existing system. Adoption of biometric technology in the day-to-day life is slow. A new approach that is gaining attention in the field of biometrics is referred as behavioral biometrics, also referred as behaviometrics. The behaviometrics concentrate on analysis the behavior of the user while interacting with the computer and try to authenticate him. The hardware Mouse capable of monitor the movements of the user and analyzing them to extract a signature, which is unique for every individuals [4]–[6]. Generally there two kinds of authentication mode available in the mouse dynamics, Static authentication Dynamic authentication The main strength of mouse dynamics biometric technology is in its ability to continuously monitor the legitimate and illegitimate users based on their session usage of a computer system. This is referred to as continuous authentication. Continuous authentication, or identity confirmation based on mouse dynamics, is very useful for continuous monitoring applications such as intrusion detection [5]–[8]. II. RELATED WORK Extensive research has been made in the field of utilising the oe of the computer input devices, Mouse, towards the development of user interface design structure [10]. Only in the recent times, the mouse dynamics is further improvised as behaviour biometric technology. The previous attempt ware made to study the user’s identity based on the mouse gesture analysis . Initially, the number of participants for this prgramme is around 48[12].The system is focused on both static and dynamic mode of authentication, but later the system exclusively tried to develop the continuous authentication because for static authentication where in the need of special purpose design of GUI and usage of certain predefined form of signature. Gamboa et al conducted similar experiments to learn the user’s movements while playing a memory game. They are 50 participants involved in the experiment. A sequential forward selection technique based on the greedy algorithm was simply used to find the best single feature later add one feature at a time to the feature vector. Gamboa et al[5] proved that increase in the movements (interactions), the more accurate the identification process would be. But, we cant use this approach to the static authentication type becau se Gamboa et al[5] reported that the memory game took 10-15 min in average. The main issues with these studies are the minimum amount of mouse movements required to authenticate an user was improbable. This method holds well for user reauthentication or continuous authentication but failed in static authentication. So, further work has to be done in the field of Mouse gesture dynamics: a behavior biometric [18], [19]. Our work is to identify the user based on their handwriting patterns. There are considerable amount of research work was made in the field of identifying the user based on his handwriting. The entire work process has been divided into two processes: signature verification and user identification. The pilot experiment where the 50 ample users are allowed to sign and their signature is later used to identify them. The participants are requested to draw eight different gesture and each of them twenty times. The same eight gestures are used throughout the entire process and the users are advised to draw the strokes in a single stroke. By studying pilot experiment meticulously, we can perceive following facts which play crucial role in our work and they are as follows. The average gesture size drawn was made up of 64 data points in a single stroke. Some participant tends to sign faster as they time goes and this cause departure from their normal behavior. The raw data contained noises that must be filtered before processing. The users were advised to be as consistent with the variability in shape and size. These variations were clearly a major source of inconsistency. In our paper, we provide security against shoulder surfing by toggling between the visibilities of the signature and also we provide additional security features like anonymous password feature. III. PROPOSED SYSTEM Based on the facts, we obtained from pilot experiment, we divided our entire work into following modules. Input gesture and sample modules Gesture processing Extraction and acquisition of data points Anonymous Password feature A. Input gesture and Sample modules The input gesture creation module and sample module is simple drawing screen that used to ask the participant to freely draw a set of predefined gestures. The main purpose of this module is to make the participant experienced with the system and to draw them in his own way which is to replicate them later on. So, the gestures are not bound to any specified language and they do not necessarily have a meaning. The input gesture creation and sample module helps the user in two different ways. First, it moves the input drawing to the center of the area. Though the shifting of the drawn gesture is done, the data points are collected without saving these changes. Second, the module moves the gesture spacing to achieve a size of 64 data points. These 64 data points were based on the pilot experiment. As mentioned earlier, we were able to determine the average size of drawing the predefined set of gestures in one stroke. B. Gesture Processing Once, the data is collected how these signatures are modified for further use. What are the steps involved in the process of converting the user signature into their corresponding data points are well briefed in this section. The signature collected from the drawing area consists of three main components, the horizontal coordinate (x-axis), vertical coordinate (y-axis), and the elapsed time in milliseconds at each pixel. Each gesture replication for a given gesture can be identified as the sequence of data points and each of them is represented by a triple consisting of the X-coordinate, Y-coordinate, and elapsed time, respectively. For example, the jth replication of a gesture G can be represented as a sequence Gj = {, , }, where n is referred to as the gesture size (GS) and each where (1≠¤ i ≠¤ n) is a data point. C. Extraction and acquisition of datapoints The extraction and acquisition of data points module involves three main components, namely, data acquisition, data preparation, and data storage and authentication. 1) Data Acquisition: This module presents the gestures, which was created initially by the user in the input gesture creation module, and displays them to the user to replicate. The module records the user’s drawing while he interact with the computer. This module essentially records the signature in three components, horizontal coordinates denoted by xij, vertical coordinates denoted by yij, and the elapsed time in milliseconds starting from the origin of the gesture tij, as explained in the input gesture module. For each user, the application creates individual folder containing all the replication of different gestures. Each gesture must be replicated a specific number of times (eg., 20 times). The user has to wait for minimum 3 s between each replication which is to prevent the user from drawing the gesture too fast. We believed that the wait time and mouse release will force the users back to his normal speed and behavior each time they replicate the gesture. 2) Data Preprocessing: This module is to process the collected data points in such a way it reduces to noise in it. The user’s signature may be shakened or jagged during drawing. They may lead to inconsistencies in the process of data point collections. There are two kinds of normalization techniques which should be applid first before reducing the noise patterns. The first is center normalization which shifts the gesture to the center of the drawing area. The idea behind this tranisition is that the user may tend to draw his signature at any corner of the drawing area so we need to process the signature from any any part of the area. So, it is advisable to move all the gestures to the center of drawing area. The second is size normalization which alters the size of the gesture so that the final size is equal to the size of the template gesture in order to compare the two gestures later. If the size of gesture is larger than the template size then k means algorithm is used to reduce its size. The k means algorithm forms 64 clusters of data points initially, take the centroids of each cluster as the datapoints. To remove the outliners and noise in each replication, data smoothing techniques are introduced. The user cant draw same signature without changing its size and shape under multiple occasions. So, the data smoothing removes the variations in the signature. We use the standard weighted least-squares regression (WLSR) method to smooth the data and Peirce’s criterion [21] to eliminate the outliers. 3) Data Storage and authentication: The collected data points are further stored in the database for each use. The database is capable of storing all the replication of gestures of the user which he entered during the input gesture and sample module. When the user entered the signature during the authentication time, all the replication gesture would be compared. is one of the imminent disaster in these modern technical world. Information extortion occurs when an attacker took the password and other authentication information from the user forcibly. Neither the traditional text-based password system nor biometric systems provide easy way-out of this. No matter the password is a text, fingerprint or iris movements it can be taken by force.

Economic And Social Changes In Post 1960 Essay

This report is aimed at addressing recent economic events and economic reports. First is analysis of problems of unemployment rate, changes in general price level, total output of goods and services and the ways in which the government raises and spends money. Other areas to be reviewed include examining the relationships between economic variables such as output, employment, interests, money and prices. This is the key variables that determine macro-economic activities and the level of national income in an economy. It therefore analyses the performance of the economy as a whole. Goals of Macro-Economic Policy: The major aims of macro-economic policy in relation to the recent economic events are as shown below. (1)It aims at full employment level in the economy: Full employment is favorable in an economy because the greater the level of unemployment the greater the goods and services in an economy. When more goods and services are produced in an economy more sales are made. The more the sales are made. The more the sales made the profits also made by a company also increase. Therefore to improve and increase profits made by companies there should be full employment level in an economy. Also the burden of unemployment and loss of goods and services is not desirable in an economy. (2)Price stability: In consideration to the recent economic events inflation should be avoided at all costs such that prices remain stable and predictable offer time. And this is advocated since inflation adversely affects a number of businesses and individual purchasing decisions. (3)Economic growth: Takes place when the real output increases more rapidly than the increase in population. In developed countries production is higher than the increase in population growth. With economic growth the society has more goods and services at its disposal and correspondingly high standard of living. (4) External balances: If a country has a favorable balance of payment its foreign exchange results will increase and therefore it can import much needed capital for investment. Unfavorable balance of payment will lead to reduced flow of foreign exchange to finance the trade deficit. Most developing countries have unfavorable balance of payment. This has lead to poor growth of their economies. Unlike in developed countries that have a favorable balance of payment. Hence they earn more foreign exchange. This makes developed countries to import needed capital for investments. National income accounting National income accounting is an accounting framework used in measuring current economic activities of all countries in the world. They use or apply national income accounts as their standard measure. The national income accounts are based on the idea that the amount of economic activity that occurs that occur during a period of time can be measured in terms of the following. (1) Output produced, excluding output used up in intermediate stage of production. If a country produces more goods and services per year then its economy will be improved. If the GDP (gross domestic product) is high it means that the country has produced more goods and services within that year hence promoting the economy of the country. (2) Income approach: In terms of income received by the producers output Inflation Inflation refers to persistent increase in the general price level over time. By analyzing the recent economic events inflation has got a number of effects to an economy. The following are the effects of inflation. Due to inflation income and wealth are redistributed arbitrarily, for inflation. Imposes a tax on those who hold money as opposed to those who holding real assets. Inflation reduces the standard of living of persons dependent on fixed incomes, for example pensioners. It benefits debtors and penalizes lenders. Due to inflation banks charge higher interest rates. Due to inflation interest rates rise, both because people require a higher reward for lending money which is falling in value and also because the government is forced to take ant inflationary measures. Investment is discouraged by government ant-inflation policy . because of inflation the prices of goods go high compared to the wages people are getting. Savings is discouraged by high level of inflation in our economies things are likely to cost more if bought later. Hence people will spend money to buy goods and stock them . this discourages savings. Inflation encourages speculation by the purchase of really assets by borrowing later than investment by the use of resources in production. Indeed inflation discourages investment in long-term projects because possible government anti-inflation policies are difficult to forecast. Because of inflation inefficiency is encouraged because a buoyant seller market blunts competition as higher prices obtained for their products allow even inefficient firms to survive. Inflation does not promote health promotion. Good and efficient firms lack market while inefficient firms gain market. Inflation generates industrial and social unrest since there is competition of higher incomes. Thus because of rising prices, trade unions ask for annual wages rise. Often demands exceed the rate of inflation anticipating future rise or seeking a larger shares of the national cake to improve their members’ real standard of living. Those with the most muscle gain at the expense of the weaker groups. Due to inflation employees in companies will strike in demand for high wages. This will force the companies to deploy its employees due to industrial unrests. By deploying a few workers the remaining once will then demand for higher wages. This situation will affect the operations of a company. If also the company reduces the number of its employees fewer products will be produced. If production is low fewer sales will be made also affecting the smooth running of the company. Additional administrative costs are incurred in offsetting go-slow and work to rule disruptions, allowing for inflation in negotiating contracts and wage rates, revising price lists and labels. High administrative costs arise due to inflation. Due to inflation companies may change their suppliers this means that new contracts should be made. To sign a new contract with a new company takes some time; this will affect the progress of a company. Due to inflation also prices of products change. Time is taken at preparation of new price lists and price labels. The rate of inflation tends to increase largely because high wage settlements in anticipation of higher future prices help to bring about the very rise which people fear. Since people are demanding for high wages then the rate of inflation increases this leads to an increase in the price of goods. External effects of inflation Inflation can create serious difficulties for a country that depends on international trade. These difficulties include: Exports tend to decline because they are relatively dealer in foreign market. Inflation increases the prices of products produced. This high prices discourse exports. Imports tend to decline because foreign goods are relatively cheap compared to Kenyan goods. Because of high prices of locally produced goods imports become discouraged. Higher money incomes in the economy increase the demand for imports and tend to decrease exports because of buoyant home market makes it less vital for manufactures to seek outlets abroad for their goods. An outward movement of capital may take place if price rise continues. Since foreign trades and financiers lose confidence in the shilling maintaining its current rate of exchange. Due to high levels of inflation, prices of goods will keep on growing this will eventually lead to investors losing confidence in a country hence they will not continue investing there. Money will not be invested in that country. It will lead to saving in other countries with stronger economies. Microeconomics Analysis on recent economic event under microeconomics Scarcity: Due to the drought that is already affecting people many products are know scarce. For example due to lack of rain milk is now scarce hence the price of milk has gone very high. Due to the since there is high demand for milk and less is readily available at the market the price of milk keeps on increasing. Since milk is not available in the market it means that it’s limited in supply. Scarcity is a relative term and it means less than requirements. Scarcity of resources is the main economic problem because all the abilities within our disposal like time, wealth and money are all scarce. A commodity is considered scarce when it is limited in supply. And because of scarcity of resources human beings can not be satisfied. Theory of demand and supply in microeconomics: In the country presently there is a shortage of maize. Due to the shortage of maize in the country the price flour has almost doubled. Demand theory plays a crucial role in business decision making. Business executives have to take decisions such as what to produce and how much to produce . However production managers will seek information regarding the commodity its respective quantities demanded by the consumers at different prices. There has been a shortage of bread in the country. The main factors that led to the shortage of bread are: Cost of production: It is likely possible that the cost of production of bread was high, relative to the price hence few types of bread were being produced. When the cost of production of a product is higher than its relative price less of that product is produced or so firms end up closing their businesses due to the high cost involved in production. The production method: Prices of the inputs such as labor, energy or machinery: The price of bread was high for example due to the inflation rate of the country. Due to inflation labor charges go high also affecting the price of bread. Some factors affect the demand of bread in the market. Such factors include: The level of income of people: This is a key determinant. It states that as people’s income rise individuals will tend to buy more of market products. Size of Market: The size of the market may be measured by the population. A larger population implies a bigger demand of goods and services. Price of related goods; changes in the price of substitutes will lead to a decrease or increase in the demand for the product. Anticipated price rises; If the government changes the tax rates, then there will be anticipation of price increases. This will lead to an increase in demand for the product in the short run. Increase in information technology; The availability of broadband services to homes and offices has led to an increase in demand for products because shopping has become interesting. Nowadays in the world, every home is intending to have an internet connection which is in essence increasing the demand for products and have a wide variety to choose from. Taste or preference; Special influence. These are seasonal demands, festivals or feasibilities and demonstration effects. Market structures Perfect competitive market structures: In perfect in a competitive market structure no individual seller can influence the price of the commodity, Perfect competitive is that situation of the market when there is large no of buyers and sellers, and there is no individual who dictates the price or the level output. Its therefore clear that one price of one commodity prevails in such a market. Further its noted that in such a market average revenue and marginal revenue bath will remain constant under the perfect competition however the concept of cost is significant under this markets. The cost that are usually involved include total cost average fixed costs and marginal cost. Monopoly and monopolistic market: Monopoly is that market structure in which a single producer controls the whole supply of a single commodity which has no close single substitute. In case of monopoly the following conditions must apply: (1) There must be one producer or one seller; That single producer may be an individual owner or a group of partners. (2) The commodity produced by the producer must have no close substitute. For example considering the current shortage of tomatoes in our county. Only one group of people are producing the tomatoes hence its price can only be controlled by this group of people country wide. REFERENCES Anonymous. A Not So Great 2008: Emerging Trends Report. National Real Estate Investor (Online Exclusive), (Oct 17, 2007). Baumol W, (1992); Economics principles & policies; Australia, edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich BLIX, Marten, 1995,† Underlying Inflation- A Common Trends Approach,† Bank of Sweden Working Paper No. 23 Elkington J. (2001); The Chrysalis Economy, Capstone, oxford. Hahn, E, â€Å"Core Inflation in the Euro Area: An Application of the Generalized Dynamic Factor Model,† Center for financial Studies Working Paper No. 2002/11 (Frankfurt Center for Financial Studies) McTaggart D Finlay C & Parkin M (2003); Economics, Pearson education Australia Waud R (1997); Macroeconomics; Pearson, Longman.

Virtual Reality And Real Reality - 992 Words

The writer did not focus so much attention on children and nature until the end of the chapter where the author gave strong connection with children peacefully interacting nature. However, I would like to point out the negative vibe the writer had with the connection with children and nature before I twist the plot to the positive feedback from the author. Nonetheless, the author gave an illustration about a curious boy who asked an important question about the difference between virtual reality and real reality when he saw sea creatures in the public aquarium. People thought the boy’s question was irrelevant and decided to ignore the curious boy’s question. However, the speaker was upset that children spend more time watching television and playing video games that they do not understand the difference between virtual reality and real reality. Due to the fact that the child is not well educated about its natural environment. The writer went further to mention four vita l information about the intersection a child can encounter with nature. These include; delicate conversation, patience, reading of nuance and meaning. At the beginning of the page, the author suggests â€Å"I don’t think modern technology necessarily alienates us from the world, it mediates.† I believe that human beings have a choice. It is depending on an individual to choose either to spend more time with modern technology or with the natural environment. One can teach and educated each other about theShow MoreRelatedVirtual Reality: The Real Life Implications of Raising a Virtual Child1586 Words   |  6 PagesWhen I first heard that I would be raising a virtual child, I did not fully understand how this would change my ideology on decision making and critical thinking and how my thoughts and ideas would impact the life of another human being. After I told my parents that I would be raising a child online, they had two reactions. 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In recent years Virtual Reality has become moreRead MoreTypes of Virtual Reality: Advantages and Dissadvantages1064 Words   |  5 Pagesdescription of Virtual Reality can be a bit tricky, and the semantics might be at variance in relation to what age group you ask, for instance, a children’s site describe computer simulated environment as tools which let you to experience and interact with images in a simulated 3D environment, for example, you could plan an area at home on your computer machine and really believe that you are walking around in it, although it was never constructed. According to Aurich, Virtual Reality is a broad andRead MoreThe Future Of Virtual Reality1634 Words   |  7 PagesVirtual reality is a virtual environment created by use of technology which has enabled the creation of real experiences into our brains and senses. 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Although this movie contains many aspects of virtual realityRead MoreSource Analysis Part 1 : Critical Summary Essay1484 Words   |  6 PagesSource Analysis Part 1: Critical Summary The experience of virtual reality gives us the chance to explore worlds in which we have not seen. But what happens when your mind can’t tell what is virtual and what is real? Glenn F. Cartwright, a psychology professor at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, explores this topic in the article â€Å"Virtual or Real? The Mind in Cyberspace† which gives a psychologist’s perspective and fears that virtual reality will become a danger to consumers psyche. Cartwright’sRead MoreVirtual Reality and the Gaming Industry1363 Words   |  6 PagesVII. Impact on individuals Teenagers Virtual reality gives huge benefits in education and helps to improve student engagement. It’s one of the best ways to engage and helps the students to understand the subject through virtual reality system. Especially in the virtual reality game will bring significant impact to teenagers. The major three types of impact are social difficulty (socially impaired), physical and psychological difficulty. Even virtual reality is a great tool to learn, but it is not

Not A Crime - 886 Words

Not a Crime? Some people may argue that the spill should not be treated as crime because it is just the risks associated with drilling and it was truly an accident. Reiman’s point provide a basis for being the devil’s advocate in terms of using his categories that he outlines as a basis for how it is not a crime. BP could have had no intent in committing such a heinous act. Recklessness, negligent, concealment, and knowledge were all absent from the spill and that this solely occurred as a freak of nature. The assertion that BP had not met any of those standards means that BP had no knowledge that this was a foreseeable risk, and that what happened to the ecosystem and economies is something that they shouldn’t be liable for. Direct harm is another category of Reiman and as stated above indirect harm is they committed. The notion to say that this didn’t happen is to pass the blame off onto other companies such as Halliburton, or Trans-Ocean which would direct the blame from BP to the other accused companies but since they were in the sole operation of the well it would be hard to pass the blame off on to other companies that may or may not of been involved. An argument against legitimacy is saying that since they provide jobs, pay taxes, and are a backbone for the American oil industry that this is just a risk of being in the oil industry. Mistakes will happen and that when they do we move on from them and do not hold anyone criminally liable for the actions thatShow MoreRelatedCrime : Crime And Crime1688 Words   |  7 Pagesdetermined that a crime is committed every second a day. Given the data by the FBI’s crime clock, a violent crime such include murder, robbery, rape and assaults occurs every 23.9 Seconds in the United State. 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When a crime takes place, the part that fascinates peo ple the most is how the offender is captured and brought to justice (NathanRead MoreCrime : Crime And Crime1059 Words   |  5 PagesLarge or small, crime affects us all. Whether it is presented to you on a personal level, or you happened to have heard it one the news while you and your family were enjoying a nice Sunday meal. In the words of Jeff Mariotte â€Å"Crime touches us all† (Mariotte, Jeff P1). This is shown to us in the popular television series Criminal Minds because of the way the producers and show writers portray the act of crimes as well as the accuracy of the crime, the inside look of what is going on in the criminals’Read MoreCrime Is A Crime And Crime999 Words   |  4 Pagescommits a crime, the immediate response from the public is that they deserve a punishment for their crime. Some of the crimes that offenders act upon range on the spectrum: from a minor crime to a major crime. 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Are Environmental Factors, Genetic Patterns, Or Previous

Are environmental factors, genetic patterns, or previous experiences responsible for every single action people commit in life? Why bothering in telling the truth to others when everything is justified by a certain response to some kind of stimuli? Many philosophers and psychologists around the world have been studying the human behavior for several years. Most of them have agreed on the way people react to things in life such as love, hate, truth, and lies. As a matter of fact, various theories have been developed when it comes to justify human behavior. These theories happen to explain the relationship between the body and mind of human beings from different perspectives. Just to mention one, we have Behaviorism. Behaviorism, ethics, and†¦show more content†¦So, what kind of human behavior that is? Ethics, on the other hand, also defined as moral philosophy, encloses the meaning of what is wrong and right in life. Questions arise from this term such as what’s the best way for me to go through this situation? How can I end up being the least damaged? What’s the best way for me to live in this world without being hurt? If I lie, only this time, would it be wrong or right? Everything goes around one self. Then, we have the term psychological egoism where every person is being motivated by self-interest and well-being, without caring about others. Therefore, lying to others in order to achieve a certain benefit becomes a self-ethical psychological egoism, in other words, if I’m going to be fine and won’t get hurt after lying, then it’s right for me to do it no matter what the consequences will be. Philosophers like Kant condemned any kind of lying. They use to say that lying, even if it was the only way possible to save oneself from some situation , was never ethically permissible. How right is it to be admitted in a hospital almost dying from some kind of unknown condition and lie about anything in your daily life that can be relevant to your doctor in order to diagnose what you have going on inside you? Why would you lie to your mother when something went wrong and you could not do things the way she told you to? Why to lie about pregnancy if it’s not illegal? What to lie about sex if you’reShow MoreRelatedGenetic Cluster Number Of Genetic Clusters892 Words   |  4 Pages2.5 Number of genetic clusters To infer genetic cluster number (K) in our sample set, we used two Bayesian approaches based on the clustering method which differed in that they: a) incorporate or not a null allele model, and b) use a non-spatial or spatial algorithm. We selected this approach because Bayesian models capture genetic population structure by describing the genetic variation in each population using a separate joint posterior probability distribution over loci. 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A Thousand Splendid Suns Free Essays

â€Å"Justice and power must be brought together so that whatever is just, may be powerful and whatever is powerful may be just† With all people, power is justified throughout all aspects of life. More importantly, the rare nature of power of women makes that even more incredible. As many nations over the course of history, and even in today’s time, show, women have never been given the honour of holding power. We will write a custom essay sample on A Thousand Splendid Suns or any similar topic only for you Order Now With of course, the exception of such women as Cleopatra and Donna Marina. However, with all power comes, as many Hollywood movies and TV shows state, â€Å"with responsibility† and many can be swayed to join the side of corruption, greed and wealth, exploiting their power to make as much profit as possible. Khaled Hosseini’s tragic text, A Thousand Splendid Suns, conveys all the characteristics of a powerful text, incorporating the inner strength of women contrasted with the discrimination of the same gender. This text is amplified by John Boyne’s novel, The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas. Throughout the entire novel, both Mariam and Laila endure a lot of obstacles and heartache purely because of their gender. Yet they continue to persevere and overcome their challenges. It is their strength and power within themselves which allows â€Å"justice and power† to be â€Å"brought together†, as the women of that nation would not have been allowed to voice their opinions, let along hold any power over authority, as the text describes the main antagonist being constricted by their husband. The dialogue â€Å"A man’s heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn’t like a mother’s womb. It won’t bleed. It won’t stretch to make room for you† conveys fear, and powerlessness. The persona does not feel any power, but feels isolation instead. This demonstrates women’s place in many nations in the poorer parts of the world. However, later the text states that â€Å"Laila has moved on†. This quote highlights the persona empowering herself. She has moved on from her abusive husband and now â€Å"whatever is powerful may be just†, aligning the quote with the persona. How to cite A Thousand Splendid Suns, Essay examples A Thousand Splendid Suns Free Essays string(135) " sees the disastrous events that have taken place in Afghanistan as well as the sturggle that women have endured to gain independence\." Khaled Hosseini is one of the most admired Afghani authors of the 21st century. He is best know for works such as The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns that explore the hardships of living in Afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime. This paper will discuss the life and work of Khaled Hosseini with special emphasis on the effect on women in Afghan society in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. We will write a custom essay sample on A Thousand Splendid Suns or any similar topic only for you Order Now Khaled Hosseini was born on March 4, 1965. He is the eldest of five children, and was born in Kabul, Afghanistan where his father worked for the foreign ministry and his mother taught Persian literature. Hosseini’s father was relocated to work in Tehran, where Hosseini’s passion for Persian literature grew and inspired him to write short stories of his own. In 1973 the Afghan King, Zahir Shah was overthrown by his own cousin, Daoud Khan, in a bloodless coup. In 1976, Hosseini’s father was again relocated to Paris where Khaled and his family moved. Only two years after Daoud Khan’s reign, he was overthrown by a communist faction, and killed. Hosseini’s family, now wary of the Soviet impact in Afghanistan, were granted political asylum in the United States. Although Hosseini struggled with English in his first year of high school, he was greatly inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, to continue his passion for writing. Determined to make ends meet for him and his family, after graduating high school in 1984 he enrolled in Santa Clara University to study biology, and later earn a his bachelor’s degree in 1988. Hosseini became a practicing internist after he gained his Medical degree at the University of California. Hosseini joined the Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization and settled in Mountain View, California with his wife, Roya, to start a family. Throughout Hosseini’s medical studies he felt it was his responsibility to tell the world about the country he knew, before it was consumed with war, so he published his first novel The Kite Runner. He told the story of two Afghan boys who’s lives undertake different paths with the events of the war. â€Å"The Kite Runner spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list, and returned to the list five years after its initial ppearance† (Khaled Hosseini Biography). In 2003, following the success of his first novel, Hosseini returned to Afghanistan after twenty seven years. Where he felt devastated and shocked the remains of his country. In 2006 he joined the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, from war zones around the world. Since 2003 Hosseini had been working on his second novel which foc uses on the effect of women during the Soviet Invasion and under the Taliban dictatorship. A Thousand Splendid Suns, like the first novel became an international bestseller, while The Kite Runner became a highly acclaimed motion picture. Khaled Hosseini gave up his medical practice to write and continue his work for the United Nations. (Khaled Hosseini Biography; â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography) A Thousand Splendid Suns is divided into four parts. In part one we meet Mariam. Mariam lives with her Nana in a kolba and is the illegitimate child of a wealthy cinema owner from Herat. Mariam praised the ground her father, Jalil walked on. But when her mother kills herself and she’s sent to live with her father, she realizes that she’s the personification of shame to her him. Jalil marries Mariam off to Rasheed, a shoe make from Kabul who turns out to be an abusive husband. In part two of the novel we meet Laila. She was born on the same day the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Due to the fact that her older brothers are off at war with the Soviets, Laila’s mother is in deep depression. Laila tells about her best friend Tariq, who she later falls in love with, and about her days during and after the Soviet Invasion. The day Tariq tells Laila that he’s leaving Kabul due to the bombs reigning down on the city, they spontaneously end up having sex. Then two weeks after Tariq’s departure, Laila’s family also decides to leave, but a bomb hits her house and kills her parents. In part three Mariam and Rasheed take Laila in and nurse her back to health. When Laila finds out she is pregnant with Tariq’s child she decides to marry Rasheed so that he believes the child is his. Mariam and Laila are enemies at first, but Rasheed’s abusive behavior manages to bring them together. In an extreme act of self-sacrifice Mariam kills Rasheed in order to save Laila’s life, and turns herself in to the authorities. In part four Laila runs away with Tariq, who comes back after so many years where they manage to make a living in a hotel where they also work at. In order to pay tribute to Mariam, Laila decides to visit Herat where she sees the kolba that Mariam and her mother lived in, she reads the letter Mariam’s father had left her, and when she finds out that she’s pregnant with her third child, she decides that if it’s a girl she’ll name her Mariam. A Thousand Splendid Suns tells of the relationship of two unlikely women who are brought together by the events taking place in their country. It’s our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have† (19). Mariam didn’t heed the words of her mother back then in the kolba, but she did learn throughout her life that women in general had to endure the many hardships that life presented. The Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime has had a lasting effect on the women of Afghanistan. T hey have struggled with the Taliban’s political reign in government as well the the â€Å"cultural contraints†¦of tradition and religion†(Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men’s power struggles). Through the lives of Mariam and Laila one sees the disastrous events that have taken place in Afghanistan as well as the sturggle that women have endured to gain independence. You read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" in category "Essay examples" One can see where the â€Å"notions of honour and shame†¦emphasise female modesty and purity†(Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men’s power struggles) through Mariam’s birth. Mariam’s mother was cast out of the house she lived in as a servant for having a passing affair with the owner of the house who was wealthy and of high class. Mariam thus considered herself â€Å"an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (4). Furthermore, in a poor excuse to rid himself of the shame and dishonor he brought upon his family, Mariam’s father marries her off. [He] â€Å"didn’t have the [heart] either†¦to stand up to his family, to his wives and in-laws, and accept responsibility for what he had done†(7). When Laila was rescued from the remains of her house and Rasheed claimed that her living in his house would â€Å"look dishonorable†(214) shows that a women’s honor and purity means everything in Afghan society, and to ruin those things means bringing shame upon oneself and one’s family. That is why Laila agreed to marry him, because she knew that if anyone were to find out she was pregnant and unmarried, she would be thrown out into the streets, and plenty of unimaginable things were to happen it to her then. Sura 4:34 â€Å"Men stand superior to women in that God hath preferred the one over the other †¦ Those whose perverseness you fear, admonish them and remove them into bed chambers and beat them, but if they submit to you then do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great. † (qtd. in Legacy of the Prophet) This quote suggest that male relatives have the authority to beat their wives if they disobey them. They are many incidents in A Thousand Splendid Suns where Mariam and Laila are beaten into submission. Mariam is forced to chew on pebbles as a demonstration of how her food tastes to her husband, and is left spitting â€Å"out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars†(104). The Quran also states that women are to be beaten if they deny their husbands bed; Mariam is threatened to be beaten because Rasheed (her husband) claims that she is influencing Laila to not sleep with him. Mariam and Laila were tortured after they tried to escape Rasheed’s home by being locked in separate rooms, where they went without water and food for days. Laila is severely beaten, almost to the point of death, when Rasheed finds out that she allowed Tariq into his home and allowed him to see her without a burqa. Male relatives in Afghanistan also have a right to honor killings, if a women is not a virgin on her wedding night her male relatives have the right to kill her in order to avenge the family honor. If a wife is accused of adultery she is stoned to death, and if a woman is caught with a man who is not a relative, she is given a hundred lashes and a year in prison (Islam and Women’s Rights). Men are not greatly punished for the same â€Å"crime† that women commit since many of them can have multiple wives and concubines. This shows the injustice between men and women in Afghanistan and how tradition and religion is used to control their everyday lives. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1978 gave woman a better sense of independence. This new governmental reform encouraged woman to a better education, teach in schools, work in hospitals, and permitted them to not wear a burqa. This reform also included the prohibition of forced marriages and also raised the marriage age to sixteen. â€Å"Women have always had it hard in this country†¦but they’re probably more free now, under the communist, and have more rights than they’ve ever had before†(135). According to the Commision on the Status of Women one must fight against the use of tradition in order to eliminate the discrimination of women (Women in Afghanistan). But such reforms were not taken lightly and were deemed un-Islamic, and thrust Afghanistan into a civil war between Soviet troops and the Mujahideen. â€Å"Of course, women’s freedom is also one of the reasons people out there took up arms in the first place† (135) The next ten years resulted in millions of Afghans leaving the country due to the fighting in many rural areas where men, women, and children became targets of the war at their doorstep. After the Soviet retreat in 1989, the Mujahideen were in a political power struggle that resulted in mass hysteria and the rise of the Taliban. Before the Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime, men and women were declared equal through God. They were given the right to vote, choose their own partners, and a right to an inheritance. But under the Taliban all of these rights were taken away, and many of their laws favored men over women (The Plight of the Afghan Woman). â€Å"Attention Women: You will stay in your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a male relative. If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home†¦Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately. Women are forbidden from working. If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death†(278) Although female health professionals were still given the liberty to work under strict rules, they had harsh woking conditions. Many hospitals weren’t provided with the necessary tools in order to work on patients. â€Å"They had no clean water,†¦no oxygen, no medication, no electricity†(286). Women were segregated from men in every aspects of life, but wouldn’t it be fair to provide them with the necessities they needed in order for survival? Not only did these hospitals not have the equipment needed, they were probably too far to travel to if someone was at risk of dieing. It is because of these reason’s that Afghanistan has the â€Å"second highest infant mortality rate as well maternal mortality rate in the world†(Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns). The Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law has reduced women to poverty, worsened their health, and deprived them to an education. Even though they have taken away basic individual rights, the Taliban’s laws against women were particularly inhumane. [Mariam] remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. â€Å"As a reminder of how women like us suffer†¦How quietly we endure all that falls upon us† (91). The women of Afghanistan have endured a lot in these past 33 years. They have struggled between life and death, poverty, and hopelessness. Through the connection of two unlikely friends one learns of the hopes and despairs people face in times of war and dictatorship. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini has managed to portray the events that have taken place in Afghanistan and the injustice, suffering, and endurance that women face in everyday life. Works Cited Esfandiari, Golnaz. â€Å"Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. † Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Free Media in Unfree Societies. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. rferl. rg/content/article/1068295. html/content/article/1068295. html. Freeman, John. â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini | Book Reviews | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. † Houston News, Entertainment, Search and Shopping | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. chron. com/disp/story. mpl/life/books/reviews/4834205. html. Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Spl endid Suns. Bandung: Qanita, 2007. Print. â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography. † Khaled Hosseini | A Thousand Splendid Suns. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. khaledhosseini. com/hosseini-bio. html. Khaled Hosseini Biography — Academy of Achievement. † Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. achievement. org/autodoc/page/hos0bio-1. â€Å"The Legacy of the Prophet. † Dhushara. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. dhushara. com/book/zulu/leg. htm. Papas, Voula. â€Å"Islam and Women’s Rights | Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc. † Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc | Founded 1970. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/articles/islam-and-womens-rights. Qazi, Abdullah. â€Å"The Plight of the Afghan Woman. † Afghanistan Online. Web. 14 Mar. 010. http://afghan-web. com/woman/. â€Å"Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in Men’s Power Struggles. † PeaceWomen Project. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. pea cewomen. org/resources/Afghanistan/AIAfghanWomen. html. â€Å"Women’s Human Rights Resources – Women in Afghanistan. † Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. . Bibliography Esfandiari, Golnaz. â€Å"Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. † Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Free Media in Unfree Societies. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. ferl. org/content/article/1068295. html/content/article/1068295. html. Freeman, John. â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini | Book Reviews | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. † Houston News, Entertainment, Search and Shopping | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. chron. com/disp/story. mpl/life/books/reviews/4834205. html. Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Bandung: Qanita, 2007. Print. â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography. † Khaled Hoss eini | A Thousand Splendid Suns. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. khaledhosseini. com/hosseini-bio. html. Khaled Hosseini Biography — Academy of Achievement. † Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. achievement. org/autodoc/page/hos0bio-1. â€Å"The Legacy of the Prophet. † Dhushara. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. dhushara. com/book/zulu/leg. htm. Papas, Voula. â€Å"Islam and Women’s Rights | Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc. † Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc | Founded 1970. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/articles/islam-and-womens-rights. Qazi, Abdullah. â€Å"The Plight of the Afghan Woman. † Afghanistan Online. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. ttp://afghan-web. com/woman/. â€Å"Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in Men’s Power Struggles. † PeaceWomen Project. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. peacewomen. org/resources/Afghanistan/AIAfghanWomen. html. â€Å"Women’s Human Rights Resour ces – Women in Afghanistan. † Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. law-lib. utoronto. ca/diana/afghanwomen. htm. Yardley, Jonathan. â€Å"Jonathan Yardley – Jonathan Yardley – Washingtonpost. com. † Washingtonpost. com – Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. How to cite A Thousand Splendid Suns, Essay examples A Thousand Splendid Suns Free Essays It made me forget about the real world and dragged my mind into the world of Miriam and Leila. Miriam is a girl who was â€Å"born a Hiram, a source of shame to her father and his family’ (60). Her father Jail is of the upper-class men of Kabul, and her mother a lowly woman cast out of her home by her master Jail. We will write a custom essay sample on A Thousand Splendid Suns or any similar topic only for you Order Now Every Thursday, Jail would visit Miriam and tell her of the wondrous stories of her past, and Miriam, a naive little girl, would eat up all the Lies he feeds her. Her mother would warn her against It all, but Miriam chose to believe the happy version of events Jail told her. He was a rich man telling rich lies. Why would Marls own father be so cold-hearted to pretend to love her and aka up stories that arena even true? I think he does this because â€Å"[he is] ashamed of [her]† (50); but he doesn’t want her to know his true personality or else she wouldn’t respect him since he is her father after all. Social appearances told society whether you were worth their time or not, so Jail wanted to save his face and keep his good reputation. Nowadays, we are still Judged by our social status and appearance though it isn’t as severe and open as back then in the late asses. Maria’s mother once warned her that there was â€Å"only one skill† she had to perfect, â€Å"[a]ND it’s this: tamale. Endure† (17). We can observe how obedient Miriam Is, because she did endure. She â€Å"quietly endure[d] all that [fell] upon [her]† (82) through the good times and the bad – especially through the bad. If I had to live Maria’s life, I doubt that I would have endured through everything that came my way as well as she did. Miriam is like a coconut: she has a hard shell, and nothing can break her. But on the inside, her heart is so big and generous, yet she sometimes feels like she can’t keep up the brave face any longer. The first few days of Maria’s forced marriage were tough on her. She wasn’t used to the new surroundings and she was oiling â€Å"adrift and forlorn† (56). But little by little, chore by chore, with each smile and connection she made with her new husband, she thought to herself â€Å"that they would make good companions after all† (77). After losing her first child, Miriam returns to her state of misery and loses the connection she had with her husband Rehashed. His temper goes out of control, and everything she does has this sense of dreariness and to her â€Å"life †¦ [seems] so exhausting† (83). I can feel Maria’s despair and grief as If It were almost my own even though I have no Idea what It feels like to have lost a child. This Is an example of Chalked Hussein’s power In writing: he draws me In with his vivid words painting a clear picture in my mind. Chapter 16-25 (Part TWO) Journal #2 In Part Two of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the narrator takes us down the path of life of Leila. When she was only nine years old, the Soviet Union had already invaded Afghanistan. Some people, like Laic’s teacher, said that â€Å"the Soviet Union was the best nation in the world†¦ Mind to its workers, and its people were all equal† (101). But others disagreed strongly with this statement. Laic’s father believes firmly in education, especially for women. He thinks that education should come before marriage â€Å"because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated† (103), which is quite the opposite of what most other parents w ith daughters think. Leila has been â€Å"the top-ranked student† (103) for the past two years, but she feels that she cannot tell her friends Hessian and Gist as they do not have the same perspective on education as Leila and her father. Ever since Laic’s two older brothers have went off to war, her mamma has been depressed and feels like there is no point in life. She is an â€Å"unmoving blanketed mound† lying in bed everyday. From this, I inferred that mamma prefers her sons to Leila. This is a great example of how in some cultures parents favor sons over daughters. Why is this so? I think this is because of the stereotype that boys are better than girls. I see no reason why a girl cannot be as strong or smart or talented as a boy in any way. Nowadays, we try to ban this way of thinking but some people still have this belief. One afternoon, â€Å"a stranger with news† (122) came knocking at her door. He came to tell her parents that Laic’s brothers, Nor and Mad, have died triumphantly, fighting for their beloved country’s sovereignty. Many people the next morning arrived at their funeral, but all Mamma did was â€Å"sway back and forth and stare at the rug with a remote, spiritless look† (125). Contrarily, it was hard for Leila â€Å"to summon sorrow, to grieve the deaths of people [she] had never really thought of as alive in the first place† (125, 126) because her brothers had left for war when she was a very young girl. Even though the last of the Soviet convoys left the city in 1989, Mamma swore she would not celebrate nor rejoice until the Unexamined win the war against Incunabula and â€Å"hold a victory parade right here in Kabul† (138). Three years later, unexpected happened. Incunabula surrendered ! From that day on, â€Å"Mamma rose from bed a new woman† (145) and resumed her motherly chores. Unfortunately, around a week later everything unraveled and instead of having a common enemy, the Unexamined found the enemy in each other. They fired rockets at the mountains, and â€Å"the mountains fired on Kabul† (157). One day after school when Gist was walking home with her friends, a stray rocket struck them. It was only during the funeral the next day the information finally started to sink in and â€Å"[a]t last, Leila began to weep for her friend† (161). For Leila, the bad news Just kept coming like an ocean’s waves. This time it was her best friend and lover, Atari, who was moving to Pakistan. She felt betrayed and heartbroken, but at the same time she knew he had to go. Almost everyone in her neighborhood had packed their belongings and left, but Mamma refused. She said it was an â€Å"affront, a Dearly, These two women were similar; they were both compassionate and kind-hearted. One night, when Rehashed their husband was in a foul mood, Leila talked back to him. He immediately assumed it was Miriam who taught her to do this, even though they weren’t exactly friends at that time. He took out his leather belt, and that meant a beating for Miriam. Just as he brought the belt down, Leila lunged at him, pleading him to not beat Miriam. Even though Miriam was Jealous and reluctant to befriend Leila at first; she soon learned to accept and appreciate the other woman’s companionship. The beginning of their friendship sparked when Leila first asked Miriam to have tea, after a long weary day doing chores around the house. â€Å"l know it’s chilly outside, but what do you say we sinners have us a cup of chaw in the yard? † Leila asked. Miriam protested weakly at first, but gave in to the thought of a break from all the work. From then on, they had daily chaw and were no longer enemies, but n understanding came across the two of them and they started to do their chores together. I don’t relate at all to the lives of Leila and Miriam, so why did I feel their pain and their happiness like I was experiencing it? It was because Chalked Hussein wrote this book with such emotion and depth; he wound my mind carefully into the life of these two women. CONNECTIONS Chalked Hussein wrote this book with hope in his heart and a mind-blowing story to tell. He used many literary devices to spice up his book and to add more pizzazz. When Nana told Miriam â€Å"To Jail and his wives, I was a poker. A muggers. You too. † This is a powerful metaphor describing how others looked down on them because they were from a lower caste. Another device would be â€Å"early evening† and â€Å"badly out of breath†. They are examples of alliteration for emphasis on the time of day and the condition of the character. He also used similes. Some examples of that would be â€Å"She could make out the minarets in the distance, like the dusty fingers of giants†¦ † Which compares the distant towers to the fingers of a giant and â€Å"She had a mouth that ran like a sewing machine† which compares tells us that Hessian not only talked a lot but also very fast. Lastly, one example of personification is â€Å"They are not friendly countries. † A country cannot be friendly, it is the people living in the country that are friendly or not. This book was written in two perspectives: Maria’s and Laic’s. It was a bit confusing Jumping back and forth from these points of view, but it showed the opinion of these two women and laid out the two sides of this story. ANALYSIS One part of the book that was very touching was when Miriam accepted her punishment for killing Rehashed to save Leila, so that Leila can live the rest of her life peacefully and without fault. It shows owe big Maria’s heart is, how willing she was to give up her life for someone she loves. Leila wanted Miriam to run away with her, but Miriam refused. She said, â€Å"Eve killed our husband. Eve deprived your son of his father. It isn’t right that I run. I can’t. Even if they never catch us, I’ll never escape your son’s grief. † It broke my heart to see Leila leave Miriam behind, but it was decided. Miriam said Leila and her children have given her the happiness she was looking for – there was nothing else she wanted. RESPONSE The other part that moved me so much was the letter Jail wrote to Miriam to apologize Tort now en treated near, Ana now en wasn’t a good Tanner to near. He wrote, â€Å"l dare, I dare allow myself the hope that, after you read this, you will be more charitable to me than I ever was to you. That you might find it in your heart to come and see your father. That you will knock on my door one more time and give me the chance to open it this time, to welcome you, to take you in my arms, my daughter, as I should have all those years ago. It is a hope as weak as my heart. † This paragraph in his letter stood out to me the most, and it shows how sorry Jail was for not being there for his daughter all those years. For giving her away to marriage, for treating her like she wasn’t good enough for him. RESPONSE After reading the letter, I think that Jail has changed, that death’s open arms have given him a change of heart. It brought tears to my eyes, because Miriam didn’t have the chance to forgive her father and make everything right again. Why didn’t Miriam visit Jail after receiving his first letter? I think it was because she was scared of seeing him after so long, of what he would think of her, and mostly importantly she was scared of him not opening the door for her again like the day of her birthday years before. RESPONSE The message the author tried to convey was as clear as a summer sky to me. It is that friendship is something we should all treasure. It shows us that sometimes teamwork is essential to win even though sometimes we have to sacrifice. Leila and Miriam won the war against Rehashed, but in this case Miriam had to give up her life for it. It was a beautiful but heart-breaking deed: Miriam sacrificing herself for her sister and only friend Leila; she was so humble to put others before herself. In conclusion, Chalked Hussein gave the readers a very powerful image of his home country Afghanistan and showed us how strong a true friendship can be. How to cite A Thousand Splendid Suns, Papers

The Human Animal Bond free essay sample

The year 2003 started out the same as any other year. It was my second year in the Army and I was just beginning to get used to the demands of military life, when, all of a sudden, my unit got orders to go to Iraq. I felt as if my world had been turned upside down, and I had no idea how I was going to get through the deployment and still keep my sanity. About three months into the deployment, I was taking the trash out after dinner when it happened. As I was about to launch the bag into the trash trailer, I could have sworn I heard a cat meow. I thought, â€Å"I must be crazy! † I hadn’t seen a cat since I left the United States, but sure enough when I bent down to look under the trailer, there he was. Staring back at me was a cat that could have passed for my childhood cat. I doubted that he would come to me if I called him, but I decided to give it a try anyway, and to my surprise he came! This was the beginning of a three month relationship. I started calling him Marvin since he reminded me so much of the cat I had when I was young. For the three months I spent about 30 minutes a day with Marvin. He would usually show up right around dinner time. He always knew where he could find me, and when he did, he would come over and jump into my lap and lay down. He would sit with me for a while and I would pet him and talk to him about my day. Some of the people I worked with would come by and tell me that I was crazy for touching a stray cat in the middle of Iraq. â€Å"He might have a disease,† they would say. I didn’t care what they said, Marvin was important to me. There I was in the middle of the desert in Iraq, half a world away from my family and everything familiar to me. For half an hour a day, sometimes more, that little cat allowed me to forget where I was for a while. There are countless other stories of the bond that humans and animals share. In recent years, we have also learned how animals can help humans overcome a wide range of social and individual problems. The relationship between animals and humans provides a common social bond among people of diverse cultural backgrounds, and due to animals’ unique capabilities, they are able to improve our lives. The most common human-animal bond is the relationship we have with our pets. Other ways are through therapy animals, and service nimals. Therapy and service animals are different from each other because of the types of training they receive and the ways that they assist humans. Each bond is unique and provides a specific benefit to the participants. NEADS (Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans) was established in 1976 to train and provide independence to people who are deaf or physically disabled through the use of canine assistance. These assistance dogs become an extension of their owners and bring security, freedom, independence and relief from social isolation to their human partners (NEADS, np). Service Dogs are trained to assist people who are physically disabled. They are trained to retrieve things that drop, portable telephones, or items from shelves and other hard-to-reach places; open refrigerator and other doors; push elevator buttons; turn light switches on and off; carry items in their mouths or backpacks; pull wheelchairs up ramps or short distances; go get help should their partner need human assistance. (NEADS, np) A Hearing Dog is specially trained to assist a person who is deaf or hard of hearing. The dog is trained to respond to sounds such as a smoke alarm, baby crying, doorbell, alarm clock etc. nd alert his or her deaf partner that these sounds have occurred (NEADS, np). Service dogs can help disabled people in the following ways: The person who uses a wheelchair can now retrieve dropped items without having to call someone for help. The child with a hearing disability is alerted to the school bell signaling a class change. The person with a visual impairmen t can walk in the park without holding on to another person. This independence can be accompanied by an increase in self-esteem as the person no longer has to rely solely on other people (Delta Society, np). Specifically for disabled children, a service dog becomes a constant companion acting as a facilitator of social interaction. The dog can be an icebreaker in social situations where disabled children are often shunned by their peers. Service dogs can help to encourage conversation and to facilitate the formation of friendships (Delta Society, np). NEADS also trains specialized dogs as service dogs in the ministry. These dogs know skills such as retrieving things that are dropped, opening doors or cabinets, turning on and off light switches and more. They are placed with a minister in a church setting or as a chaplain in an institutional setting. The dog accompanies the minister in his or her duties including visiting those in hospitals, nursing homes or private residences, conducting worship services, greeting parishioners, meetings and day to day activities through the community. They also accompany the minister on pastoral calls, are present during worship, help with children’s’ stories, and provide comfort to those who are distressed. The presence of a friendly, soft, engaging animal often puts people at ease. Children especially seem to find comfort in the presence of a friendly dog. And, as one minister explained: â€Å"I discovered that pastoral counseling took on a whole new depth with my service dog present. Some people stroke him as they talk seeming to gain comfort from his soft coat. Others talk to him or through him making it easier for them to express themselves(NEADS, np). Social Dogs are trained to assist children and adults who can benefit from the therapeutic value of a dog, but are not able to assume total responsibility for its care and training. A third party facilitator (parent, guardian or PCA) will help with the dogs daily needs and learn to assist in public situations. Social dogs may also be trained to assist a therapist or counselor in settings such as nursing homes, halfway houses and psychotherapy centers (NEADS, np). There are also specially trained dogs which are paired with social workers, therapists, and teachers who work with children who have physical, emotional or developmental disabilities. They are integrated into the educational curriculum as motivators and serve as an innovative teaching tool for the children (NEADS, np). Therapy Dogs International has a program called â€Å"Tail Waggin’ Tutors†. The objective of this program is to provide a relaxed and â€Å"dog-friendly† atmosphere, which allows students to practice the skill of reading. Many of the children chosen for this program have difficulties reading and as a result have developed self-esteem issues. They are often self-conscious when reading aloud in front of other classmates. When reading to the dog, all threats of being judged are put aside. The child relaxes, pets the attentive dog, and focuses on the reading. Reading improves because the child is practicing the skill of reading, building self-esteem, and associating reading with something pleasant (TDI, np). At Murray State, pet therapy is used to help de-stress students during finals week as well as once every month during the regular academic year. This also allows the dogs live up to their role as â€Å"man’s best friend. † Pet therapy began several years ago during finals week at Waterfield Library. â€Å"That was so successful that we started doing it once a month at the library,† Henderson said. â€Å"We still try to do it during finals week. It’s been shown in character that being around a dog and petting a dog actually lowers blood pressure. Henderson is one of the owners of the dogs being used as therapy dogs at the university (Taylor, np). Therapy animals are used in the aftermath of natural disasters or catastrophic events to assist victims and rescue workers in dealing with emotional trauma. Their steady and unwavering companionship helps to provide consolation. Physical contact has a calming effect and dogs have the ability to bring back pleasant memories of a persons life. Therapy dogs help combat loneliness and they give people the chance to have something to look forward to (TDI, np). Non-traditional animals such as horses and dolphins are also used as service and therapy animals. Dolphin Assisted Therapy (D. A. T. ) is a new and exciting field of modern medicine that has shown extraordinary results in relation to the conventional methods of treatments such as prescribed medication, human therapy and others. It is relatively new, but already has documented results in patients that chose to try it. Dolphin therapy programs are designed to help children and adults with physical, developmental, and chronic physical problems. The program consists of classroom and in water activities (dolphin assisted therapy. com, np). Horse therapy is used to help children with mental and emotional disorders. Children with autism and attention deficit disorder can benefit from horse therapy. Even those showing severe anti-social and aggressive behavior become calmer and more communicative. (wayofthehorse. com, np). Children with ADD will focus on the horse for long periods while grooming or leading the horse when usually they cant concentrate long enough to do anything much. Autistic children who are withdrawn and living very much in their own world will begin to express themselves often using new words or gestures theyve never expressed before. † (wayofthehorse. com, np). The Colorado Boys Ranch (CBR) is one place where they offer this kind of therapy to emotionally challenged boys. Most of the boys here come from the inner cities and many of them have been in jail or reform schools (Canfield, 113). The story of Martin comes from a â€Å"Chicken Soup† book. When he came to the ranch, the fifteen year old had already been in jail for a variety of offenses, including assault. Martin had a serious attitude problem and was always pushing smaller kids in order to get in the front of the line. He had never had experience with animals, but chose to do the horsemanship program at the ranch. When it was time for riding, Martin was the one trying to ride as fast and as reckless as he could. One day, one of the mares suddenly became ill and died. While the staff was unsuccessfully trying to feed her newborn foal, Martin came rushing into the barn, pushing his way through all the other kids to see what was going on. He started yelling that he wanted to feed the horse. The staff let him, and amazingly the foal responded to him. When he asked what would happen to her now that her mother had died, the staff told him that she needed someone to watch over her. Martin said he would be her new â€Å"Mama†. Martin read everything he could about horses and within a few months, he was one of the best horsemanship students at the ranch. His attitude changed, and he even began to help the younger boys with saddling their horses and other tasks. When Martin came to the ranch, he was considered a â€Å"lost cause† and nobody thought there was much hope left for him (Canfield, 113-6). Stories like Martin’s are proof of the importance of the human-animal bond. When everything else had failed, the relationship a teenage boy developed with a newborn foal was enough to turn his life around. In today’s culture, animals are practically as important to us as the air we breathe. Pets can be found in over 60% of households, and 90% of owners consider their pet to be a family member. (Brodie, 330). A drive around town or a stroll around the mall is all it takes to see how important pets are to those who have them. Bumper stickers that read, â€Å"I love my Golden Retriever†, or â€Å"Cocker Spaniel on board† can be seen all over town. Entire stores and websites are devoted to our pets, but studies have shown that happiness is not the only thing our pets can provide us with. There are a number of reasons why acquiring a companion animal is beneficial to health (Serpell, 720). Pet owners report benefits to their well-being such as ongoing reciprocal affection, companionship and affection. In addition, it has been claimed that companion animals protect against boredom, loneliness, and helplessness in nursing home settings (Winefield, 303). As far as pets providing us with health benefits, many medical studies have been done to prove that pets are beneficial to us. In a blood pressure study, Brodie states pet owners had significantly lower systolic blood pressure and plasma triglycerides than non-pet owners. Male pet owners had lower cholesterol levels when compared with male non-pet owners with similar BMI, smoking habits and socioeconomic status (331). Pet owning subjects had significantly decreased blood pressure when they interacted with their pets when compared with a resting control group. 331) Brodie states that although there are some conflicting results, general research and published material tentatively suggests that human/pet interaction can have positive effects on human health. Those effects include: decreased loneliness, improved morale, and increased social interaction (333). Brodie also states that it may be justified to accept that those people who interact with pet animals may benefit from improved physical, psychological and social health experiences and that animals can provide specific benefits for special groups in society (the disabled) (334). In another blood pressure study, when the effects of pet ownership on cardiovascular responses to psychological stress were examined, the results showed that ACE inhibitor therapy only lowers resting blood pressure, whereas the addition of social support (a pet) lowers responses to stress (Allen, 817). During an exit conference of the study to which all of the dog owners and most of the cat owners brought their pets. The question, â€Å"how has your pet changed your life? † was posed to the group. By consensus, the response with the highest rating was, â€Å"having this pet makes me better able to see what is really important and to put things into perspective†(Allen, 818). When asked about the pros and cons of pet ownership, participants responded that â€Å"the positive aspects far outweighed any added expense or responsibility and that they would never give up their pets†(Allen, 818). Allen states that participants were asked to â€Å"identify whether they thought pets influenced their resting blood pressure, their responses to stress or both. All participants except for two who answered â€Å"both† believed their pets helped lower their blood pressure. Participants also claimed they believed the combination of drug therapy and pet ownership over all contributed to their lower blood pressure. (819) In another study, Cline states that dog ownership may also decrease depression through promoting physical activity, and that physical activity has been shown to improve psychological well-being. Also, dog owners are more likely to get the prescribed 30 minutes of daily exercise than non-dog owners. Singles may benefit more from dog ownership than married people because the dog serves as an alternative source of social support (119). Cline also states that older owners are especially likely to gain benefits from dogs because the dog is the primary focus in conversation with others during walks. All of these individuals talked to their dogs during walks. Dog ownership may have more positive effects on women’s than men’s depression because women seek social support more than men do, and also because women place a higher value on their relationship with their pet. Pets can have positive effects on well-being, but these effects may not be the same for all individuals (120). Cline states that â€Å"dog ownership is at an all-time high in the United States, with approximately 39 percent of households owning at least one dog. The impact of dog ownership on psychological health is becoming increasingly important as the landscape of family life continues to change (e. g. families living further apart, increased divorce rate, etc. )† (127). â€Å"There has been a more or less implicit assumption that the human-animal bond is a form of emotional attachment with the same benefits as close human relationships. (Winefield, 304). For those of us who have pets, this statement is true. To some, animals are a necessity for them to retain their independence. For others, animals help them to see a purpose in life and give them something to live for. In order to get the benefit of the human-animal bond, it is not necessary to own a pet. Any interaction with animals can benefit us in some way. Even a short, three month relationship with a cat in the middle of Iraq had an impact on me that I will never forget.