Context Essay - Conflict - Please rate this out of 10

[Special At Specialist]

I wrote this essay within the one hour time frame. I expect that my context essay on the exam is going to be similar to this in terms of word count and writing quality. I studied "The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif" and "Paradise Road", but I did not include anything from Paradise Road in my essay. Could you please give me a rating out of 10?

'It is the victims of conflict who show us what is really important'

   We often forget what is really important until a situation of conflict arises and the victims are exhibited to us. Sometimes we may be the victims, and it is from experiences of victimisation that we learn important things such as forgiveness, compassion and empathy for anyone else who endures our struggles, for it is much easier to see things from our own perspective than it is to truly understand how our opposition may feel when they are fighting the losing battle. Wisdom is gained through empathy, and empathy is gained through experience of conflict and an understanding of the effects upon the victims. This concept is explored throughout the novel 'The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif' by Najaf Mazari, the narrator of his own book describing his own struggles with conflict, the victims which he met and the lessons that he learnt.

   In times of war, there are many victims of conflict, most of which Mazari had encountered on several occassions. One such example is an immigrant who escaped from a dangerous land to seek asylum in a much safer - though often unfamiliar - country. 'What I was doing seemed madness... I had only one homeland, and I had abandoned it' writes Mazari after his escape from Afghanistan on a perilous journey to reach Australia. Adjusting to a new lifestyle was difficult for Mazari, for he had to learn the culture and the laws of a completely different country, but he was successful in the end, mostly due to the lessons that he had learnt in his homeland about prioritising the important things: 'employment is important. I know that I will relax once I am earning money.' This work ethic that Mazari had developed in Afghanistan proved very useful to him, for he had understood that even when you are a victim of a terrible situation, you must still fight to better your circumstances. It was important to him that every man performs his duties and continues to work hard, even in the midst of a battlefield. 'This is what people do. They place one foot in front of the other and go on with the journey.'

Sympathy is learnt through an expression of guilt and sorriness at those who have been visibly affected by conflict. This is an important ability to have, for it can lead to empathy which can then lead to wisdom. Mazari had witnessed many explosions in his life and had been a part of all the grief and anguish that resulted from the casualties. 'It had become part of normal life' to witness such horrors, but he was fortunate enough to also view the strength in others and their persistence to go on living. Life was an important thing to Mazari, for even when he sat in a room full of prisoners waiting to be tortured and possibly killed, he noted that 'no one I saw looked as if he calmly resigned to death and pain.' Those that had survived - as victims of conflict - were very thankful for their lives, and the families and friends of such survivors were shown the importance of life and learnt to appreciate important things like that.

   It is thus shown that the victims of conflict are the ones who show us what is really important: life, working hard, appreciating what you have, being sympathetic and empathetic of others, acquiring wisdom and learning to adapt to new situations and go on living, in retrospect of the hardships that you encounter. Whether we are the victims, seeing things from our own perspective, or merely a bystander to it all, we can all appreciate the lessons that we learn from our encounters and understand what is important.