Shabanu book report
...r the option of shaming her family forever and death is the only choice if she does not marry. In the eastern part of the world, women are traded and sold as if property. Shabanu parents provide a dowry to her fiancée that is comparable to selling an animal. Women in the east are also scorned and sneered upon even though they have the most important jobs of taking of the children, doing the cooking and cleaning, and basically keeping the family and house together. I can connect to Shabanu through two ways. One, even though my world is nowhere near as harsh as hers, women are still treated as second-class citizens. Pig headed men still believe that it is the “women’s duty” to stay at home and to be the homemaker and it is the “man’s duty” to provide financial support. Even in the twenty-first-century women are still being paid less money then men for the exact same job and teaching is an example. It seems that anywhere in the world women are the less favored between the two sexes. The second way I can relate to Shabanu is through the process puberty. In the beginning of the story, Shabanu is a mere child, but ends when she has matured into a beautiful young woman. All the emotions and confusion that Shabanu feels is something that all women and I can relate to. Shabanu’s story reminds me of the tale of Romeo and Juliet. In both stories, females are treated like scum and are expected to bow to a man’s every whim and will. Women are also expected to marry at an exceptionally young age and the parents, mainly the father, would choose the spouse for them. The endings to both of the stories are very tragic and disturbing. Juliet dies over the body of her true love, and Shabanu receives a horrific beating from her father. The themes to these stories are also similar; finding true love is not an option for Shabanu or Juliet. ...