The Kabul Beauty School By Cheryl L. Reed: An Analysis

depicts it so well and makes readers feel a sense of empathy for the characters. Cheryl L. Reed describes his reaction to Suns when he first read it, “ I was pummeled so many times by Suns, the wind knocked out of me so unexpectedly that at one point I had to shut the book to unclench my stomach...it is compelling on every level. The book interjects readers into the lives of Afghani women who are caught in the crossfire of the various ruling forces, first the Soviets and then the various ethnic factions, then the Taliban; that have strip-mined the country of its soul and its humanity. Thirty years of war have succeeded in eliminating all rights for women, forcing them out of jobs and into burqas, closing schools for girls and making them dependent on the mercy of men for …show more content…
“...war is a distant backdrop; Afghan women cannot make political decisions, though they bear the brunt of their awful consequences” (Ghafour). She further explains that her school was probably the only place in Kabul where women are safe to be themselves, express and feel like human beings again. Questions are being asked as to why the Taliban focused their attention mainly and strictly on women being “perfect”, perfect as in always inside, properly covered from head to toe and not to be seen talking or walking with anyone but their husbands and Rodriguez this is what Rodriguez suggested was the reason, “ I wonder if this was the real reason the Taliban had been so opposed to beauty salons. Not because they made women look like whores, but because they gave women their own space where they were free from control of men” (Ghafour). This shows how much writers like Hosseini and Rodriguez are appreciated in because they go out of their way to “ show that those on the other side of the divide are humans too,