Why so traditional?

In finishing “Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery” I was deeply moved by what the characters had to go through. Firstly the outlaws come into the picture and terrorize the town of Luxor and surrounding villages, though they come to the monastery to visit Harbi. The village begins to accept them after a time and does not fear them as they used to. However, the outlaws are soon asked to leave by a government official and they are more or less tricked into fighting against the Jews to drive them from Egypt. This trickery in part comes from the main characters father who views himself as a great diplomat. There is some internal strife within the band of outlaws that cause their leader Faris to shoot one of his men, Hinein, and send him away after Hinein uses the monastery as the butt of one of his jokes. This showed me that even though they were considered outlaws, they still had respect for religion and for those people who were protecting Harbi, though they were not in concurrence with religious beliefs. That has indeed been an overarching theme throughout this book: personal respect and religious tolerance. I was taken aback by the amount of respect shown to different people throughout this short novel and wonder if today that same respect is shown and if it is, is it to the same degree? I would hope so.
After the outlaws leave the village a band of masked figures begins to terrorize anyone who ventures toward the monastery unarmed and alone. It is soon revealed that this band of figures is led by none other than Hinein, the banned outlaw from Faris’s group. This is found out when he attacks the monastery in hopes of murdering Harbi. It is unknown whether he was hired by Safiyya or sought her out, however there is a definite connection between the two people. Harbi, however is not killed though he does die soon after, this causes Safiyya to go into a crazed like state. She tries to kill Hassan, and she runs throughout the village and is heard pleading with the bey. She soon falls into a coma and in one of her lapses she becomes conscious while her father is present and tells him that she will marry Harbi if he wants her. This scene led me to believe that she always loved Harbi. The way she acted towards him she did because it was the custom of the day and she was supposed to follow those customs. Though I believe she was always in love with Harbi and she always had the deep desire to be his wife, but she could not because tradition stood in her way. How often do we let our feelings be swept under the rug simply because of tradition? Should we not be ourselves while trying to uphold our traditions, I understand that this is a different culture and time than what I am now experiencing but still it makes me curious to know who else has hidden what they really want and who they really are to please the traditions of their culture?
In closing the story ends with the death of the narrator’s father and his reminiscing about his village and his sisters’ marriages and the state of his mother’s unhappiness. This was a very interesting read and I encourage anyone to read this book if they want to have a brief glimpse into the world of the Middle East.

My Readings: Safiyya and London

Firstly I have been submersing myself into the entire experience that is this class and I am enjoying myself immensely. The book that we are reading for class, “Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery” by Bahaa’ Taher has captured me completely, with its vivid details and explosive characters that make me both want to laugh and cry. I am only into the third chapter and already so much has happened, we were introduced to characters and settings and culture differences and, for me, a heart-wrenching scene of death and the destruction of one man’s psyche. The first chapter, The Miqaddis Bishai, introduces us to the narrator and main character, a boy of varying age throughout the tale. We also meet his immediate family and realize that everyone in the small village is quite close in relation. A bit about the culture and current celebration is learned as well as the setting being described. In the second chapter, Aunt Safiyya, you are thrown into the situation that brought us to the present day. The complete story of Safiyya’s youth and marriage and subsequent withdrawal from her beauty and youth is completely laid out for the reader. I do not want to go into more detail because it really needs to be read to be fully experienced.
Secondly, I have been reading another book for class entitled “Only in London” by Hanan Al-Shaykh. This is the intertwining story of four very different individuals who all met on a plane ride to London and who subsequently have been running into each other throughout the beginning of the story. The main setting for the story thus far has been Edgware Road, which has a distinct Arab taste and is referred to by Londoners as “Little Cairo” and “Little Beirut”. Lamis, Amira, Samir and Nicholas are the main character and in each part of the chapter they all become the main focus and the reader witnesses their interactions with the other principle characters from their point of view. This book is intrinsically a very beautiful and moving story so far and I am definitely excited to continue reading.

Introduction and Reaction

I recently read Dr. Webb’s article titled “Literature form the Modern Middle East: Making a Living Connection”, and I was quite surprised by what I found. I really thought that this class was going to be just like any other English class, wherein we would read novels, short stories, novellas perhaps, and even watch a film. What I did not expect was to find that so many of his previous students really had life-altering experiences during the course. This only made me more excited for what lays ahead. My enthusiasm for this class is already rocketing off the shelves, after the first day of lecture and getting into groups I was prepared to get into gear and get things started. I agree with a lot of things that were said in Dr. Webb’s article; most people do not know what is truly happening in the Middle East, nor are they very concerned with it, even though they should be. We have spent the better half of a decade heavily involved in Iraq with no real sign of ever slowing down, yet do we, as average Americans, really know anything about what it is for the Iraqis? Sure we can guess that times are hard and that this occupation really is not enjoyable for them, but do we truly grasp and understand what they are going through every day of their lives. No, at least I do not understand. I look forward to being able to identify with the Middle East as a culture through their literary works. I am a great fan of literature and if you throw me a good book I am going to read it, so I am ready to be given a book and to read it, not only to understand the characters on the page but to understand the author and the environment that helped shape the book.