War in the Land of Egypt

War in the Land of Egypt was an extremely interesting story to read. I was not able to read it in the beginning of the course but I did catch up on it during our snow day! I found it extremely frustrating that even though the Umda was a terrible man he was never convicted of his crimes because the government covered it up! The Umda was so worried about his place in society and that was his main motivation he could cover it up as much as he wanted, saying that he could not see to have his wife in pain, but the truth lies in the fact that he was in power and he did not want to lose that power. He had recently come back into his lost land and now that he was the top dog again he could not stand to see that leave him. He was a most despicable character and I was really annoyed with him at the story’s end. I have to commend Masri though for his actions. He went to war so that his family could keep their land though he didn’t want to. My observation of him throughout the novel led me to believe that after he had told his story he wanted to die a hero or come back as an honored veteran of the war. He charged into battle with a fierce determination and he ended up dying for a cause that really was not his. I was more or less upset with Masir’s father and the fact that he forced the situation upon his son. I would never have done something like that to my own family. I can understand his reasoning but his decision doesn’t place much emphasis on keeping a family together; keeping them rich and happy yes, but not together. The officials that were all easily corrupted leave me to think that the main force of political and social power in Egypt is money, which is not too different from America. I do not know of any cases to this magnitude but at the same time I do not put it past Americans to scheme their way out of things by using money as a motivational tool.