Reader Response #2

Reader Response  I am responding to the Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan. I have read out122 of189 pages. This text is fiction but is based on true facts on Afghanistan. The main characters are Jameela( narrator), Mor (Jameela's mother who has passed away), Baba (Jameela's father), Khalaa (Jameela's stepmother & another Khalaa which is Agha Akram's wife) and Agha Akram (the man who has helped Jameela). The genre of this text is realistic fiction because the story is based on true facts that do happen to girls in Afghanistan, that are just like Jameela. The setting is Kabul. The conflict is Jameela's mother has passed away and Jameela's father has left her alone in Kabul, where she doesn't know anyone but a man named  Agha Akram (but she hardly knows him too). The theme is abandonment, poverty and war. The climax of the story was when Baba had just left Jameela standing at the meat shop. She was waiting for almost half a day, but he never showed up. The protagonist is Jameela. The antagonist is Khalaa. The author used foreshadowing when Khalaa and Agha were deciding on what to do with Jameela. The author had said "Finally the doors open. It's Agha who is looking down at the floor. Khalaa's face is set and determined." Which is meaning Khalaa had won, Jameela was sent to a orphanage.

Retell 

         The title of this text says to me that someone in the novel is wanting there mother. When I first saw it I had thought it meant wanting more, however, it is Mor, as in mother in pushto. To summarize the text in 1-3 sentences, I would say, the novel "Wanting Mor" is about a girl named Jameela who is struggling in life without a mother and  her village/house is mainly destroyed because of wars.Also Jameela's father had left her when she was being no use to her new stepmother. Jameela goes through many problems, like wondering why her father had just left her and not taken her with. To me, I think the most important/ meaning full quote was "If you can't be beautiful you should at least be good. People will appreciate that." This is because that quote has several meanings to it, for example if you can't be beautiful and be liked by everyone, you should at least be good and stay kind. I found this book hard to follow when Baba and Jameela were  getting kicked out of Khalaa's house. I do not think they had done anything, Jameela was doing more then what was needed, and I don't get why Khalaa had hated her. Some important details I noticed were how the day Jameela's mother had passed away, Jameela did everything to please her while Mor was sleeping, yet she was dead. I find that peculiar and I felt really bad for Jameela (even though it isn't real but some people do have those lives) she did everything to please her mother like scrub all the pots before Mor woke up and also, make her breakfast before she had woken up. The big ideas in this text were Mor dying, Baba and Jameela heading for Kabul, Baba leaving Jameela standing in front of a meat shop and not returning, and Jameela getting sent to an orphanage. The character I like best is Mor, this is because reading all the nice things she says to her daughter to not turn out bad are sweet. Mor doesn't seem like the other characters, like the Khalaa's who yell at there sons for just teaching Jameela the alphabet. Jameela still remembers the things Mor had told her from long ago and I think later on in the book she'll still remember them.

Relate 

          The houses and villages being destroyed reminded me of war, (which it is) because this is happening a lot in Kabul and Afghanistan. Also, Jameela's father leaving her standing there reminded me of poverty and how this year we had learned about poverty and parents leaving there children, because they have no use. For example, when Khalaa had told Baba Jameela was no use, Baba listened to her and left Jameela for a women he had know for less than a year. If I could be any characters in this text I would be Jameela because I would like to know how she feels. Is she happy getting put into a orphanage or is it and act? Does she hate Baba for leaving her? This text makes me think about all the kids in Afghanistan and Pakistan who are getting hurt and houses are getting destroyed because of the wars. Also, it makes me think about the children who got abandoned by there own mothers and fathers, like if they still are mad for it, or do they even remember there parents like Jameela does? This text reminds me of  the novel "Ask me no Questions" because both family's have the same problem, they don't have money and house has been almost destroyed. Also, it seems like they have around the same story line but "Ask Me No Questions" was about the family traveling without visas.

Reflect

        I really liked how they started the novel, it like right away started like a cliff hanger. The first sentence " I thought she was sleeping," says so much. You want to know who is sleeping? Whats happening? However, finding out Jameela's mother had dyed wasn't so good. This text helped me to understand how some people in the world are actually living and dying. I think the illustration on the cover goes very well with the book, because it shows Jameela scared with her porani on and covering her face more then the other girls in the back (like it had said in the book). If I could speak to the author I would ask "Why did you write a novel with this story line? Was it just because you feel bad for the people who go through it? Or 'cause it has happened to you or someone close to you? I predict Jameela does see her father, but she doesn't go back with him because I don't think he would take her back and she may just visit him every so often instead. This text makes me want to help all the children in Kabul (or other countries) because hearing and reading about them, just makes me feel bad and sad. Like I have so much, and they have so little, I just wish I could give a bit to all. I personally do really like the quote in the novel, and I think it is true. "If you can't be beautiful you should at least be good. People will appreciate that." The quote has so much in it and means a lot too.