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ANGLOPHONE LITERATURES
Prof. ssa Carla Sassi 2019/ THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST
- From the very title this is a novel that focuses on unsolved tensions and ambiguity. What are the main unsolved tensions and ambiguities explored in the novel? How and why can Changez be regarded as a ‘reluctant fundamentalist ’ (can there be such a thing as a ‘reluctant fundamentalist’)? How can this focus be explained in the context of post 9/11 war on terrorism? Discuss and provide examples from the text.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a postcolonial novel written by Mohsin Hamid published in 2007 which central theme is fundamentalism.
The term “ fundamentalism ” was first used to Protestant Christianity in USA to refer to branches which were particularly extreme in the application of what the Bible said. In non- religious contexts it describes rigidity and determination and it tends to have a negative connotation. Nowadays it is used to describe an extreme form of Islamism and also means wanting to exclude something because it is wrong. Changez is pushed into fundamentalism by prejudice.
The term “ war on terrorism ” develops after the attacks of 9/11 when 19 terrorists hijacked 4 planes. The targets were Twin Towers, the Pentagon and Washington D.C. – almost 3000 people died. Al Qaeda is the terrorist group associated with these attacks. The consequences were: heightened security at airports and mass transit places, increase in military enrolment and homeland security; exponential increase of racism and discrimination. The war on terror was the response of the US to the attacks. It is an international military campaign which involved a variety of actions, not only a conventional war and it has killed over ½ million people among Pakistan, Iraq and Afghanistan. Declared over by Obama in 2013.
The first ambiguity that we can find in the novel is in the title itself; reluctant fundamentalist because on the one hand, we can define “reluctant” as someone unwilling and hesitant in doing something. Whereas on the other, “fundamentalist” states for someone which firmly believes in something and is determined. Strict adherence to principles of any doctrine. I believe the title is a reference to the tormented and conflicted inner state of the protagonist Changez which embodies the two worlds (Pakistan – USA). He is a citizen of Pakistan (Lahore), but he comes to the United States (New York) as a young man to study at Princeton University and work there (Underwood and Samson Company !U.S!). For a while, Changez cultivates an American identity and image, in fact, he is athletic (“perfect breast”/American stereotype), tan, , he goes on holiday with his American friends in Greece (he doesn’t behave like them and he notices how much they spend), he dates an American woman (Erica) who lives in the Upper East Side. At the beginning he really considers arriving in the USA as “ a dream came true ” (pag. 3) but after the events of 9/11 he is pushed into his "reluctant fundamentalism." Americans begin to see him as a terrorist; in chapter 5 for example he’s at the airport and he’s escorted by guards and made strip down (pag. 85) and he’s treated with disfavour (“ what is the purpose of your trip to the US?”). His American girlfriend doesn’t want to see him, his job leaves him empty and dissatisfied. So in the end, Changez decides to leave the United States and return to both his native land and a more traditional way of life. Changez is aware that he’s subject to the process of “otherness” (=representing someone as different). He chooses to return and fight America because to do otherwise would be to change his identity and his loyalty. The Bush Doctrine states that in the war on terror you are
either with us or against us. Changez faces this challenge and chooses against. The more time he spends at Underwood Sampson, the more he realizes how the U.S. has come to occupy and maintain its powerful stance in global politics and economics.
The second ambiguity is in the character of the American man. He’s with the protagonist since the very beginning but we will never know his name, hear his voice or his opinion. We
don’t know why he’s in Pakistan and what wants to do. Changez finds him in the district of Old Anarkali and wants to help him finding what he’s looking for. He describes the man with the American stereotype ( short hair, expansive chest / pag. 1) and tells him the story of his life but never lets him speak or express his opinion. It seems like Changez is talking to himself because he asks the american questions but don’t ever let him answer. Furthermore, we don’t have the certainty that Changez and the American man are two different people and also if the American is the same person that, at the end of the novel, is in front of our protagonist reaching for something into his jacket (pag. 6 “ there is no need to reach under your jacket, I assume to grasp your wallet ”). Don’t hearing the American listener is unsettling and uncomfortable.
Connected to the American man, another major unsolved case is the end of the novel. In the last chapter the narrator is telling the American man his life. He’s back in Pakistan for good, his brother married, he keeps thinking about Erica and he’s still connected to USA ( writes to Erica and reads Princeton Alumni Weekly) ). Changez is now an university lecturer that persuade his students with the idea of greater independence for Pakistan (which is seen as something anti-American by the press) and one day, when the international television comes to the campus, he states (“ among other things ” /pag. 207) that no other countries as America have inflicted deaths upon other countries’ inhabitants. His interview became viral and from then on, he felt “ like a Kurtz waiting for his Marlow ”. He knew that something could have happened to him (“ plagued by paranoia ”) and, reading the end of the book, the reader won’t know what has happened; he can only imagine (the worst) also due to the situation explained during the chapter.
Another symbol of ambiguity is Erica , the girl with whom Changez falls in love. She’s American, lives in the Upper East Side and she will be strictly attached to her dead boyfriend Chris throughout the whole novel. They met at the post-graduation trip in Greece and she’s described as regal with a tiara (image of the statue of liberty, immigration). The more the novel goes on, the sicker she becomes. After 9/11 her situation gets worse (“ lips were pale, her body appeared almost blue ” / chapter 6) and in chapter 11 she disappears. Her mother gives Changez the news (“h er clothes had been found on a rocky bluff overlooking the Hudson” ). We don’t know if she killed herself or she just disappeared. She just left a copy of her manuscript to Changez. She’s described as a lion (symbol of imperialism) and strong only when surrounded by people. Rather the major issue is Erica's inability to move forward from her ex. She is unable to move forward completely from her tragedy to a full relationship with Changez; perhaps this is symbolic of America's obsession with 9/11 and the country's inability to move forward. The country has been incapable of acknowledging and changing the racial tensions, prejudice, and historical trauma that were brought about in the aftermath of 9/11.
Erica is also the representation of America , and the relationship that Changez has with “them” is another ambiguous part of the novel. Throughout the novel the relationship that Changez has with the United States changes; at the beginning he speaks of “a dream came true” (“ Princeton made everything possible to me ”), he gets along with Erica as much as he does with America (he studies, graduates, works etc) but at some point, especially after 9/11, he’s seen as a threat by the Americans (the beard gives him problems with his colleagues) and as a consequence he changes his attitude toward USA. Before (chapter 3) “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” I was a new Yorker” – “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” I became sentimental when I think of NY”
- “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” I did not think myself as a Pakistani ” – NY feels like home After he flies back to Pakistan and discredits America. He finds himself resentful of the power and influence of America; and of what seems like the powerlessness of his ancient and once proud nation. He is uncomfortable being viewed as a part of the Western elite rather than as a loyal citizen of his homeland. Throughout the narrative Changez notes how he feels resentful about the role of America in the world and the struggles of his homeland. Not only has America over-taken the once magnificent civilizations of the Near East, but also countries as lowly as the Philippines seem to be passing Pakistan by.
intentions through the whole novel; he makes us feel insecure. Uncanny explains the kind of fear the reader experiences during the novel’s reading which is not generated by violence. The term “uncanny” is also connected to “unhomely” (das unheimliche) which states for something which was familiar and old-established in the mind, and that has now become alienated from it through a process of repression.
The relationship/dialogue between Changez and the American is constructed mainly through uncertainty. The things the reader knows about the unnamed American are those that Changez tells and notices through the novel. I believe the relationship can be considered both fixed and developing. On the one hand, fixed because the American won’t ever change his role and his attitude. On the other, developing because the protagonist seems to gradually understand during the novel who the American really is and why he’s there. We can say that from Changez’s point of view the relationship evolves because he will know and notice more and more about his listener. In addition, we have to mention that their relationship is based on tension due to the fact that they don’t know if they can trust one another (“ I see I have alarmed you” ). From the American man’s perspective Changez could be a terrorist or an innocent person; for Changez the American could be a spy, an agent sent to kill him or simply a tourist.
- How are Pakistan (the ‘East’) and America (the ‘West’) represented in the novel? Through what characters, events, statements? Is it a fixed or a shifting representation? How does it engage with Orientalist prejudices (and what Orientalist prejudices are represented and through what events/situations)? Discuss and provide examples from the text.
Orientalism was originally the study by western scholars of the near Far East (culture, society, language) in opposition to the occidental culture. In the late 20th^ century it is a term introduced by Edward Said to describe the historical and ideological process whereby false images and myths about Eastern world have been constructed by the Westerns. He writes a book called “Orientalism” in which he states that the orient exists for the West and is constructed by and in relation to it, the orient is seen as the “other, inferior”, the image of the orient expresses an entire system of thought and the oriental people are represented through a single stereotype, even if in the orient there are lots of different countries, cultures and people. Said believed that Orient should be studied in the perspective of a native oriental in order to end the stereotype that the west created: west as civilized, moral, industrious, rational, just / orient as savage, lazy, irrational, lewd
In the novel Pakistan and America are represented mainly by the characters we find throughout it; Changez, American man and Erica. Through the novel appear the orientalist stereotypes and the monologue between Changez and the american parallels the way the 2 worlds look at each other through stereotypes. Pakistan, or the Muslim world, looks at America and the West as they were ready to fight them and similarly, America looks at the Muslim world wondering if they’re terrorists or just regular people.
Pakistan and the East are represented by the protagonist who also keeps thinking and making references to his hometown (“ it was a warm evening…summer in NY is like spring in Lahore ” c. 4 / urdu was spoken by taxi drivers / tavern Pak-Punjab Deli / song he heard at his cousin wedding). They are represented as “the other” and also as threatening ( don’t be frightened by my beard, I am a lover of America ) because through the whole novel the American man (who is in Pakistan) seems worried. But it hasn’t always been like that; there is obviously a shift in the representation of Pakistan in the novel. Before the 9/11 Changez (and so the east) is seen and treated as a “normal person”. He studies at the university, he finds a job, through meritocracy he’s able to gain a higher position and trust from his boss and he also has an American girlfriend. Being a diasporic subject makes Changez feel home as something that shifts between the 2 worlds (“ I was immediately a New Yorker ” pag. 37).
After the terrorist attack the vision of the East changed radically. It becomes a threat and we can see it in some episodes of our protagonist’s life. His beard makes his colleagues alerted [ “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” I realized how deep was the suspicion I had engendered in my colleagues over these past few - bearded and resentful – weeks; only Wainwright came over to shake my hand and say farewell; the others if they bothered to look at me at all, did so with evident unease and in some cases, a fear which would not have been inappropriate had I been convicted of plotting to kill them rather than of abandoning my post in mid- assignment”. (p. 97)], the guards look at him with suspicion when he is leaving the office building with watering eyes, at the airport he is escorted by guards and made strip down, at Erica’s parents’ house he receives a negative comment about the political situation of his homeland “ And fundamentalism. You guys have got some serious problems with fundamentalism”. By saying “You guys” Erica’s father seems to differentiate himself (West) from East. Changez does not like the discussion, however he controls his response and defends his country, “ Yes, there are challenges, sir, but my family is there, and I can assure you it is not as bad as that”. In chapter 7 the discrimination towars arabs grows; FBI was raiding shops, mosques and people’s houses. Someone even refers to him as a "fucking Arab." All this represents how the West looks at East with suspicion and demonstrate that they have complaints against each other. Furthermore, it reflects that this country of the “ Philosopher-Kings ” (p.2) is not perfect and it is as prejudiced towards the cultural and racial differences as any other society or culture.
So we can say that after 9/11 also Changez’s vision of America starts to change. In fact, America shifts form the American dream to something negative (he will criticize it once back in Pakistan. The American supremacy, with its constant intervention in other nation’s affairs, especially Asia, has drastically damaged the world. He also tells the American that America engenders all the major conflicts and confrontations in the Middle East). He starts to be on the Pakistan’s side, and we can see that when he smiles after the attack. Pakistan after 9/ becomes the enemy and for this reason America becomes a hard place to live in for the Muslims. Changez decides to go back to Pakistan and does not want to serve America anymore. He quits his job after telling the vice President that he does not want to work anymore for Underwood Samson and left (he felt like a soldier in the hand of the American government). Changez also complains America for not being supportive of Pakistan in India- Pakistan issue, in spite of the fact that Pakistan had given assistance to America, in Afghanistan. He feels powerless at this point of the tension between India and Pakistan. When America starts bombing Afghanistan Changez is infuriated and arrives late at work for the 1st time. The protagonist, Changez, goes from trying to assimilate to American culture while studying and working in the United States to embracing his former heritage once he deems American culture too shallow and prejudiced.
On the other hand, America is represented through the characters of the American man and Changez’s girlfriend, Erica. Erica stands for America when she’s described as something regal (she reminds at the image of the statue of Liberty – American empire) and when we discover that she lives in the Upper East Side. The fact that she’s strictly attached to her dead boyfriend and can’t let go of him even when she’s with Changez, represents America that can’t let go of what has happened. She represents the America that Changez loves but that in the end proves to be incompatible. Erica’s conditions get worse as much as America’s after 9/11. Erica represents the American dream that drives Changez crazy.
America is also represented by the American man. He has short-cropped hair and expansive chest (American people stereotype) and throughout the whole novel he’s suspicious and he behaves as he feels threatened. The Americans assume all of his people are backward and violent, easy prey to fundamentalist terrorists. Without saying it openly, the Americans assume they are more civilized than the Middle Easterners. They only accept Changez so long as he adheres to American dress and manners, which he does for a long time, even though it makes him feel as though he is betraying his homeland and heritage (“I wanted to dree as I imagined they would be dressed ”).
Bristol, and London) from the plantations of South America and the Caribbean. Sugar consumption increased particularly in England between 1690 and 1740 and this would mean an increase of the slave exportations, so an expansion of the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to the slave colonies.
Entangled history can be recognised also in the coincidental encounter on the Ibis of the different characters who have different religions, languages , belong to different social ranks or caste, but are linked by the same purpose to start a better existence in search of their freedom, learning to live together and sharing their religious, social and linguistic pluralism becoming an hybrid community. On the Ibis coexist sailors, slaves and passengers of different nationalities (China, America, India, the European Empires). The Ibis becomes the embodiment of the global cultural space and a new site of origin where the diaspora experience becomes their place of self- development. The Ibis represents a microcosm, a sort of Noah’s Ark where are spoken different languages which come together and intermingle much like the speakers do, becoming a fluid sea of languages, as linguistic barriers dissolve and hybrid languages come up.
In the novel we find the technique/concept of “entangles (=intersecting/inextricably connected) history”, that is an historical prospective and it implies a trans cultural/national approach. Entangles history is about interconnectedness of societies, how different countries influence and interact with each other, going beyond national borders and thinking in terms of connections/networks/entanglements; a sense of being a huge family is perceived (“ when you step on that ship you and your fellow transportees will become your own family ” pag. 328). It is also about the world in general, so we should think that history happens everywhere (entangled history questions Eurocentrism).
The characters of the novel are an example, because each of them has a story and belong to different social classes and speak different languages. Everyone has his way in the novel, but then the characters meet on the Ibis. The thing that connects the characters is the sea, which is a. sign of connectedness and fluidity and stays for the invisible ties of entangled histories.
The notion “entangles world” doesn’t include fixed situations and the continuous shift between a kind of life and another is clearly expressed at page 258 and 387. “entangles world” conveys also the notion of sharing. We understand that the characters not only share the same place, but also the same feelings (p. 339, Ah Fatt + Neel, p. 474). On page 253 (“ intimacy among the women; they were all strangers to each other and everything said sounded new and surprising”) there’s a long passage that describes the meaning of entangled world in the sense of exchange, learning something new. We can see the concept of entangled history applied to the plot itself: all stories are linked, all the characters with completely different backgrounds end up on the Ibis, working together in order to create a new world.
Deeti: lives in northern Bihar, outskirts of Ghazipur (p.3), her native language is Bhojpuri (p. 8) Kalua: is the driver of the ox-cart (“ a giant of a man ” p.4), lived in a cluster of huts (p.55) Hukam Singh: high-caste Rajput (p.4) Zachary Reid: son of a Maryland freedwoman (p.11) Serang Ali blongi Rohingya: “ from Arakan-side ” p. Raja Neel Rattan Halder: zemindar of Raskhali, one of the oldest and most noted landed families of Bengal, orthodox Hindus (“ returning to Calcutta after a visit to his Raskhali estate ” p. 41), chicken (he tries to find a polite way to explain Zachary why chicken was forbidden for him p. 119) Benjamin Burnham: owner of the Ibis ship
Paulette Lambert: French, adopted by the British but brought up by the Indians (“ the first language she learnt was Bengali and the first solid food she ate was rice-and-dal khichri ” p.70), accustomed to daily baths and frequent dips in the Hoogly (p.130) Nob Kissin Baboo: 60 miles north of Calcutta (p. 168)
- The encounter and transformation of very different characters on the Ibis allegorically represents the mass migrations and cultural encounters triggered by European Empires in the 18th^ and 19th^ century. What social/political issues do the main characters represent (in terms of gender, social classes, ‘race’, ethnicity etc.)? How is their ‘transformation’ through diaspora represented? Discuss and provide examples from the text.
The Ibis is the site of the encounter of different identities which coexist and escape from the prison of the real world, in search for a better future. The interaction among the pluralism of religions, languages, social classes and cultures lead to the hybridazation of them as the outcome of the mass migration during the 18th and 19th century. The Ibis beside of being a site of encounter is also a site of origin and change, since the diaspora place becomes their place of living together and self development (“a psychological making of self”). The diaspora experience initially creates in the characters a sense of extreme displacement but beside the disabling aspects, they start to recognise also the enabling dimension. They realize that self- satisfaction is not to research in their original place, but on the Ibis, on their diasporic/ colonial experience which transform their identities, aspect underlined by the change of the name, involving them in a process of self development. Their diasporic experience is in conflict with the traditional notion of diaspora, since it means dispersion, homesickness and nostalgia for the native culture. In the novel the homesickness and all the sentiments migrants normally feel are missing, simply because the decision of fleeing to Mauritius has depended by them, and not imposed.
The Ibis represents a way towards a new life (transformation of different characters – Deeti, Kalua, Ah Fatt and Neel).
This novel talks about migration ans on the Ibis, we find characters who have they own reasons to be there: Deeti and Kalua have escaped from the Sati, Neel has to be transported to the penal settlement on the Mauritius Islan, Paulette is escaping from Burnham, who doesn’t end up on the Ibis. The characters represent social and political issues: the first one we read about is Deeti, an upper caste woman submitted in a patriarchal society (p. 4 Gosh criticizes it). She works in a poppy field for the production of opium with her husband. The idea of patriarchal society is reinforced when Chandan is introduced “you need a son”.
Another example of the Indian society is how the caste system works: we can understand it with the character of Kalua who is an untouchable and a driver of the ox-cart (an untouchable is treated like an animal). Gosh criticizes this aspect of the society and we can notice from the text that Kalua is doubly marginalized, by the Indian society and by the British Empire.
Gosh doesn’t represent only the Indian society, but also the typical outsider western prospective of India, introducing the character of Zachary Reid (what British/European colonizers saw). Zachary is an hybrid character, because he comes from USA, but he has African blood in his veins.
Deeti is the image of the lower class, but in the novel, we find a character who is from the upper class, Raja Neel Rattan Halder. He comes from a very wealthy family which collaborated with the British Empire.
rank, religion and culture) in the former society. Since England controlled different Nations, had also the capacity of connecting them with each other. The maritime trade was so vast and deeply rooted in the East that creates the encounter on the Ibis and gives the possibility to the characters of changing their fates. In fact, without the Ibis, the slave trade ship lead from Calcutta to the Mauritius, the characters would have never come across each other.
Sea of Poppies is against the backdrop of the Opium wars and the exploitation by the British empire. It is set in the first half of the century (1839 – 1842 Anglo-Chinese war) and it focuses on the trade of opium between India and China and on the trafficking of coolies to Mauritius (p. 12).
It is an historical novel and the author wants to show and make the reader understand things that he wouldn’t otherwise. The novel has the power of bringing into life a whole historical period through characters who never existed but nonetheless are constructed truthfully and realistically.
The poppy field is for the production of opium and Deeti is uncharged of the fields, she picks up and sends to the factory where her husband works. We understand from the first chapter what Deeti’s “job” is and on page 12 we find out what the Ibis, directed to the Mauritius, transports: coolies (slaves who should work in the sugar plantations) and opium. Historically the slave trade was abolished in 1807 and the slave-ships were reconverted to the lucrative business of opium trade.
An important character about this business is Mr. Burnham who represents the British Empire. Gosh makes us understand the myth of the self-made man and how the British Empire was organized (chapter 4). We can notice how important the opium trade for the British Empire is (p.95) where India is indicated as “the jewel in the crown” thanks to the Ghazipur Opium Factory / Ghazeepore Carcanna (p. 94). It really existed.
We can say that opium is a sea that connects all the individual stories in the novel and the title shows us the methapor: “sea of poppies” refers to huge fields of poppies which look like a sea, so these fields connect India through the opium trade. The sea is a sign of connectedness especially the Indian ocean which connects the continents on the routes of the British Empire and especially in the third part it stands for the invisible ties of entangles histories. Sea of poppies is a metaphor for the global reach of opium trade and Indian/colonial diasporas. In this prospective the Ibis is an important place of encounter and change.
All the characters that end up on the ship, are escaping from difficult situations: Deeti is saved by Kalua right before dying, Paulette escapes from Mr. Burnham. On the ship, they find the voices they had once lost. They want to recreate their own identity, changing first of all their name. the central metaphor in the novel is contained in the title of the book. The sea is a metaphor that conveys an idea of connection and fluidity: this is a novel which identity and life story shift, mix and change. The title describes a huge field of poppies that becomes a global vision, since the opium trade involved the whole globe with its huge business. It is an historical novel that, better than a documentary, let people know about this story (Indians were involved in this trade and some became rich).
P. 88: opium was the exclusive monopoly of the British P. 123: opium = everything P. 440: Ibis was a vehicle of transformation
BIRD SUMMONS
- The central theme of the novel is pilgrimage. The idea of pilgrimage, however, intersects with the three friends’ plans for a ‘holiday’, thus mixing the religious with the secular. How does Aboulela develop treats the theme of pilgrimage — how is the pilgrimage structured, what are its aims, how does it change (or not) the three pilgrims? How does each pilgrim relate to the experience of pilgrimage? Discuss and provide examples from the text.
The book can be considered as a kind of pilgrimage because the characters travel with an aim which is connected to religion, and also because they need distance from their routine. A pilgrimage is a journey to a sacred site in which the relationship between human and divine should increase and which purposes are devotion, thanksgiving or intercession. This spiritual experience brings you in a “middle space”; during it you experience different ways of speaking and living, new languages and new people. You have to deal with new people and connect with them and to do so, sometimes your identity has to change.
The three protagonists are set out on a weeklong trip to the grave of Lady Evelyn Cobbold at Glencarron in Wester Ross. Cobbold, whose Arabic name was Zainab, was a daughter of an Earl of Dunmore brought up in Cairo and Algiers in the late nineteenth century. She declared herself a Muslim during a private audience with the Pope and, in 1933, she became the first British woman to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. (Salma will be the one to reach the grave and she will foresee the future).
The pilgrimage the 3 women do is structed as an holiday; in fact they stay in a cottage for a week and on Sunday they start the 12 miles long walk to reach the grave. The journey the 3 women do is a tangible experience and it has different stages: ordinary life car and Salma’s game (parlour game, asking everyone to name the sin they would choose to commit in a world with no consequences) arrival at the cottage (door for the magical world) Hoopoe as a guide to return to everyday life.
The purpose of the visit at the beginning was “ to educate themselves about history of Islam in Britain, to integrate better ” (pag. 1) but it is seen also as an holiday to escape from the routine (“ getting away from it all. Away from responsibility, authority, bodies set free from routines …. Every holiday was a test, a risk” pag. 36). The 3 characters can’t fully identify with the world they came from and also neither with the one in which they’re living. This is a journey that the protagonists do “ together and alone ” (pag. 4) at the same time because every character will undergo a change. (“ Salma, Moni and Iman together but not together, fellow travellers, summoned by Fate. Salma wanted to visit the grave, Iman wanted to be with Salma, Moni was worried about the walking” (pag. 20). For this reason we can say that this pilgrimage will lead the 3 women to change, to improve and to develop.
Salma is considered since the beginning the leader of the 3 (“ we all look up to you ” pag. 109) and she also is the oldest. She’s respected and loved by her husband David ( note in the bag “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” Happy journey, my love” pag. 7) and for this she’s a bit envied. She has 4 children and quarrels with her daughter. In this journey she’s in contact with her ex-boyfriend Amir, who is in Egypt, and she seems afraid of being in contact with him because he makes her think at the life she could have had (“ Is this why you’re back in contact? To prove that I made the wrong choice. … There is something called fate and destiny, as you well know ” (pag. 133). At the beginning of the novel she seems regretting the choice she made “ I can’t get it back. I want undo things and I can’t ” pag. 194. However, the red t-shirt runner, who she sees in the forest and associates with Amir, makes her change possible. In fact, it will be when she enters a building (which she compared to Lady Evelyn’s hunting lodge) that she will think about her past and she will say “ he (amir) took my strength instead of my virtue ” (pag. 246). From this moment on she will try to have her strength back.
Iman is the youngest of the 3, she’s beautiful “ old-fashioned eyes, sulky lips …. Even with her hijab men look longer at her … “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY”. (pag. 4) and in her 3rd^ marriage. She can’t have children and she came to Britain with her 2nd^ husband. During this journey her husband Ibrahim will
some universal values (such and kindness and generosity) that can be described as a point of cross-cultural conversation. The fact that the world is becoming smaller due to migration, international trade, tourism and mass media is seen by Appiah’s as a unique opportunity of accessing other countries and cultures.
We can say that the whole journey that the women do reflects Appiah’s idea of cosmopolitanism. The characters stay together, know each other more and also change to be more connected with one another “ to walk as a group, Salma needed to curb her enthusiasm, Iman to become more patient and Monti to exert a bit more effort ” (pag. 206).
They converse a lot and in pag. 224 it is said “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” we must talk this through – we can discuss this and resolve our differences, Iman ”. So conversation is deeply seen as a mean to understand each other and get closer. At page 253, during the woman’s walk in the forest, they see a “ group of people whose mouths were sealed across with stiches and whose blazed shame” and when Salma asked why the answer was because “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” They kept silence when they should have spoken out” this really underlines and highlights how important is conversation between people.
Furthermore, we have to notice that every character is individually connect to the theme of conversation. Salma is in contact with her ex-boyfriend Amir and this makes her question about her life. Moni has a “monologue” with the little boy who will be the main source of her change. Iman is the only character in contact with the Hoopoe, which tells her stories and parables.
- Aboulela uses magical realism to convey her message. What are the features of this genre, and why/how is it used by Aboulela to account (=represent/explain) for the three friends’ journey and their experience as diasporic subjects? Discuss and provide examples from the text.
Magical realism is a term coined in the South American literature by Carpentier and it treats supernatural occurrences as everyday and the everyday as fantastic. It aims to give voice to people who are usually marginalised (as the three protagonist of the novel) and its main features are the presence of strange events in the everyday life, the borrowing of myths or legends and ambiguous endings. It is about a disruption of modern realist fiction and creates a space for interaction and diversity giving voice to the diverse.
The three protagonists are 3 diasporic subjects not only because they’re on a pilgrimage/holiday to Lady Evelyn Cobbold’s grave, but also because of their past. Salma , who seems the most successful between the 3, with four clever children, a job as a massage therapist and a loving Scottish husband (a white Muslim convert who lets her free), is native from Egypt. Moni, who put her banking career behind to care for her disabled son Adam, has a husband in Saudi Arabia (with a well-paid job) who what’s her to return to him with Adam (that is not completely accepted there). Iman , the youngest of the 3, who is already on her third marriage in her twenties and seems doomed by her beauty, wears the scars of the Syrian Civil War because she was brought to Britain by her second husband.
Every character in the novel seems to be related with magical realism individually and collectively. Collectively because they all stay in the same cottage, which can be considered as the door of the magical world and they all of through the forest, which is the place in which the majority of the magical events happen. Individually because each character is strictly related to a magic element a healthy young boy named Adam who makes Moni think of her son, Salma repeatedly catches sights of a runner that remines her her ex-boyfriend in Cario, and Iman is visited by a story-telling mythical bird, the Hoopoe.
The Hoopoe can be found in the Qur’ran and in the Bible (In the former it occupies a privileged place because he has a special relationship with Prophet Solomon and poses him a question). This bird is associated with kingship and wisdom and its body is believed to possess potent magical and medicinal proprieties. He materialises to Iman when she needs guidance; she asks him questions, but it replies with complex stories that imply interpretations. The stories he tells, which are the bird’s summons (=citazione, richiano), are allegories, beast fables, tales with morals or warnings that can guide or challenge.
The dream represents a smooth transition between the reality and the fantastic.
Salma She’s in contact with Amir (ex-boyfriend in Egypt). In the car she stars a game (“I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” situation in which you are allowed to commit one sin and get away with it ” pag. 26) Moni would kill Adam and Murtada, Iman would “ be completely alone. Not to be accountable to others ” (pag. 28), Amir would steal “ what was mine and then got taken away from me” (pag. 29). After arriving at the cottage she goes in the forest (where every magical event happens) and dreams of Amir and her freedom (pag. 71). The man she sees running has black short, red t-shirt and brown hair; she keeps following him not understanding why (pag. 99). She see him again when she’s on the boat with her 2 friends (pag. 116). In chapter 7 Salma is calling Amir and they speak about the old times. In this moment Salma realizes how different her life could have been if only she chose Amir. “ Is this why you’re back in contact? To prove that I made the wrong choice. … There is something called fate and destiny, as you well know ” (pag. 133). Salma exchanges secrets with Amir (“ he told her of an incident ” pag. 161) and they write to each other a lot. In chapter 10 Salma, after reflecting on her possible life with Amir and considering it better than the one with David, seems wanting to go back “ I can’t get it back. I want undo things and I can’t ” pag. 194. In the forest, at page 236, she follows the red t-shirt man and she arrives in front of a build she compared to Lady Evelyn’s hunting lodge. She enters and she remembers events from her past “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” why was he leading her through this house which held remnants of the past?” (when she was cuddling her child with David, wne she was wearing a red dress). Here she compares past and present “ In the real past she had not enter Amir’s room. Now, Salma the woman entered Amir’s room without hesitation ” pag. 242. After it she enters in Amir’s clinic, she finally sees him and after it “ she would never be the same again”. He leaves, Salma sees her mum who says “ you have to find your own way now” and Salma realises “ he took my strength instead of my virtue ” (pag. 246). “Moni and Iman see her as their leader, but at the end she was the one who needed them” pag. 251
Iman was beautiful “ old-fashioned eyes, sulky lips …. Even with her hijab men look longer at her … “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY”. (pag. 4) she can’t have children. She first meets the Hoopoe before entering the nursing home in which Moni and Adam were (“ heard a bird sing hoo poo hoo poo again and again” / “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” -come back- she said in Arabic” pag. 12). The 2nd^ husband brings her in Britain. Iman is represented as a superficial character (“t here was little that Iman was qualified for ” pag. 19), just as a “pretty thing” that doesn’t have any independence. The cliché of beauty has been imposed on her by society but she feels that it doesn’t belongs to her and wants to rebel against it. Her husband, Ibrahim, represents a strict islamist (because he can’t speak to other women other than Iman) and when they argue Iman throws stones to him. Ibrahim didn’t want Iman going on this trip and during the car ride he calls repeatedly Iman; they met and Ibrahim divorce with her because her father “ is ordering me to do so ” (pag. 50).
She sees the young boy for the first time while she’s sitting in the garden of the cottage and a ball hits her. They play together, she asks him his name without any answer and when he goes away she tries to stop him (“how clever, strong, quick” – “wait” pag. 97). She’s the richest between her friends and she proposes to pay for 2 more nights at the cottage. After it she goes on the boat with her friends and sees the little boy again; Iman said “ he looks like Adam ” (pag. 115). In chapter 7 she’s in a playground holding hands with the young boy; they play together and she reveals her son’s name to the boy. She takes care of him and makes him compliments and when he writes down his name -adam- she “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” felt anger rise in her ” pag. 138). Moni is the one who at pag. 148 thinks of the idea of opening a massage clinic with her friends. She thinks to divorce from Murtada. She meets the boy again (who seemed taller pag. 156). She notices that Salma’s phone stinks (“ a nasty smell. Foul ” pag. 165) but salma can’t notice that too, at least at first. Moni criticises Salma because she’s treating Iman like a pet “ you pamper and infantilise her ” (pag. 177). She encounters the boy again when he goes to the cottage; she makes him and omelette “you are the cleverest, nicest boy” (pag. 192). She notices he’s bigger in size but not older. The boy returns in chapter 12; Moni cooks for him and then has a nap during which she dreams of Adam becoming bigger and bigger till she was squeezed in the kitchen, they go out together Adam holding Moni and then he makes her fall; she screams and she’s alone in the forest till Iman wakes her up
“ Iman was learning language all over again” Salma lost his strength “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” when would her strength come back? When we return. … If I am to grow my strength I must have protein”
“I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” The water was everything they needed” in the water Iman found her human body
again, Moni wasn’t a ball anymore and Salma had her strength again. “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” the water showed them what they could be but it gave them hope which was just as important as change. The water made them stronger in faith” (pag. 255). Uscite dall’acqua sono sempre nelle stesse condizioni e riescono ad immaginare la loro
morte salma operata da amir, moni schiacciata dal bambino gigante e iman in un
inferno animalesco. Riflessione sul fatto che erano arrivate al loch con copie del corano sena però mai leggerlo e dopo che salma dice “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” we used to pray” perde le conoscenze e non sa più guidare le altre due. “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” they misunderstood their role”. L’obiettivo è che pregassero con il loro cuore e in modo Fedele; era preghiera deboli (viste le condizioni) ma sincere. Quando salma non sa dove andare arriva l’Hoopoe ed è iman che per prima lo vede. L’uccello è cambiato d’aspetto e se loro avessero accettato gli avrebbe fatto da guida.
Capitolo 16 The Hoopoe said “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” in every journey there comes a point where the travellers can go no further without a guide. Not everyone accpets the guide”. The women accept the guidance of the Hoopoe and after that moni and iman return to their normal body and salma gains strength. Hoopoe se ne va e loro lo aspettano. Quando torna gli racconta la storia de the conference of the Birds. Dopo vanno verso il monastero e capiscono che si stanno avvicinando al punto di arrivo. Sono cambiate “I was a new Yorker” – “I became sentimental when I think of NY” how good it was to have a clear mind and balance, to have a tongue that could talk and feet. That could hold up her weight with ease”. Si scopre che Nathan è colui che ha costruito il monastero_._ A una certa entrano in una stanza; iman esce dalla porta, moni dalla finestra e salma da un hatch at the bottom of the wall panel. Le 3 si ritrovano davanti alla macchina di salma.
Capitolo 17 Inizia il viaggio verso la grave di Lady Evelyn. Salma segue la mappa sul libro di Lady Evelyn. A una certa (dopo 4 ore di cammino) Moni deve andare in bagno, la fa in mezzo al bosco ma non riesce più ad andare avanti e si ritira. Dopo aver incontrato i due uomini anche Iman si ritira e torna indietro in macchina con loro. Salma continua da sola; dall’inizio lei è sempre stata quella che tra le 3 più voleva vedere sta tomba. Ci arriva stanchissima e la trova rotta con le scritte in inglese (che evelyn non voleva). Ad una certa ci vede riflesso il suo viso; il suo riflesso del futuro (non è ne triste ne felice a riguardo). Vede il suo futuro e quello delle sue amiche. Dice che non si è recata li per vedere il futuro ma poter viversi bene il presente “ I want to know how can I go on. How to keep going without failing, without giving up or making a fool of myself. I wanted a recipe for patience and rejhuvinantion”. Alla fine della fiera Moni ha camminato molto di più del previsto superato i suoi limiti Iman capisce che può smetterla di odiare la femminilità in cui è nata
