- When Mortenson returns to Pakistan with money for the Korphe school, Abdul Shah, the watchman at the hotel, says, "By the merciful light of Allah Almighty, tomorrow we make much bargain." What does Shah mean? What do the act of bargaining and the mention of Allah reveal about Shah's culture? How is it similar or different from our own culture?
Ch 4-6 Q2 Bargain
Chapters 4-6, Question 2:
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When Abdul Shah says “By the merciful light of Allah, tomorrow we make much bargain.” It tells me that they feel that religion is a very important part of their everyday lives. When he says that, to get to the point, he means that it is important to bargain for supplies tomorrow, if god is willing. In dissecting the thought you can see how much Allah, their religious idol, plays a part in their life. After most sentences that may explain what they will do in the future, or to emphasize how glad they are or what they wish to do they say “if god is willing.” Are religious culture is nearly incomparable to theirs. We go to church or celebrate are religion on average 1 week at a time, at the most. In most sentences they mention their god. The man that helped Greg climb K2 prayed 5 times a day. Obviously religion is very incorporated into their culture.
ReplyDeleteWhat he meant was that the people there do not use a lot of money. People there bargain shop for things that are cheap, and the also trade something they have a lot of for something they do not have a lot of. This is different than in our culture because in our culture everything is worth money. We, in our culture do not really trade for anything we need, basically we just buy it. The price of the product usually doesn’t matter, if you need it you buy it.
ReplyDeleteShah's culture is very different than our own. When a person in our culture has money, they go to the store and PURCHASE an item. We do not BARGAIN with the shop keepers. When Shah mentioned Allah he was talking about his culture's god. This is different from our culture because we have a different god than they do. We don't have a fancy name for our god. Or maybe we do from what they know. Maybe to them, our name for our God is common and they think it is odd. We only know our point of view, not the Pakistinians point of view. All we know is that our culture is very different from Shah's culture
ReplyDeleteAbdul Shah means that when you go out on the town shopping in the middle eastern part of the world, you don't just pick up the desired item and purchase it. You have to fight for the lowest price that the retailer is willing to accept. It is very different from our culture here in the US.
ReplyDeletei would have to agree with dylan on this one. people there dont get alot of money so therefore they cant spend to much because they need to save it to live on it. they go for the more cheap stuff than they would the more expensive stuff.This is diffrent from our culure because we have things that are worth alot of money. nothing around here is really that cheap.
ReplyDeleteWhen Shah said this he meant by the light that their religious god gives, they would bargain a lot the next day. Bargaining in his culture is something people do in their lives, just like Americans use money. Nobody thinks much about it because it’s normal for most people there. Mentioning Allah shows that the people in Pakistan are very religious, and speak of their God very often. The people from that culture pray more than one or two times a day, while people from our culture only go to church about once week. There are a lot of people in America that don’t go to church or even pray, so obviously their culture is very different from our own.
ReplyDeleteThe act of bargaining and the mention of Allah show that Shah’s culture is different than the United States’ culture. It also tells that people from Pakistan are very religious. People from Pakistan pray more than once a day, where as a lot of people from the U.S. don’t even pray. I think what Shah meant was that by the light of god they will bargain the next day. Our culture is also different because people from the U.S. don’t bargain for items, we just buy them. Some people may bargain for something like a car but for everyday items we don’t. To us that’s normal, just like its normal for people in Pakistan to bargain for things.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Dylan says, the people there don’t use a lot of money, they mostly trade. This is very different from our own culture because we use money for everything and if we need or want it, we just buy it. Americans don’t think about what other countries have to do to get what they need when their buying something, they just buy it. When somebody from Pakistan is trading for something they need, an American is buying something they simply want. This shows that our cultures are very different because people in Pakistan only get what they need while we generally get a lot of the things we want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with nick. I think Abdul Shah means if alah "there idol" is willing that mortonson will be able to do what he need's to do and for him it is to get the supplies and to build the school under budget.I think the act of barganing means alot to his culture and maybe that is somthing he is accustomed to doing.There culture is much difforent than ours in many ways one is that time is just a figure to them and doesnt have as much structure as it does in the US.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan because people from Pakistan don’t buy things they don’t need, unlike people from the United States, They buy only the necessities. Most Americans are ignorant towards other countries needs. Americans throw things away that could be used for other things. This proves that Americans buy more and more things because they want to. Money is really just something that helps people get something they want. Americans buy things that are made in other countries without even thinking about the other country.
ReplyDeleteHmm... Of all of these posts, I feel, that I agree with parts of each. Like Nick's post for example, and how he consistently is pointing out how there is a huge reference to religion, and it definitely is more of a factor in their culture than the 'average' American's. So, what I see in Nick's reply is the focus not on the bargaining, but on the reference, or prayer to their god, Allah, which lends to Nick's point of an involved religion (yeah, I know, it's a run- on sentence). Now as for the more popular choice, of saying that Abdul Shah's meaning is in reference to economical standard or custom, that, I almost could agree on, but there is a reason why I would not choose that. The reason being, I think not it has to do with the opulence of society, or how much money certain people have, now with bargaining, I could see how it may be a part of their culture, through a difference in economical custom though, and how the wares are sold. So, the matter of 'poorness' or 'richness' I don't think is the reason, I believe it has to do with customs, religiously, and 'economically.'
ReplyDelete-¤§Jacob D. Gallup§¤-
I agree with katelynn in that the people in this town don't get much money in which they need to save it to live off of.They try to find the cheapest article of food and clothing because of the lack in money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Olivia said because to them our word for god could sound funny and also that is the way we know to call god in our culture.
ReplyDeleteShah means that in his culture they bargain for the lowest prices that they can get. which they also need to do so that Greg Mortenson can have enough money to buy all the supplies to build the school. It is different from our culture because we usually do not bargain that much there is just a price we are to pay.
ReplyDeleteI agree with olivia because we do not bargain with our storeowners we just pay the price that they want us to pay. that may be because we have more money and do not really think about what we are spending it on or, just how our culture has evolved.
ReplyDeleteThe culture is different from the United States because we don't bargain with the shop keepers. There is a set price and we have to pay it. Also people in Pakistan only use the little money they have for the neccesities. In America a lot of people use their money on stupid things that they really don't need. The reference to Allah means that his culture is very heavy on religion. This is different in the United States because the average American doesn't go to church or recognize anything as their religion.
ReplyDeleteAlex Sosebee actually brings up a very good point in saying that their lifestyle is very different compared to the lifestyle of the United States where shopping is much easier. It is also much more pleasant to go into a shop and just go about your business in a very leisurely fashion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Olivia. Shah’s culture is very different compared to ours. When we go to a store we buy what we need. We do not bargain and try to get the lowest price possible, WE simply take the ticketed price and get what we get. Money is to tight there to pay the price that is asked by the store clerk, so in their culture they prefer to bargain and not to buy.
ReplyDeleteI most defiantly agree with Nick, Jacob, and Olivia. From what I can gather from the six chapters we have read so far, religion is a key concept in the way of life for these people. They are constantly referring to Allah as if he were “their idol” as Nick and Jacob have already said. As told in one of the earlier chapters, as the man who helped Mortenson down the mountain, he prayed five times a day. Also, they are constantly saying, “Inshallah,” when wanting to do something the next day or so. Another point that is shown in the book is that, as Olivia mentioned, Shah’s culture is very different from our own. When we want something, we don’t bargain with the store clerks for prices, we just go out and buy. There, the people have to bargain in order to get what they need because this is not a wealthy country. The people don’t have the money to buy supplies for a school like Mortenson did, and even Mortenson struggled to purchase everything he needed.
ReplyDeleteWhen Shah mentions Allah and bargaining it shows that his society and culture is heavily dependent on bargaining and Allah,their Godly figure. Our culture and society is setup a bit different; many of our nation are brought up to believe in certain things such as God or they choose to believe in nothing in particular. When Americans make purchases we tend to become a little greedy thinking only of ourselves; where areas citizens in Pakistan only make purchases when they really need the necessities, and when they can't afford it they bargain with the store.
ReplyDeleteI think when Shah said "bargain" he meant to debate for prices. What it reveals about their culture compared to ours is that they need to negotiate for prices that they want because they can't afford anything else.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Olivia and Alison. In their country they don't have money to buy things that are not in their price range. It is a shame but we don't think to bargain when we are buying simple, everyday things.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States, we have nationaly set prices and chain stores, plus taxes. In Pakistan, there are no business ties, and in isolated villages, salesmen can set there own prices because the villagers do not know anything different. The only way for people to afford the products is to bargain low prices. They also use Allah's name often, showing his importance in there way of life.
ReplyDeleteAbdul Shah means that they will bargain for the materials price. In the US we don’t bargain for the price at the store what is written on the tag is the price you must pay. In the book they spend hours bargaining over basic supplies such as saws, hammers, nails, and lumber.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else. In Pakistan they bargain for hours to have a lower price on the item they want to buy. But here we don't bargain with the salesman. And I agree with what Anna said because if they bargain it must be part of their culture.
ReplyDeleteThat in Pakistan in the morning they bargian or come to a decision for the price of item that a person wants. Also Allah and the bargain reveal that Shah religion is important in daily life. Our culture it difference because in American gives the free religion that mean we can believe any god, examples Christan, Jews, Quakers, and more. Their they only belive in one thing and pray 5 times a day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Allyssa Hampson that US culture is different,we don't bargain we check the price and buy it, our religion is different, and American do buy stupid things we don't really need mostly.
ReplyDeleteIn Shah's culture you can bargain to reduce the price of something. In our culture you don't bargain for things you usually pay the listed price. If you don't want to pay the said price you go to a different store not bargain. Shah bargained saying the supplies was to build a school. Instead of bargaining with businesses you would ask for a donation in the U.S. When Shah said by the merciful light of Allah it showed that his culture is very religious and most people practice the same religion. In the U.S. there are many different religions and people don't usually refer to the religion when speaing to different people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dylan people there do not use a lot of money. People have to get what they can with there money. They have to sell alot just to get just to get a little.
ReplyDeleteShah means that they will bargain and get what Greg needs for his school. bargaining must be part of their culture and religion because the of the way they mention Allah in most everything we do. In our culture we don't bargain we take the price that is given and buy it.
ReplyDeleteI think Shah meant that Greg just has barely enough money to build his school and they needed to start bargaining to make the school possible. When Shah mentioned bargaining and Allah I thought it showed that bargaining is a way of life in his culture. That is different from us because we usually only bargain if we are at a auction or otherwise we just pay the price given.
ReplyDeleteHe means that they are going to bargain with people to get supplies which is no easy task because they will have trouble with one of the supplies dealers.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Shah means they have to get as much as they can with the little money they have. It shows that Shah’s culture is very religious and the bargaining shows that they have little money to spend. It shows that is different then American culture, because we do not bargain and spend or money on small object, mainly used for play.
ReplyDeleteFor this particular subject, I would have to agree with Nick. It very much seems that Pakistani religion is one of the most important thing in their daily lives. People purchasing goods in Pakistan, have to bargain, or the seller feel that you have not been kind to you. It is accustomed for Middle Eastern countries to bargain, for that shows that you respect what the seller of your goods.
ReplyDeleteShah means that they will haggle and bargain for what Greg needs. this is different from our society because in America everything pretty much has a set price and that is what you pay. Saying Allah after just about every thought makes it very clear that Religion plays a huge role in their lives.
ReplyDeleteWhen Shah says "we make much bargain" he means that they will bargain good prices for the suplies they need for the school. The act of bargaining and the mention of Allah meant that god is tied into everything in their culture and it is a very important part of life for them. It is different to bargain prices rather than just purchasing them because if we tried to bargain we would look odd and most likely not get the item for the price we wanted to bargain, but if we bargained there we would fit right in even though we may feel silly.
ReplyDeleteShah means literally, as he says it to mean they will bargain prices for what they need. it means that they must make bargains for instead of money, and that people there don't use much money (cha-ching!).
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with Kelly, because it's sad that the people in this town don't have the money to buy the things that they need. And I also agree with Marissa, when she said that we don’t think about “bargaining”, we often just check the price and buy what we need.
ReplyDeleteWhat Shah means by they will make much bargaining tomorrow is that they will get the best deal that is possible in Greg's price range. It is more easier to bargain in Pakistan because, a lot of the supplies is being sold by local people, not big companies. Where in America it might be a little harder to bargian, because a lot of stores have set prices. We still tend to bargian, if we buy a car or things in bulk, or even if you go to a yard sale or action.
ReplyDeleteInshallah
ReplyDeleteI agree with what thressa and jamie said because we do have our own culture. Just because other people have different cultures, we should accept it. We have our own culture and if people come from different places to live here they accept our culture.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that religion is a very important part of their everyday lives. Shah is pretty much thanking him. He thinks it is important to build the school and wants to make some deals with Mortenson to help get the supplies. In the USA religion is very important to some people but doesn't seem to be as important. I think this because In Pakistan they use their religion in everyday conversation, where in the US we don’t really involve our culture and religion into our sentences.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with Janelle, becuase when you go to a yard sale or action we tend to bargian with people than take the price given to us.
ReplyDeleteShah means that they will bargain for the lowest prices to try and save as much money for the school as they can. In Shah's culture they bargain for supplies becasue most people don't have enough money for what they need. In our culture we purchase the items for they are sold at and usualy don't bargain.
ReplyDeletethe term shah means title for the hereditary monarch of Iran. wich is used as a riligus turm
ReplyDeletehe means that thank the lord for getting or having the money but, also asking the lord to help them bargain so they can afford all of the supplies needed to make a school.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that religion is very important in Abdul Shah's culture. Unlike our society, where we rarely speak of our own religion in public. When Abdul Shah spoke of bargaining, it meant that they were to negotiate on the price of a material with the seller, which varies from our country where most materials are sold at a set price.
ReplyDeleteThis shows that religion is very important in Abdul Shah's culture. It's very different from our society were we rarely speak of our own religion in public. When Abdul Shah spoke of bargaining,it meant that they were to negotiate on negotiating with the seller for a reasonable price of materials they need. And in our country all of our materials are sold at a set price.
ReplyDeleteWhen he says this he means he needs to go and bargain for the products and materials he needs for all of his things. I agree with Ang about Abdul being very into his culture. He needs to bargain with what little they have.
ReplyDeleteIn the united states we do not have a syestem of bargaining. We do not use religon the way the Afghans do and they pray five times a day. They use God's name a lot.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ang. The culture is important to him and he is saying that they need to go and they can bargain for the products, Allah thinks this is a good reason to bargain. This is saying that the culture of the Afghanistan people is partly bargaining. This is different from the American culture because in the U.S. you cannot bargain with supplies from a store the price that is given is the final price.
ReplyDeletewhat he means when he says "By the merciful light of Allah Almighty, tomorrow we make much bargain." is that they are reffering to thier gods. in other words their religion. tommarro we make much bargin means that tommarro they will start to build it and hope for it to be succesful. this shows that their culture is very different from ours from religion, entertainment they use and many other things. i think that most of it is simaler to thier culture and also different in some ways
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jordan because i think that our communities should help the people who need help to get money to build thing. I also Agree with Marissa when she say that people don’t think about "bargaining”, that usually people just buy what they need no matter how much it cost then they just leave and don’t really no how much they are actually spending on stuff that we don’t need.
ReplyDeleteShah means that they are going to bargain and haggle with shop owners to get the lowest prices they possibly can. In America, you can not really haggle at all only if you are in Chinatown, NYC. There are set prices which are followed. When Shah sad "By the merciful light of Allah" he was referring to god. Religion plays a huge part in Pakistanian culture and they believe that if you ask Allah for something he will do his best to give it to you.
ReplyDeleteShah's culture is different from ours because when we go into a store, we buy an item instead of bargining for it. In Pakistan, when you want something, you have to really argue with the person selling it in order to afford it. They also believe in Allah and ask him to help them succeed in whatever they are trying to accomplish.
ReplyDeletei agree with olivia Shah's culture is very different than our own. When a person in our culture has money, they go to the store and PURCHASE an item. We do not BARGAIN with the shop keepers. When Shah mentioned Allah he was talking about his culture's god. This is different from our culture because we have a different god than they do. We don't have a fancy name for our god. Or maybe we do from what they know. Maybe to them, our name for our God is common and they think it is odd. We only know our point of view, not the Pakistinians point of view. All we know is that our culture is very different from Shah's culture
ReplyDeletehe mean we sell as much as we can to make money to live
ReplyDeleteI agree with katie C becuse Shah's culture is different from ours because when we go into a store, we buy an item instead of having to bargining the food and the idems that we need to live on.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Conner H. Our culture is very different from Allah shah he would bargain for the things he needed we would buy it without bargaining for it. We take way to many things for granted like we have schools and we hate it (well most of us) they don’t have schools and they look to us as the luckiest people in the world.
ReplyDeleteShah's calture is very diffrent then are's becouse they have to bargan gor what they need and we can just buy it with out haveibg to bargan.
ReplyDeleteWhen Abdul Shah says “By the merciful light of Allah, tomorrow we make much bargain” he is saying that religion is important to them. He is also saying that they are going to make a bargain because people in Korphe don’t have a lot of money like we do in the United States. We also usually don’t bargain in the United States like what Holly said. This shows that the religion in Pakistan is very important.
ReplyDeleteAllah means that tommorow they will go and bargain for materials for the school of Korphe. In New York there are very very few places that you can bargain for things. In the Korphe village and in surrounding regions bargaining is the way they put a price on things.
ReplyDeleteShah means that they are gunna bargain and haggle with shop owners to get the lowest price possible. You can't do that in America, the prices are what they are. When Shah said "By the merciful light of Allah" he was referring to god. Religion is a huge part of the liifestyle in Pakistan and they believe that if they ask Allah something he will do his best to do it.
ReplyDeleteShah means that he is going to ask God to help him….the people in Pakistan think of God often and the always think of him when they have a important decision to make.
ReplyDeletethey go for the more cheap stuff than they would the more expensive stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhen Abdul Shah says “By the merciful light of Allah, tomorrow we make much bargain.” It tells me that their religion is very important to them.
ReplyDeleteAlso that they must bargain with the people in Korphe because they don't have a lot of money to buy the items they need unlike people in the United Sates.
they are going to bargon over school supplys.
ReplyDeleteAbdul Shah means that when you go out on the town shopping in the Middle Eastern part of the world, you don’t just buy it. However our culture is somewhat different because when we have money we go to a store a purchase an item for any price. We buy things we don’t need when people in Pakistan only purchase things that are necessary.
ReplyDeleteWhen Abdul Shah says “By the merciful light of Allah, tomorrow we make much bargain.” It tells me that they feel that religion is a very important part of their everyday lives.They go to the store and PURCHASE an item. We do not BARGAIN with the shop keepers.
ReplyDelete