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The audience is invited to like Ninjas character and feel empathy for him and other asylum seekers. The basis of the novel represents society and especially Australia, when considering humanity towards asylum seekers and protecting the countries boarders (especially with the September 1 1 attacks regarding terrorism). In 2001 ,JOhn Howard and his party were deemed inhumane and unsympathetic towards asylum seekers by sending them to detention centers on islands (including whomever mentioned in the novel. Ninja juxtaposes Howard approach to refugee arrivals with his heart wrenching story.
Ninja is depicted as humble, caring and selfless to encourage the reader to empathic and to believe that the Australian government needs to be more humane regarding refugees. Afghanistan is a place that is constantly at war and involved in conflict. The people there are used to it and it cannot be controlled or escaped. Ninja tells the viewpoint of foreign invaders and also of the people who live there. He also compares it to natural disasters- pushing forward the point that conflict and wars cannot be controlled. Afghanistan’s ethnicity is very diverse which a cause f conflict amongst its people is also.
Ninja explains that although the country is divided within itself, its people will unite to fight against a common enemy yet will still remain divided, In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to take over its communist regime in with Afghanistan suffered terribly. Ninja explains the conflict between the two as a battle for power and that neither had their best interests for the country. The war led to one result: death and destruction. Ninja explains that Afghans spent their days trying to avoid being recruited to either side as it usually meant certain death.
The war couldn’t go on forever as it would just tear the country apart. Neither sides of the war cared about innocent civilians or acted with any conscience. Conflict has an impact on Ninjas family. Gamely members Of Ninjas family die innocently due to the war. Ninja and his mother suffer serious injury which causes Ninja to think about the wider spread impact on the rest Of Afghanistan people. After the leaving Of the Russians, civil wars began between various tribes. They no longer needed to get rid of the Russians anymore, so they returned to fighting each Other for power.
The war against Russia created millions of refugees as did the civil wars. The power void in Afghanistan continued tribal conflict which allowed the rise of the Taliban regime with their extreme politics, The Taliban banned many things which were originally a normality for the hazard people. Stricter rules were put in place for women forcing them to cover up and stay indoors at certain times. Being Hazard meant conflict was unavoidable with the Taliban. The Taliban arrived in Mazda- e-Shari in 1998. The Taliban massacred the Hazard Which Ninja himself was involved with but managed to flee successfully.
The Taliban set to death any man Of age. Ninja hid but ended up being found by the Taliban after IS days Of hiding in a cupboard. He was brutally beaten by them. Ninja managed to escaped the Taliban and this is where he had to make the decision Of leaving Afghanistan and his family behind to flee. This caused conflict within himself having to choose what was best for him. Ninja emphasizes to readers the tragic consequence of war, which is the wasteful destruction of a nation, its culture and its people, with reticular reference to many innocent victims of such conflict.
The book also refers to cultural conflict. Not in the sense of wars or anything of the extreme but mainly how difficult it is for Nation adapt to Australia and its own culture. Afghanistan is a third world country, whereas Australia is highly developed and Ninja has to learn his new surroundings and how he Fits in with those. Ninja provides an insight to how asylum seekers feel when they enter Australia. While Ninja is happy he has fled trot his country, he is still uncomfortable and sad hat he has left behind his own native culture.
Ninja makes many friends which help him to resolve his conflict of adapting to Australia and its culture. The novel also features a lot of emotional and internal conflict, mainly seen through Ninja. As he enters Australia, he becomes unsure and upset about the loss of his homeland. Whilst he discovers freedom, he is torn between what he has left behind and his hope of what is left to come. Ninja faces many events which cause him emotional distress and discomfort in which he has to overcome and resolve the conflict in many ways.