In conclusion:

This post is supposed to bring together the two other posts I made about Aunt Safiyya. In short, I think the book does a great job of defying stereotypes Americans have about Arabic speaking countries in general. Because the book is written in English, it may be a bit difficult to successfully understand everything that may have been offered if we could have read it in its original language.
No one in the book is an American hating violent extremist. In fact everyone in the book lives by the Qu' ran in that they have respect for one another. The only one who falls outside of that is Safiyya who in a rage cannot forgive. Even the outlaws have an honor system, much more trustworthy then any criminals I have ever heard of. There is hopefully an honest acknowledgment to the fact that women are considered the weaker sex. However, it is important to know that the story takes place in another time, and that it is at least acknowledged. This is beneficial to English speaking readers forming an opinion of Egyptian culture based on this book. Because te book does not automatically explain every detail of their lives and why they do it, it allows the reader to more fully understand the culture. That might seem counterintuitive, but when things don't have an explanation, you can surmise that its is not something they question either. hat is just the way it is, the way i works. Until something goes very wrong and people are unhappy, no one is going to try to "fix" it. Women maintaining the home is a different situation then some Western countries. In this book, your home is an important place, you family can be judged on the work of the wife. Women also don't have to be held completely responsible for things that their husbands have told them to do. Women also havethe option of getting educated, which some might not know is an option that is available.

Aun Safiyya and the Monastery : An in Depth look

For this post, I would like to explore the presence of the coptic monastery. Though the story is predominantly about the need for Safiyya to get her revenge for the death of the bey, it is also about the monastery that keeps Harbi safe from her intentions. The monastery is from the start an important character in the book. It houses the christian monks including the Miqaddis Bishai who keeps close company with Harbi once he is released from prison. The narrator, his father and a band of outlaws also congregate there for a time to visit Harbi from inside the monastery walls. The outlaws whose leader Faris, befriended Harbi in prison and won his devotion. He protects Harbi during trips outside the monastery which become frequent once it is determined that the outlaws should not be allowed inside the sanctuary. Harbi is very ill once freed from prison and as his condition continues to worsten, Safiyya becomes afraid that her son will never get vengence. Once Harbi dies, Safiyya soon follows slipping into coma after coma, weak from malnutrition. She neglects her child even throwing him in anger. Her final words to her father were about Harbi who in a daze recalls the moment when the bey asks for her hand except for Harbi seems to be the one proposing. Likely, this is a sign that her anger was not necessarily about the beys demise but her anger that Harbi sacrificed her to his "father." She was to spend her life serving the bey as a wife and knew the importance of her marriage to him. She was devoted to her family to whome she reached as an orphan, and likely felt obligated to fufill her purpose and raise their honor. It was likely she that convinced the bey of Harbi's supposed intentions to harm their son, a son she very seldom seemed to care about. Safiyya's vendetta against Harbi is greater then her call to custom, or her devotion to God. She demands her guard to storm the monastery and kill Harbi and they refuse, as it is a sin.

Fate of a Cockroach: A short play

To be honest, I am not interested in blogging on a topic that everyone else is blogging about. I feel like after a certain number of people have disected a novel that there really is nothing left to say. I am more interested in documenting what I have found aside from my classmates, so that they may read about something they haven't already read. So I am reading a short book of plays that begins with Fate of a Cockroach. FOAC is about several cockroaches, a king, a queen, a priest,a minister, a savant who must save the minister roaches sun from a bathtub. The play explores each of their roles as they try to determine how to save the minister's son. There are also scenes that encompass the humans as they contemplate the predicament of the roach that is attempting to escape their bathtub. There is a husband and a wife, Avil and Samia, a doctor and Youssef the postman. Avil admires the cockroach and his determination for escape, until the cockroach is killed by the ants and carried away. The cockroaches argue to determine how to tack action against the ants who are so organized and dependant on one another, while the cockroaches are by nature self reliant.

Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery: Quick summary

This book which is told from Safiyya's nephew is a great insight to the familial relations of this particular Egyptian family. Aunt Safiyya bears a son raised to avenge his father the bey, who was killed after attacking a relative named Harbi. Harbi killed Safiyya's husband in self defense, however the customs of this tight -knit village require that he defend his family's honor and kill Harbi. It bears mentioning that everyone in this small village is related either by blood or marriage. Honor seems to be the most important asset of a family and is protected at all costs. Safiyya herself in order to maintain the honor of the family and the respect of the other female villagers is denied an education and raised by her father's sister to be a wife. Safiyya's other sister who are considered more homely then herself, are encouraged to get a proper education by their father. Though both do become wives themselves, they go on to lead a successful and seemingly fulfilling life while Safiyya's is consumed with avenging her husband. It seems though she is held in high esteem in the village, she was destined to lead a somber life committed to the memory of a dead man. Social stereotypes are challenged in this book as a father demands an education of his daughters, and the mother acting as an oppressor in the house hold, at least on behalf of Safiyya. The mother and father seem to disagree on what the best way to equip their daughters for the real world. This situation is not unlike modern day parents in the United States or other western countries. Neither is the vendetta against family members. As we discussed in class fallen gang members are often avanged by fellow members of the gang, in order to protect their honor. Though both acts are illegal in their respective countries, in their village their is a lack of enforcement behind such laws. People are used to solving problems for themselves and not depending on law enforcement. The people of this village live a life comparatively different then most western societies and allow the reader to gain a better understanding of why their culture does what it does. Female oppression still exists in arab countries as it does here in the United States. Our own example is proof that change takes time, and that change is indeed occurring in the middle east.

Reel Bad Arabs

I think there is a better video, with a better argument out there. Yes there are stereotypes portrayed by the media. But some of the films that were featured, I have thought long about and have come to this conclusion. A particular film, Aladdin (the animated version) is not necessarily a film about negative stereotypes. I personally hate stereotyping because there are just a million ways to be wrong. But some of Aladdin where people say arabs are being presented as caracatures could be construed a different way. The scene where the parade takes place, there are camels and elephants and women belly dancing women skipping through the street, gold flowing everywhere, a hero that gives to the poor, etc. Yes there are stereotypes featured here. However, if you are going to make a fictional portrayal of life in a distant land that was a very interesting way to do it. It was like a display of the exotic things they have there. A promotion, if you will of and arab country. If that scene was a commercial yeah, you would go there. The end of the film where Aladdin chooses Genies freedom over his own desires displays the values that he has. He kept his word despite what would make him happy. The sultan changes his rules about who the princess can marry because he knows the true character of this "street rat." Also there has bee talk about Princess Jasmine and her skimpy clothing. Number one: that's the sort of thing that American audiences like to see, and it is a constant theme in most Disney movies. This is not necessarily a slight against arab countries. If this film was meant to be seen by an american audience, then many of us whom the developers know are not familiar with the values in the middle east would not have approved of Jasmine being "hidden" as we would have percieved it.

Ramadan

So I have been paying attention to everything Arabic, and I had a fun experience this weekend. I had a friend over who is from Saudi Arabia and my roommate was tutoring him in Spanish. My roommate Angela is learning Arabic as well. Abdullah and my roommate were speaking to each other in their respective languages. I know more Spanish then he does at this point, so I was listening to him speak the words in Arabic. Turns out, I have no hope of even saying hello in Arabic, but the rules of the language are interesting. I took time to serve him cake which until he looked at the time, seemed doubtful. When I cut myself a slice I looked up and his was gone. I didn't ask why he ate it so fast, but later he told me he must fast until 8 pm for Ramadan. He has gotten so skinny it seemed insane for him to do that. So he explained that it was a necessary part of Muslim worship for this month. It is one thing to hear about religious fasts, it is entirely another to see the effects on a person you know. So I did some research on the event and can understand now how ingrained Islam is to its followers. Islam is a lifestyle, not just a religion. Putting that into perspective helps one understand the position of so many middle eastern Americans, as well as the ignorance of the general public.