Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “The Danger of One Story,” inspired me to write an essay on how I had only “One story” about my home country, Palestine. Adichie said in her story, “The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story.” That quote from her presentation really changed my way of viewing things.
I’ve only heard “One story” about my home country of Palestine: a war zone. Born in Palestine, but raised in the United States, I’ve watched the news where I saw children get killed and houses get burned down. That “One story” had me frightened to go back and see my home country. In the summer of 2016, my parents decided to …show more content…
Entering the house was so fulfilling. I saw so many smiles, I felt the joy in the air, and I heard people saying, “We haven’t seen you in so many years!” My family overseas loves to cook; I saw so many types of food laid out on the table. I hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in days. After we were done eating, my grandfather took my siblings and I to their land. Their land is part of a mountain, it brought back so many old memories. The road there was very rocky. I saw so many olive trees and people walking. It was so beautiful. Everyone looked so happy. This made me realize people who live in my home country are living a regular lifestyle and just enjoying their lives. I assumed they were just oppressed; I was ignorant. My grandfather was telling us all the stories of area. He showed us an area of the mountain that is a cave and was shaped like a mouth. He also warned us to watch our steps because there were snakes and scorpions, but I haven’t seen any when I was …show more content…
Right after that, I saw groups of men running towards the gunshots. I was like, “They are so stupid; they are going to get killed!” but my family that lives there said, “That’s heroic, they are risking their lives to get them out the area.” I was scared, but also interested. My siblings and I ran up to the roof, hid in a safe spot, and started to watch. We barely saw anything because it was dark. I saw smoke in the air, it smelled like gunpowder and I heard gunshots and men yelling. After a while, everything calmed down; no one was hurt. I asked my grandparents if this was normal and they said, “Yes, it usually happens when soldiers walk on Palestinian
I’ve only heard “One story” about my home country of Palestine: a war zone. Born in Palestine, but raised in the United States, I’ve watched the news where I saw children get killed and houses get burned down. That “One story” had me frightened to go back and see my home country. In the summer of 2016, my parents decided to …show more content…
Entering the house was so fulfilling. I saw so many smiles, I felt the joy in the air, and I heard people saying, “We haven’t seen you in so many years!” My family overseas loves to cook; I saw so many types of food laid out on the table. I hadn’t had a home-cooked meal in days. After we were done eating, my grandfather took my siblings and I to their land. Their land is part of a mountain, it brought back so many old memories. The road there was very rocky. I saw so many olive trees and people walking. It was so beautiful. Everyone looked so happy. This made me realize people who live in my home country are living a regular lifestyle and just enjoying their lives. I assumed they were just oppressed; I was ignorant. My grandfather was telling us all the stories of area. He showed us an area of the mountain that is a cave and was shaped like a mouth. He also warned us to watch our steps because there were snakes and scorpions, but I haven’t seen any when I was …show more content…
Right after that, I saw groups of men running towards the gunshots. I was like, “They are so stupid; they are going to get killed!” but my family that lives there said, “That’s heroic, they are risking their lives to get them out the area.” I was scared, but also interested. My siblings and I ran up to the roof, hid in a safe spot, and started to watch. We barely saw anything because it was dark. I saw smoke in the air, it smelled like gunpowder and I heard gunshots and men yelling. After a while, everything calmed down; no one was hurt. I asked my grandparents if this was normal and they said, “Yes, it usually happens when soldiers walk on Palestinian