TOW #5: "Taliban pleased by decision to pass by Pakistani girl for Nobel Peace Prize," Trudy Rubin

One of the greatest honors in the world that one can receive is the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations for this prestigious award are created for those who take great strides in the struggle for world peace. This year,  of the favorite to win the prize was Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani women who was shot by the Taliban after trying to fight for the education of women. Surprisingly to many though, Yousafzai was not the one who took home the prize. Instead it was the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons was honored. In this editorial, "Taliban pleased by decision to pass by Pakistani girl for Nobel Peace Prize", by Trudy Rubin, it is obvious that Rubin disagrees with the committee's decision. Especially due to the fact that a response came from the Taliban, praising the choice to not award Malala Yousafzai the prize. Rubin uses the technique of ordinary to extraordinary to represent Yousafzai. She wrote that "it is far easier for girls from privileged families to rise to prominence than for those from poor or middle-class families. Malala’s personal history as the daughter of an educator father and an illiterate mother from Pakistan’s remote Swat Valley proves these odds are surmountable" (Rubin). She represents Malala as a underdog, which gives hope to regular citizens all around the world, that just need to believe in themselves in order to accomplish great change. This supports his argument that the committee made the wrong choice. Rubin also uses a counterargument in her article, stating that Malala has received a lot of credit already for her strength and persistence. Although this is the case, the author follows this with the fact that many girls around the world do not have the opportunity of going to school. If Yousafzai had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the global response would be very large. Rubin's last sentence states, "her achievements speak for themselves without a Peace Prize, but the Nobel committee lost an opportunity to do something great" (Rubin). The writer creates a tone of obvious disappointment in the committee for their "mistake," and that disappointment created the tone earlier in the essay as well. In that case, the intended audience of this article is the committee, but it is also the world. Rubin wants everyone to know about Malala Yousafzai, and the difference she made, and could still make in the world. This article was one of the most powerful ones I have read in a while. Being a girl in school currently, it really put the world into perspective and made me realize how truly lucky I am for the education I receive. Rubin proved that Yousafzai was definitely qualified to win this award, and I agree that the Nobel Peace Prize committee lost a great opportunity in this case.

Malala Yousafzai

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/10/16/3776176/op-ed-taliban-pleased-by-decision.html

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/10/16/3776176/op-ed-taliban-pleased-by-decision.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/2013/10/16/3776176/op-ed-taliban-pleased-by-decision.html#storylink=cpy