Afghan American Story Essay

The entire story of the book entitled â€Å"West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story† started as an e-mail sent by the author himself to at least 20 people which in turn got forwarded to 1,000 or more people in the entire American region and some other parts of the world. The email was sent after the September 11 bombing in New York which wiped out the twin towers [World Trade Center] and some parts of the Pentagon structures. The startling situation that surprised the whole world began to bring up notions and allegations against the Afghan community which was the primary suspect in the said event. This particular situation has lead to the wanting of the author to present his situation as bi-cultural American-Afghan and the views that he may be able to partake in clearing some issues in the case. The author, Tamim Ansary was a well-known author of Children’s books. However, with the even of the September 11 bombing arising in the scene, he decided to change his approach for a while and set a straight path in presenting the reality behind the Afghan communities and cultures against that of the Taliban fictionary stories that were mixed up with the reports during that particular event in history. The use of his personal experience in this reading has made Tamim Ansary one of the most entertaining authors of history. His enlightened view of his situation and his personal being gave at least a glimpse of the reality behind the Afghan communities. The issues were at least presented in a less political approach thus making the readers focus more on the personal views of the author as a person who is torn between two conflicting cultures at the time. Using the emails as a prologue to the book made it more personal and highly regarded by the public. Although it was not a mere process of marketing on the part of the author himself but a personal aim of reaching to the hearts of those who are concerned about the current situation governing Afghanistan and America, it could not be denied that the emails became the most effective invite to the readers to buy the book of Ansary. One particular part of the book that highlights the personality change in the author’s being is that of his transfer to the Americas during his 16th year of age. Most likely, being half American, half Afghanistan made him a bit torn on which culture he ought to follow as a growing teen. However, the circumstance of his life seems to already have decided on this matter. His being acquainted and later on familiarized with the American culture during his earlier years of teenage has actually shaped him into an exact American individual that he is right now. Something that made a great impact on him that even though when he went back to Afghanistan and learned about his Islam roots in a deeper view, he remained being an American thus deciding to be called as â€Å"Tamim Ansary, the American†. This particular decision on his part may have caused several readers to exclaim that he may not have considered his Afghan roots as much as he should. However, it should be noted that as a person who is bicultural, he has every reason of deciding on which part of his being he should stand strongest at. Seeing the situations entangling both cultures, perhaps he saw himself better as an American than that of an Afghan. This particular decision is based upon his own gauge of himself. No one should actually judge him based on this decision as it only depicts the real person that he is with regards his own measurement of his personality and nothing more. This decision is a right that he has to accept and act upon; anyway, whether he chooses to be an American or an Afghan, in the end, it would still be him that would decide on how he should be known by the people that he lives with and it is not through the historical roots of his cultures but through the being that he has become as an individual who aims to become the best . As mentioned earlier, Ansary decided to come to America for his high school education. This may have raised issues, but on the other hand, he is indeed able to see his American roots in as he made this particular decision in his life. As a 16 year-old young man, he was able to rationally consider the differences of being and Afghan and an American thus making him more knowledgeable of who he really is or who he really wants to become. His standing as an individual on which culture he wanted to be most likely acquainted with has been further developed in this stage in his life. Undeniably, this experience in his life made him more developed as an individual giving him all the skills and the possibilities that he needs in his life. Obviously, he became the author that he wanted to become because of being an American. His career soared because his choice was quite clear. He did not abandon being an Afghan through this process as others may conclude. As he turned into a more adult person, his want of seeing his Afghan roots furthered that he decided to travel back to Afghanistan and discover the culture and the history of the country with a more mature view as a freelance journalist. This decision in his part made him see what kind of life he would have possibly been living through all his life if he chose to remain in Afghanistan. This situation made him appreciate the decision that he has made in transferring to America for further high school education. He knew within himself though that the afghan part of his being remained in tact and is still and would always hone the individual that he is inside. It is already a part of who he is and would always be a part of who he becomes later on. He grew up as a Muslim. This is obviously no part of his own decision, but getting absorbed with the culture at an early age could have been one of his particular decisions to have taken responsibility about. Being absorbed much in the Muslim culture has further hardened his process of recognizing his other culture in a much acceptable process. This may have been dealt with earlier in a more decisive way on his part. However, giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was rather young during those years to make certain actions and decision upon himself. At some parts of the book later on, he points out the differences of the Americans and the Islam communities in the east. The differences were quite presented in a biased view that showed more concern of the American culture’s positivity. This may have raised questions but it could not be denied that the author had these views because of the fact that he was able to actually see the differences of the two cultures in different distinctive perspectives of knowledge and involvement. He could have at least made the differences depict the positive effects of the culture to his development as an individual. As an Afghan-American individual, he was further developed into a person who knows the differences of a traditional life with that of a more democratic way of living. He showed how much an Islam could change in a different culture that is presented to him in a more vivid picture. He changed as much as he could and became a democratic individual as he embraced the American culture as a youngster. The presentation may however be one particular flaw of the book to some readers particularly because of the fact that it may have been viewed with some certain bias on the presentation of the views of the author with the situations that he faced as a young Afghan American in fitting in with the western culture. To present the facts with more objectiveness on the subject, it is constantly required among authors to have a balanced presentation of both sides of the facts that they are tying to show the readers. This could have been done consistently in the entire book as to how Ansary presented the first parts of the reading. One more part of the reading that ought to be changed is that of the author’s handling of the changes that he had to face as an Afghan-American during his 16th year of age. He ought to have been able to immediately adapt to the changes needed in his original culture if he has tried to make the changes more delicately related to his original Islam culture. Adjustments were acceptably hard to accept immediately but the changes were likely more effective if he was able to relate how Islam culture could be more related to that of the American lifestyle.