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| Leila Aboulela |
Here is a link from a British Council of writers.
Here is an interview with her from Oxford Journals.
A quote from her says: "When I write I experience relief and satisfaction that what occupies my mind, what fascinates and disturbs me, is made legitimate by the shape and tension of a story. I want to show the psychology, the state of mind and the emotions of a person who has faith. I am interested in going deep, not just looking at 'Muslim' as a cultural or political identity but something close to the centre, something that transcends but doesn’t deny gender, nationality, class and race. I write fiction that reflects Islamic logic; fictional worlds where cause and effect are governed by Muslim rationale. However my characters do not necessarily behave as ‘good’ Muslims; they are not ideals or role models. They are, as I see them to be, flawed characters trying to practise their faith or make sense of God’s will, in difficult circumstances. "
I loved this novel! It held my attention the whole time.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Najwa. Most of the time. I wanted to slap her for going back with Anwan. What a jerk! I would not even be remotely attracted to someone who bad mouthed my dad. But the thing that made me even more upset was that he had the nerve to still say things about him after he was executed! It was partly Najwa's fault. She should've known better. I felt he used her too when they connected in London. Mainly for her to check his articles. I'm glad she eventually got it, but it took it her a little longer than expected.
I was hoping that he would marry Tamer. Although there was an age gap (I'm not sure how much) I thought they would do well together because of their devotion to the Muslim faith. But that's not the only thing that holds a marriage together (so I've heard, I haven't been married before) and I think Najwa saw that a lot earlier than Tamer did. He had good intentions though. I do think that Tamer is the type of man Najwa needs, but older. :)
Omar...poor Omar. He was a mess from the beginning. It never seemed like he grew up, even after him being put in jail and after all those years.
Does anyone have any ideas of the last sentence of the novel? "The ceiling has caved in, the floor is gutted and the crumbling walls are smeared with gult"(276). What guilt is Najwa talking about?
Part1
ReplyDeleteJust in case no one else wanted to subscribe to the Oxford Womens Writing Journal, I copied parts of Aboulela's interview onto a word document and printed enough for the class so we can all enjoy it. I think it will be most beneficial to those of you who have not read the book yet.
I agree with Andreah, I love this book. I think Aboulela's writing is easy to read and flows nicely from scene to scene. I really loved the flashback to the 80's. Even though I have read the book I will only post about the first part here. She was right on with a lot of her details about the 1980's. Especially the choice of her brother to imitate Michael Jackson, "Omar had his hair just like Michael jackson on the album cover of Off the Wall" (Aboulela 11). Then at the beginning of chapter 3 she made me laugh right out loud when she mentions the Gap Band, "The party at the American club was in full swing when Omar and I arrived. We walked into the tease of red and blue disco lights and the Gap Band's 'Say Oops Upside Your Head' "(Aboulela 23). I saw my teased high bangs and the can of Aquanet in my hand going out dancing after I read this--Ahhh it is perfect don't you think Sarra (anyone else that era??).
I immediately feel as if something isn't right with Omar, her brother. I feel like he has a drug and drinking problem that he wants to keep quiet but is not trying all that hard to do so. Najwa seems worried too, "I sounded angry but I was also afraid. Afraid of his sleepiness that did not stem from any illness; afraid of his lethargy that I could not talk about to anyone about" (Aboulela 9). She then kind of calls him out to herself a little later on after a party he went to and picked her up late at her friend Randa's house, "I smelt him and guessed what the smell was. But I didn't want to believe it. Hashish? Marijuana?" (Aboulela 31).
I thought Anwar was bad news from the start. Why on Earth would she be interested telling her family business to a communist who obviously has his own agenda whether or not he loves her. It is abvious to me that he does care for her because his principles are so strong that he wouldn't risk this relationship without there being some powerful feelings for Najwa. I just think she should have been more careful. Anwar is the one who calls for her father to be hung after the coup! Honestly, it seems like (looking forward into Part 2) that maybe their father wasn't as corrupt as the communists were saying because Omar makes a point from prison when Najwa goes to visit him, "Don't be daft. You make it sound like Baba did something wrong. They lied about him. Where were the millions they claim he embezzled and took abroad? We came here and there was nothing" (Aboulela 95).
I feel like Najwa is holding onto some guilt--feeling like she may have had a hand in her fathers hanging.
Did anyone else think it was odd that while her parents were away, and she threw her friend a going away party, that the power was out and their generators wouldn't work? Then as soon as they walk in the door the power comes back on. They were also known to be away with th Sudanese President! Weird.....Coincidence?
Before posting about Part2, which I will wait until Wednesday so some people can catch up without spoilage (too late if you read the first line of Andreah's post though!), I just want to comment that at the end of Part 1 I thought that Najwa felt uncomfortable in herself the whole time she was in Sudan. She really envied the girls in the tobes and hijabs. She felt uncomfortable showing her figure in the bathing suit and in her tight blouse at school. London was what Najwa needed to break free from her personal and private restrictions--ironically which were not allowing her to be comfortable wearing the hijab head scarf! Talk about "Politics of Location"!
I’ve just finished the first half and I’m really loving this book. The writing style reminds me of a journal in the way that she recites everything that’s going on in a very detailed manner.
ReplyDeleteLike Victoria, I did note Najwa’s envy of the girls in the tobes and hijabs. Throughout the first part I felt she had a hidden desire to be apart of a religion or perhaps just be apart of something…
Apart that stuck out to me so far was on page 15.
“I understood the line ‘I’ve lived to bury my desires’. But I did not know from where this understanding came. I had a happy life. My father and mother loved me and were always generous. In the summer we went for holidays in Alexandria, Geneva and London. There was nothing that I didn’t have, couldn’t have. No dreams corroded in rust, no buried desires. And yet, sometimes, I would remember pain like a wound that had healed, sadness like a forgotten dream” (15).
I connected this with ‘Women of Sand Myrah.’ She is given everything she wants so it’s harder for her to realize what she actually wants, who she actually is. There’s sadness to Najwa, even in the beginning when everything is well. I think she feels like an outsider in a way. Her wealth and privilege constrains her and I think she begins to realize this when she meets Anwar and realizes she can’t and shouldn’t like him. But still she’s so enchanted by his determination and self-assurance. I think there was a real spark between them, it wasn’t just Anwar digging for hidden secrets.
I didn’t think that Najwa told Anwar any secrets about her father but maybe I’m just not remembering correctly. I didn’t think Najwa knew any valuable secrets from her father since they didn’t seem to talk very much. Did he really get hidden information from Najwa, which might have been a big motive for the coup?
UNsurprisingly, I really really like this book! I am enjoying it very much, which is an interesting statement, as the story is not necessarily one that I would call enjoyable. I think Aboulela's writing is masterful, though. Subtle surprises. On one level, I feel badly for Najwa that she's gone from pampered upper class princess to subservient maid and nanny. However, the sadness or regret that might dominate such an experience is sharply mitigated by Najwa's peace, acceptance, and spiritual clarity in her new life. Though her life is hard and graffitied with tragedy, she has found her god in Allah and herself in Islam, and that provides meaning, peace, and softness to her life as well dimension and depth to her character. Aboulela has done a fine job of creating a fully fledged, three-dimensional, conflicted, nuanced, feeling human being.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I agree with others about Anwar, that he really cared for Najwa. I'm not convinced. I'd hoped we'd seen the last of him when the family fled to London, but alas, no. He shows up again. I am trying to have empathy for him as a character, but I am simply not managing it so far. I do recognize his idealism, but it's hard to admire it or find it resonant when it engenders such a disregard for other human lives in him. I never got the impression that Najwa shared secrets with him. Hmmm.
Like everyone else who's commented, I too made note of the foreshadowing of Najwa's embrace of Islam - her fascination with the praying students, her description of "nudging" or "hollowness" when she hears the call to prayer, her unacknowledged admiration of other women's tobes. It was not at all surprising to discover that adulthood found Najwa studying the Qu'ran and wearing the hijab.
Omar breaks my heart. I wonder if we find out more, as the book goes on, about how he got so lost. :(
I'm more than halfway through the book, but not yet finished. I find it interesting that the novel starts with Najwa saying that she's "come down in the world". In certain ways, that's absolutely true; however, in other ways, it seems like the opposite is true - she's finding herself, finding her way, trying to find peace.
@Victoria - AQUANET! You are so right. I can smell it, with the smoke, the soda, the lip gloss, the sweat... too funny. I used a can of that stuff every WEEK in the 1980s!
Oh, how quickly feelings can change! I feel a lot less positive about the book now that I've finished it. It's just so sad. So sad. As you might be able to tell from my last comment, I wanted to feel more hope and positivity from/about Najwa's future. Instead, the book made me feel hopeless and heartbroken about her future. I don't feel like it ended on a positive note at all. Najwa may be finding a path in Islam, but I don't get the feeling that's really enough for her, and I did come away thinking that she will - regardless of her faith - live the rest of her life beseiged by regrets, grief, heartbreak, and loneliness, denied the things she wants most: a husband, a family, children.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I can't believe Anwar was back. What a awful person he was. I don't believe he cared for Najwa at all. I'm not entirely sure why he was with her, though I suspect it was a combination of many things - loneliness and isolation in London, longing for something/someone familiar, her perceived wealth, her proficiency with English - but I don't believe for a second that he loved her or cared for her as a person. He treated her horribly. Horribly!
And she let him. Was it her loneliness? Her omnipresent grief? Did she come out of childhood believing she was worthless, valueless, and deserving of such treatment? I don't know. I know that people will sometimes do anything to stave off isolation and feel affection. It might be as simple as that.
I knew her relationship with Tamer - and, consequently, her job with insufferable Lamya - would not end well or happily, but I was saddened by how badly it ended. Tamer, though still largely a child, deserved better, as did Najwa.
I wanted to see Najwa move beyond the tragedies of her life, to love herself and love what life has to offer her. I ended the book feeling like that will never happen for her, that her life will simply continue to be "a scratched vinyl record, a stutter" (216).
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ReplyDeleteTo comment on Andreah's question about the last sentence, I think Aboulela is referring to the guilt of her father (embezzling and taking bribes), the guilt of her brother (selling drugs and stealing money, her pearls), her guilt of not being faithful for so many years (mini skirts and tight shirts)--I think there are a great deal of ways to interpret this, but those are the few of the ideas I had about it.
I also agreed with Andreah with my hopes for Tamer and Najwa. We never do get their age difference outright. I wonder how far apart they were really and what is the traditional feelings in their Sudanese culture about that. I am sure that an older woman is not typical with a younger man where the opposite is most common, but I feel like she is maybe in her 30's and he in his 20's. She may be pushing 40, but I don't think she is over the hill. She is now only talking about getting a grey hair or two when I have had greys for two years and I am 31!
I was not surprised by the ending however because it seems more likely that these stories will end in heartbreak then with candy and ice cream.
I liked to watch the transformation of Najwa into her modest faith driven self. It was difficult to watch her be seduced by Anwar and dreams of marriage because she was so lost and felt she had no other choice until she called Waafa, 'Insha' Allah.
There is one thing troubling me about the end. She does take the money that is offered to her--like a bribe, right? So, she takes a bribe like her father had been doing for years and she that has been struggling with it. She will now be able to take the expensive trip to Hajj and also to take care of her brother. It seemed almost contradictory to her beliefs and her values. I thought her trading Tamers life (education and dreams) for their love was noble and brave, but she took the money. That seemed out of her new character and somewhat into her old character. What does anyone else think about this??
That being said, I still loved the transitions from past to present and back and forth. I thought that things towards the end were seemless and stirring. I was on the edge of my seat (or bed) even though I knew they would not be allowed to wed. I disagree with Andreah though because when Dr.Z comes to Najwa's house I feel that Najwa is planning on marrying Tamer and being a part of their family. I don't think she really even plans on ditching the idea with the offer of the money, until she realizes she really has Dr.Z in a vice grip--then we see her will and independent nature take over to say this is what YOU are going to do for me and Tamer. I think she will be saddened more by this then by her failed relationship with Anwar (that p.o.s).
By far my favorite book this quarter. It just passed The Pickup (still a close second-sorry Gordimer).
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ReplyDeleteI really like this novel. Probably my favorite so far. Aboulele is brilliant in her portrayal of the "two" different Najwas. The difference in personality and voice between young 19year old Najwa and late 30s Najwa is excellent and quite an accomplishment.
Najwa as a character is very endearing. I just can't help but to love her. At her young age, she is so innocent and naive. A 19 year old with the worldyness of a 10 year old. The 38 year old Najwa is endearing because she is now so wise to her place in the world she is living in. While she still seems a little "out of place" in her London world, she is definitely settled and her taking hold of religion helps with that.
I look forward to reading on, seeing where her relationship with Tamer is going, too se what happens with Omar and if she ever gets to confront Anwar. She is an extremely compelling character. It will also be interesting to see how her new found faith plays out in the climax of the novel.
Bret
1/2
ReplyDeleteI really like this book and the format that it is in. Like Bret, I admire Aboulela’s ability to create two different portrayals of Najwa. The transition between the first and second parts is very smooth and I was not aware that I had been reading a flashback of Najwa’s memory.
As a child, Najwa seems spoiled but at times, she feels guilty that had so many privileges.
“I recognized Omar’s old Cola-Cola T-shirt and a pink dress that I’d stopped wearing because it was out of fashion.
‘Where are you going?’ I guessed from Mama’s subdued clothes that it wasn’t anywhere fun.
‘Cheshire Home,’ she said, getting into the back of the car.
She said ‘Cheshire Home’ gaily as if it were a treat. Only Mama could do that.
I hesitated a little. The thin twisted limbs of the children disturbed me and I preferred it when she took me to the school for the deaf. There the children, though they could not speak properly, were always running around carefree, with sharp intelligent eyes taking in what they couldn’t hear.” (18)
When Najwa talks about the clothes that her mother is bringing to the children, she feels guilty that she is giving the children old used clothes rather than brand new ones.
I really admire her mother’s efforts to expose her children to the reality that many have to live with but a part of me feel like the mother has a guilty conscience as well. If Najwa’s mother knew that her husband’s occupation caused many of the citizens to suffer in order to allow her family to live a luxurious life, she would try become involved in charity work in order to feel better about herself and the money that they have.
I really enjoy the novel so far. I love the story line and the tone of Aboulela from the beginning. It is easy to read and connect with the characters’ emotions and changes.
ReplyDeleteI would not blame Najwa anything for what she does in her life. She is such an innocence with a big kind heart. She accepts life for what it is, which is admirable to me.
As a young kid, she treats her servants nicely though it might not be right to give them expensive gifts. according to her mother, kindness has to be shown appropriately and properly
“I learnt these rules. Only give away clothes you have worn. Give fairly. Give appropriately. Give what is expected. You can offend people by giving them too much. … Think before you give” (49).
I do not think she is spoilt at all. She is well taught by her mother and maybe it passes on to her the kindness in life? The spoilt one is her brother – he is the black sheep of the family.
The second half of the book brought up a lot of negative feelings for Anwar for me. I really hated how he treated Najwa. I feel his character was revealed to be very manipulative and condescending. He never took her seriously and would just try to belittle her every chance he got. When she states her opinion, he shuts it down. When she corrects his papers for him, he gets angry and defensive. Their relationship could never work out because of his unsettled bitterness towards Najwa for her father’s political stance and her privileged upbringing. I was relieved and happy for her when she began to practice Islam and broke it off with Anwar.
ReplyDeleteI really loved Najwa’s character. She is so strong and competent, never complaining about her losses and hardships. That’s why the ending was hard to accept. She had to give up Tamer, losing again someone she really loved. I did find it a little weird for her character, like Victoria pointed out, to take the money from his mother at the end. It does seem against her religion and morals. But I am happy she did it, she deserves to go on Hajj and do the things she wants. (Speaking of that, what exactly is Hajj?)
I hope Najwa will find happiness and love in her life and that all works out well with Omar. I have to say this has been one of my favorite books so far we’ve that we’ve read. It got me hooked really fast!
Maddie - Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca. Here's a good website: http://islam.com/hajj/hajj.htm
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maddie and Victoria about Najwa’s envy with the girls wearing tobes and hijabs. I think that is the lost identity in her, which she vaguely knows what it is even though it is always in her.
ReplyDelete“I envied them something I didn’t know what it was. I didn’t have a name for it” (134)
About the religious belief, the fact that she was raised from a wealthy political family affects that a lot. They just believe in themselves and when they have enough in life, they somehow forget about the God they should worship. For example, on page 135 she said “Couldn’t they see that I was not the religious type?”
But later when it comes to hardship, her life becomes rougher and tougher, it’s Allah name that she calls for each time like the time she has trouble with the necklace
“Allah, please get me out of this mess” (113)
“I can lose this job easily. Rely on Allah, I tell myself. He is looking after you in this job or in another job” (114)
And the religious lessons make more sense to her.
Just like Andreah, I feel sorry for the age gap between Anwar and Najwa. I love the chemistry develop between them. And again, just the way she handles things in life is what I like about her. She is not too eager to go for anything and later regret it. She just goes with the flow and at the end, I still do not dislike her for taking the money or anything. I love her at the beginning to the end. Great novel!
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ReplyDeleteNajwa's story is fascinating in that she is a character instantly displaced from her country, class, and wealth through a coup. Like Tram mentions, she loses her identity and consequently, her power. Najwa's easy to emphathize with because of her selfless drive to help those around her, despite the selfishness of almost everyone around her.
We get to see how this loss of identity affects her and perhaps push her toward a more spiritual life, where she develops a new identity that gives her stability and self-empowerment. Like Maddie mentioned, there was a lot of foreshadowing with her envy of the girls in robes earlier at the school, and that moment seemed like the spiritual seed that was nourished by all the turmoil going on in her life.
It was also interesting to see her perspective in her new life, especially in how she saw Lamya her employer in London, after their incident with the lost necklace.
"She will always see my hijab, my dependence on her salary she gives me, my skin colour, which is a shade darker than hers" (Aboulela 116).
From this one statement we see how religion, class, and race can all affect how people like Lamya sees their servants like Najwa. I found it surprising that despite this shallow discrimination, Najwa was able to admire Lamya for the "PhD she is doing, her dedication to her studies, her grooming and taste in clothes" (116). I think that because of the many great changes in her lifestyle and identity, Najwa was able to have a more thoughtful, maybe holistic, perspective of people rather than looking at them one-dimensionally. I really admired Najwa's character for that.
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ReplyDeleteBy the end of the story, I was intrigued by how much religion seemed a central aspect of Najwa's life.
One part I found interesting was when she was comparing Wafaa's husband Ali, with Anwar. Anwar, gave Najwa the impression that all British were secular and liberal, but Ali was a British man that was a devout Muslim. Najwa "thought of Anwar and Ali, how they would never meet, how the existence of one somehow undermined the other" (241). I think that in Najwa's mind, Anwar believed that no one who was born and raised in a secular society like Britain's would ever convert to a religion as strict as Islam. So he would find someone like Ali incredibly paradoxical, to the point where it should never happen. But the existence of people like Ali did happen, and Anwar was wrong.
I also liked when Najaw says "These men Anwar condemned as narrow-minded and bigoted, men like Ali, were tender and protective with their wives" (242). Throughout the story, Najwa was much more open-minded and respectful of other people's beliefs than Anwar. Anwar was oppressive in his stifling of Najwa's ideas and beliefs. "I could never stand up to Anwar. I did not have the words, the education or the courage" (242). Anwar was hypocritically narrow-minded and bigoted as he mad his generalizations of religious people.
Minaret has been one of my favorite books so far because the main character is so selfless and the storytelling evocative. I thought it was a story of how religion and class can shape personal growth and relationships. I found it interesting in how it portrays religion in an atypical way. It showed how a religion as strict as Islam became almost a freeing force in Najwa's life as she found herself content with the stability that religion provided.
Post 1 – Parts 1 and 2
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Minaret. I could really relate to Najwa and found her likable even in her sheltered stage. I agree with what Tram said about her, that there is this innocence about her, which in my mind makes me forgive any of her mistakes. A few moments stuck out to me in the first part. For my seminar paper, I talked about how the First and the Third World relate to each other; and here were some quotes that I would have included if I’d had more time.
On one of their outings with Mai, Tamer speaks to Najwa about what he feels his identity is: “‘My mother is Egyptian. I’ve lived everywhere except Sudan: in Oman, Cairo, here. My education is Western and that makes me feel that I am Western. My English is stronger than my Arabic. So I guess, no, I don’t feel very Sudanese though I would like to be. I guess being a Muslim is my identity” (Aboulela 110). I find this quote really interesting. He’s a cultural amalgamation that defies being put into any one category. Since he doesn’t feel that he belongs either to the First or the Third World, he decides to locate himself within his religion instead, although some from the First world might still argue that this keeps him in the Third World frame. Tamer is an example of what happens when the relations between the First and the Third World are bent and twisted into something new.
Another time, when Najwa and Tamer are walking back to his apartment, she “sense[s] the slight unease he inspires in the people around [them]. [She turns] and look[s] at him through their eyes. Tall, young, Arab-looking, dark eyes and a beard, just like a terrorist” (100). This is Orientalism showing up yet again. The one overwhelming representation of Arab men in First World Britain is the “terrorist”, so when they look at Tamer, that’s what they see. It is also indicative of the relative power between the First and the Third World: the First World cannot be limited to only one representation and is seen by the rest of the world as dynamic and diverse, while the Third World is defined in a very narrow way, by the First World, and only represented in that one light.
Post 2 – Parts 3-6
ReplyDeleteI agree with what most people have said about Anwar, but for all his horribleness, there is one thing that sticks out to me and that is his unexpected valuing of gender equality. At the same time however, this didn’t mean that he wasn’t ever sexist: “‘Arab society is hypocritical,’ he would say, ‘with double standards for men and women.’ … Anwar told me that most of the guys in university used to visit brothels. Then they would beat up their sisters if they so much as saw her talking to a boy. ‘Did you go to a brothel?’ … ‘There was a girl there who became attached to me.’ He laughed a little…. It annoyed me that he was talking about her as if she were a pet” (Aboulela 175-176). So while he is aware of these double standards, he still enforces them by participating in activities like going to brothels. I also have a sneaking suspicion that part of his frustration when she corrects his papers stems from the fact that she’s a woman, though her being upper class probably has more to do with it. So while I can’t fully forgive his taking advantage of Najwa and his general abusiveness, it does complicate how I view him.
Another thing that stuck out to me was Najwa’s wish that she was the “family’s concubine. Like something out of The Arabian Nights, with life-long security and a sense of belonging. But I must settle for freedom in this modern time” (215). This was pretty shocking to me, but I understand her reasons. The “life-long security and sense of belonging” are what seem so attractive in that fantasy option. As someone who was uprooted from her home and her family, she’s a piece of driftwood that wanders from island to island and she just wants to settle somewhere. She also knows that back then it would be so much simpler to get what she wants, because the relationships between men and women would be such that Tamer would probably have his say no matter what his sister or mother said. It was still a little disconcerting to read that, though. She goes on to say, “Shahinaz envies me sometimes when her husband, children and mother-in-law weigh her down, when she has no room to herself, no time to herself, she envies the empty spaces around me” (215). Shahinaz wants Najwa’s freedom because she is trapped by the gender roles that are expected of her as a wife and mother and feels the constraint of them. Unlike Najwa, she feels grounded/has a place in her community and so views Najwa’s freedom as a positive thing. Najwa, who feels attached to no one, can only see it as “empty” and disheartening. I feel hopeful for Najwa’s future. I don’t think she was too torn down about what happened with Tamer, because she saw it as the right thing to do, even if it was hard for both of them. I also agree with what Maxamed said in class about her being able to go on Hajj, that she had finally reached some insight that would allow her to heal and move on in life. This book is my second favorite, next to the one we’re reading now.
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ReplyDeletePart 1
Response to Andrea and Victoria
(Najwa and Tamer's age difference)
The story began on 1984-1985 where Najwa was a university student, on her 1st year I believe - 19 years old. In 2003, after so many changes have happened, now she's a servant, she's 37 years old. Tamer on the other hand in 2003, he's a freshman in college - 18 or 19years old. Their age gap was 18 years.
1984-5, Khartoum
I saw a lot of the westernized (non-local) symbols from the point of view of people in Sudan, specifically material symbols. The Paco Rabbane from Baba's cologne, Michael Jackson's Posters, Tops of the Pops, Coca-cola, Chanel and more. The life that Najwa and Omar - no worries about financial stability - attending a prestigious University, going to parties, wearing fancy clothes, fun and socialize with elite people at the American Club. This twins had all they needed and wanted - they get whatever they asked for. Then a big change happen, and it challenge their family to be stronger. Baba was accused guilty for something he did not commit and had a death sentence. Najwa, Omar and their mom had to left their country and lived in London. At the end of part 1, the last paragraph (Victoria read this during class:
"There are all kinds of pain, degrees falling. In our first weeks in London we sensed the ground tremble beneath us. When Baba was found guilty we broke down, the flat fillinf with people, Mama crying, Omar banging the door, staying out all night. When Baba was hanged, the earth we were standing on split open and we tumbled down and that tumbling had no end, it seemed to have no end, as if we would fall and fall for eternity without ever landing. As if this was our punishment, a bottomless pit, the roar of each other's screams. We became unfamiliar to each other simply because we had not seen each other fall before."(61)
It was really sad, I felt bad for Najwa and her family. Not because they will not have the luxury that they'd had when the dad was around but having her father hanged was the one that rips my heart. It was really depressing.
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2003, London
18 years later.. It went by so quick and Najwa's life drastically changed! Now she cannot buy the newest style of clothing, she doesn't go to school anymore nor have gotten a degree, she doesn't have anyone left in her family. Her mom lied from leukemia or more like because of heartaches that Omar have caused. And Omar is in prison for doing drugs. Omar is just pain in the butt! Always have been very selfish - his addiction ruined him! (I've always wanted to know more about him, how he started doing drugs. Does he have other reasons aside from peer influence?) Najwa a used to be non-devout muslim, a girl who never prayed a lot expept when she wants to get higher grades on her exams, a girl who fasts to lose weight - this girl is now a real muslim.
I think her religion saved her from all the obstacles she had faced in her life. She has the faith that her God is always around looking after her. This is so true to most of the religious people up to this day - FAITH saved them. Having the hope that everything will be alright.
Najwa found praying very important,". . . if you ad I had prayed, all of this wouldn't have happened to us. We would have stayed a normal family. . . Allah would have protected us, if we had wanted Him to, if we had asked Him to but we didn't. So we were punished." because if she prayed before all of these things could've not happened. She is also looks back to her past all the time. She compares herself, the things she had just like Lamya's pearl necklace that she had before.
Ohh.. Now Najwa's love story! Gee I can say a lot about it, but it seems like my post is too long now. Part 2: Najwa and Tamer
I like their relationship, they have the same values because they are both devout muslim. They are comfortable opening up to each other and they have both happy with each other's company. I'm really sad their age gap is 18 years.
"I savour the moment before the sound of the key in the door, before Lamya comes home and I have to stand up. A maid should not be sitting on the sofa drinking tea; she should sit on the floor or bustle about in the kitchen. She should not take such delight in her employer's brother. I wish I were younger, even just a few years younger."(119)
I also wish she was a few years younger. I love the exchange of thought - a healthy relationship!
Ooops...
ReplyDeleteMy heading on my previous posts is "Post 1 of 1"
I was lying! It should be Post 1 of 2!
Anyway, this is now my POST 2 of 2.
I'll keep this one short and sweet.
I LOVE THE BOOK!
But I think The Pick up is still my FIRST! lols
I don't really like Anwar ever since the start of the book, he is just verbally abusing Najwa! I felt bad for her because she was taken advantaged by Anwar, I agree with Andrea he is just a jerk!
I really want Najwa and Tamer to be together because her truly cares for her. Najwa always look down at herself and it's really sweet when Tamer tries to tell Najwa that she is worth it, and deserves better things.
"'Stop it.' He puts his hands on my shoulders and he shakes me a little. His eyes are solemn, clear and I see goodness in the, I have always wanted goodness, I have always believed in it and here it is. He says gently. 'Stop it, stop putting yourself down.' He should not come close to me but he does and I cling to him, I cling to him because I am sour and he is sweet. He kissed me and he doesn't know how. I should push him away, not let him learn, but his smell hold me still. . ."(224)
I wish Najwa was younger...
This book was not just all about Najwa, but also this story showed 3 different Mother-Son relationship.
1. Najwa's mom and Omar
2. Dr. Zeinab and Tamer
3. Shahinaz and Ahmed
I wanted to expound more about this mother-son relationship, but I'm wondering if any of you also found these three mother-son relationship very different and yet has similarities.
Sorry for blogging late, this could've been a very nice discussion if I only blogged earlier. T_T
Peace
I approved of Najwa's decision (leaving Tamer). The first part of their relationship I find Tamer really mature for his age, but as I read more about him and know more of his actions I think he's just rebelling from his parents. He will have a better future, he's young and that's why he is impulsive. He'll eventually get over Najwa.
2/2
ReplyDeleteIn the second part of the novel, we see the different life that Najwa has adapted to. Rather than being pampered by her maids, she becomes a maid herself. Along with her new job, Najwa adopts a different lifestyle and mindset.
As the daughter of the President’s office’s manager, Najwa lived a privileged life where she often traveled to London for vacations. At some points in her life, she took her privileges for granted such as ice-skating.
“How did we learn how to skate? I can’t remember!’ I laughed – children from hot Khartoum coming to London every summer – walking into an ice-skating rink in Queensway as if they had every right to be there.” (94)
Not only was Najwa able to go ice-skating, she had done it so many times that she had forgotten how she had learned to ice-skate.
After her father’s execution, Najwa lost many of her privileges; as a maid, Najwa adopted a new mindset since she did not have the same privileges she had before his execution.
Instead of donating her own clothes to orphaned children, Najwa now looks at the new and expensive clothes that Lamya buys.
“In the afternoon Lamya returns with fluffy hair and a carrier bag with Knightsbridge and a designer’s name written on it. She lifts a dress out of the bag, shaking away the white tissues clinging to it. The dress is lovely, a crisp red taffeta. She is excited and rushed to Tamer’s room to show him. I pick up the sheets of tissue from the floor, come across the receipt and gasp when I see the price.” (218)
Like what Tram said in class, Najwa was able to smoothly adjust which still surprised me even after reading about Olanna in Half of a Yellow Sun since I feel like I’ve been influenced by a materialistic society.
Ugh! I posted a second time last Tuesday, and it still hasn't gone through, so I'll just post again...
ReplyDeletePost 2 - Parts 3-6
I agree with what most people have said about Anwar, but for all his horribleness, there is one thing that sticks out to me and that is his unexpected valuing of gender equality. At the same time however, this didn’t mean that he wasn’t ever sexist: “‘Arab society is hypocritical,’ he would say, ‘with double standards for men and women.’ … Anwar told me that most of the guys in university used to visit brothels. Then they would beat up their sisters if they so much as saw her talking to a boy. ‘Did you go to a brothel?’ … ‘There was a girl there who became attached to me.’ He laughed a little…. It annoyed me that he was talking about her as if she were a pet” (Aboulela 175-176). So while he is aware of these double standards, he still enforces them by participating in activities like going to brothels. I also have a sneaking suspicion that part of his frustration when she corrects his papers stems from the fact that she’s a woman, though her being upper class probably has more to do with it. So while I can’t fully forgive his taking advantage of Najwa and his general abusiveness, it does complicate how I view him.
Another thing that stuck out to me was Najwa’s wish that she was the “family’s concubine. Like something out of The Arabian Nights, with life-long security and a sense of belonging. But I must settle for freedom in this modern time” (215). This was pretty shocking to me, but I understand her reasons. The “life-long security and sense of belonging” are what seem so attractive in that fantasy option. As someone who was uprooted from her home and her family, she’s a piece of driftwood that wanders from island to island and she just wants to settle somewhere. She also knows that back then it would be so much simpler to get what she wants, because the relationships between men and women would be such that Tamer would probably have his say no matter what his sister or mother said. It was still a little disconcerting to read that, though. She goes on to say, “Shahinaz envies me sometimes when her husband, children and mother-in-law weigh her down, when she has no room to herself, no time to herself, she envies the empty spaces around me” (215). Shahinaz wants Najwa’s freedom because she is trapped by the gender roles that are expected of her as a wife and mother and feels the constraint of them. Unlike Najwa, she feels grounded/has a place in her community and so views Najwa’s freedom as a positive thing. Najwa, who feels attached to no one, can only see it as “empty” and disheartening. I feel hopeful for Najwa’s future. I don’t think she was too torn down about what happened with Tamer, because she saw it as the right thing to do, even if it was hard for both of them. I also agree with what Maxamed said in class about her being able to go on Hajj, that she had finally reached some insight that would allow her to heal and move on in life. This book is my second favorite, next to the one we’re reading now.
Posting 1/2
ReplyDeleteIn the first part of this book Leila Aboulela is mainly focusing the local university days of the protagonist Najwa. She identifies the three main ideological differences of Sudanese society which are the pro government and mostly westernized group, the opposing socialist group and traditionalist religious group.
The University campus was sort of battle field between these three ideological waves. Najwa’s father was well aware of the activities and recruitments going on at the campus, he warned her not to associate any of those, and she promised to do so. But Najwa was curious enough to identify what was really happening around her, and related to Anwar who was campaigner from the communist party in her class. Both Anwar’s appearance and ideology attracted Najwa, and she started reading and listening from him a lot.
Eventually, Najwa was trapped between her parent’s expectations and the freedom and diversity that she has found in the campus life style. She likes to persuade to Anwar and show him that at least his arguments were making sense for her, and on the other hand she likes to preserve her family values and integrity. But, when Anwar criticized her father publicly, she couldn’t take that, and she decided to terminate her relations with Anwar.
Posting 2/2
ReplyDeleteLeila Aboulela portrayed Najwa as the main protagonist character that feels deeply guilty. Najwa was living in a luxurious live with her family in Khartoum, Sudan. The family was so wealthy as they were having reserved flats throughout the year in London. After the coupe, Najwa fled to London with her mother and brother, and by this time they still have a lot of money, but they did not spend in a smart or fruitful way.
Najwa is then feeling sort of guilt, that they were not suppose to spend all these money for vacations when most of their country people are in alarming poverty. She also regrets how she mismanaged their only remaining wealth in London. Najwa is then punishing herself to accept reality and became maid for a wealthy Arab family in London. She also accepts the truth - as per Sudanese perspective - and ultimate fairness of the religion to get spiritual freedom from the unfair, that she feels for poor Sudanese. Here she becomes more religious and she regularly goes to the mosque for prayers.
Najwa feels more convertible with her new life style that rewards her sort of psychological stability.