One may perfectly safe to say that Taliban are associated with something horrible and evil. Of course, right away one has an image of a killer in turban with AK-47, killing innocent people. Undoubtedly, this image is real as there are a lot of such people – Taliban. However, one frequently sees the part of the story, a part of somebody’s life. After reading “A Talib in Love”, I was amused and shocked by this story, as it shows the other side of somebody that is called Taliban. (Powers) This story, as for me, is a great example of a person’s perception of other people, nations. Nowadays, there are plenty of stereotypes around us – stereotypes about African-American, Jews, Mexicans, Arabs etc. And very often, these stereotypes block us from understanding and realizing what a real person is standing in front of us. We frequently credit with a false quality some person, not realizing that this person could be intelligent, well-mannered, kind or whatever opposite to the stereotype he or she is associated to. Of course, sometimes it is impossible to get a balanced, informed, nuanced picture of another place, people, event, or conflict, however, I would say that the only thing in order to be completely just and unbiased is to judge only when you have enough information.
It is possible to claim, that people are very different around the world. According to cultural, political, social, religious and other various aspects – they are different. But at the same time we are similar to each other. However, one may state that a life of a person values differently according to the place of birth or living. In less development countries, person’s life is not so valuable as in the U.S. or Europe. Especially in countries with horrible government – for instance when the country is ruled by a dictator. In such countries, people can be treated only as a work force that can be easily replaced.
In the video “The Danger of a Single Story”, Adichi shows us how terrible it could be to observe one person, nation, event or anything else from a single point of view or to have only single story on something. She claims that the single story creates stereotypes and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are not true, but is that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story. (Adichie)It might be very dangerous to see only one single story about something, as it may hurt some people, or create more discrepancies and prejudice in the world. However, she hopes that with the help of true and right information, with the help of books and right usage of media, people could see multiple stories about everything – starting from a life of a small girl in Nigeria and ending up with a great transformation of a Taliban warrior.
Work Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda. 'The Danger Of A Single Story'. Ted.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 June 2015.
Powers, J. L. That Mad Game. New York: Cinco Puntos Press, 2012. Print.
