"He felt a boundless confidence and pride in this answer but later had acknowledged that his treatment actually had changed, although he had tried to keep anyone from detecting his hidden intention to change" (Mahfouz 285). We feel a sense of regret and compassion coming from Ahmad in this chapter. Mahfouz puts this paragraph here, after the arguement between him and his son, Yasim, because he wants us to slightly see the parternal side in Ahmad.
The way Mahfouz has dialog from only Ahmad in this chapter allows you to get into Ahmad's head and truly understand how he feels. Ahmad mentions that he reacted upon anger; trying to justify his actions. Ahmad's attitude and deffensive tone allows the reader to comprehend that Ahmad does love his children and that he didn't want to hurt Yasim. Mahfouz illustrates Ahmad's affection by having him look back at his past. He is recreating the emotions and moments that Ahmad went through. It shows that Ahmad has a passionate side and feelings.
Showing posts with label Ahmad's love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ahmad's love. Show all posts
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The satire of love
On page 45 after Mr. Shu Fu hurts the man's hand he happens to gaze upon Miss. Shen Te as she passes by. He looks at her and then turns to his audience and says, “ It surprises me how beautiful Miss. Shen Te is looking today! I never gave her a passing thought before. But now I’ve been gazing upon her comely form for three minutes! I begin to suspect I am in love with her. She is overpoweringly attractive! Be off with you, rascal!” What I found funny was the fact that he has just met the women for the first time really and he already thinks that he is in love with her after 3 minutes. That kind of love is not even shown in the movies.
Right before Mr. Shu Fu is another interesting part. It starts at the bottom of page 44 and continues at the top of page 45. Here Shen Te is talking about her day and going into to town she says, “How wonderful to see Setzuan in the early morning!....Good morning, Wong, I’m quite lightheaded today. On my way over, I looked at myself in all the shop windows. I’d love to be beautiful”. This is not the first thing that we would suspect for a person to say when they say they looked in all the shop windows. You would think they would say they saw something that they wanted to buy or a cute pair or shoes something closer to that. Instead she says how she wishes that she was beautiful, and what’s even more interesting is that right after that Mr. Shu Fu says how Shen Te’s is so beautiful looking and that he has fallen in love with her in the first 3 minutes of seeing her.
Right before Mr. Shu Fu is another interesting part. It starts at the bottom of page 44 and continues at the top of page 45. Here Shen Te is talking about her day and going into to town she says, “How wonderful to see Setzuan in the early morning!....Good morning, Wong, I’m quite lightheaded today. On my way over, I looked at myself in all the shop windows. I’d love to be beautiful”. This is not the first thing that we would suspect for a person to say when they say they looked in all the shop windows. You would think they would say they saw something that they wanted to buy or a cute pair or shoes something closer to that. Instead she says how she wishes that she was beautiful, and what’s even more interesting is that right after that Mr. Shu Fu says how Shen Te’s is so beautiful looking and that he has fallen in love with her in the first 3 minutes of seeing her.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Transformed Man
Throughout Naquib Mahfouz’s Palace Walk, we are introduced to a number of different characters that represent a different aspect of life in Egypt. But, amongst the many different characters Mahfouz introduced, one stood out – Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad. In part II of Abu Talut’s article, “The Status of Women and Men in Islam,” the responsibility of a man is great when it comes to maintenance and protection of his family (Talut, II). Al-Sayyid Ahmad represents a Muslim man who, at times, is overprotective towards the women in his family, controlling of everyone and everything around him, and experienced in forbidden pleasures like extramarital affairs. But, throughout the novel we learn that he worries mainly about his social appearance rather than what is best for his family. Through this all, Mahfouz shows us a transformation in Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s behavior as the novel progresses and by the end of the book, we see a side of Ahmad that we had yet to see throughout the novel.
At the beginning of the novel, we see Al-Sayyid’s wife, Amina waiting on her husband to arrive after a night out with friends. She weighs on him hand and foot, removing his cloak, loosening his sash, removing his shoes and socks, pouring water for him to wash his face, and just sits around waiting for him to tell her what to do or giving her permission to speak. Mahfouz described Ahmad’s attitude towards this when he wrote, “Her husband spared no effort to safeguard his dignity and authority” (10). This made it apparent that he made it obvious that he was the one who held the authority in the marriage – something that is apparent in Muslim marriages. But, we also see that Ahmad cares more about his appearance outside of the home and puts in as much effort as possible into his outside relationships rather than those that should be most important, being his family’s. According to Talut’s article, this is not the responsibility of a man. Ahmad’s desire to seem perfect and powerful in public isn’t his responsibility, his responsibility is to protect his family and do what is best for them, not him (Talut, II). This strengthens the idea that Ahmad is selfish and careless with the relationship between him and his family.
As the novel progresses, we see Ahmad dismiss the idea of Amina marrying the man she loves clearly because he is afraid of what people may say about the engagement since no man had ever seen his daughters. He was worried about what people would say about this rather than his daughter’s happiness. As Daniela said in her blog, “Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear” Ahmad’s family treats Ahmad as if he were a God. She gives the example of Aisha’s feelings towards Ahmad after she’s told that she cannot marry. It is clear that Aisha is upset, but Aisha couldn’t bring herself to stand up to her father. In Talut’s article, he writes that a man’s responsibility is also to protect and defend a woman and to make his family feel safe and secure (Talut, II). It may seem that Ahmad is protecting his daughter but in reality, he’s simply protecting his image and by putting fear into his family, he is doing something that he shouldn’t do – especially if he expects to create a safe environment for his family.
Later in the book, at the beginning of Chapter 65, we see the beginning of Ahmad’s transformation. Mahfouz shows us how Ahmad reacts when he sees two British soldiers approaching him and describes his reaction by saying, “With a pounding heart and a dry throat, al-Sayid Ahmad watched the soldier approach” (442). This clearly means that Ahmad was scared. Anyone else would be scared by a man in a uniform, fully armed, and physically strong, but if Ahmad was so “God-like” why wouldn’t he be scared? God’s are usually all powerful and nothing frightens them. Seeing how Ahmad could do nothing to communicate with the foreign soldiers and get himself out of the mess made Ahmad look just as inferior as everyone else. He was no longer giving orders to everyone, he was the one taking orders. Mahfouz also shows us how Ahmad begins to care for his family as he thinks about never seeing them again when he writes, “When he [Ahmad] remembered his family, he felt such painful homesickness that tears almost came to his eyes” (445). By doing this, Mahfouz reveals part of Ahmad’s transformation in which he is no longer the “God” he was once portrayed as. He shows Ahmad finally worrying about the future of his family and how their lives will be after he is gone seeing as how he is the one that is responsible for their well being. But, he is now also shown just like any other citizen who has to give in to someone else’s commands and has to endure the possibility of possibly never seeing his loved ones again.
By the end of the book, we are introduced to a completely different Ahmad than we first were at the beginning. The death of his son, Fahmy brought forth a surprising reaction from Ahmad. At the beginning of the novel, we saw Ahmad as a man who cared solely of himself and how he was viewed. As LaurenF wrote in the blog named, “ Ahmad’s Priorities ,” Ahmad didn’t care about his relationship with his family as much as he cared about his relationship with others and his image in the eyes of the public. He did what he wanted and was content with the happiness of others rather than that of his family. But, when Fahmy is killed during a demonstration, we see Ahmad breaks down. We see him finally thinking about how his family, Amina, will take the news. We see his pain on page 495, when he replies to the young man offering his condolences to him by saying, “…Dead! I’ll never see him again at home or anywhere else on the face of the earth? How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone? What has become of all the hopes attached to him? The only hope left is patience…. Patience? Oh…. Do you feel the searing pain? This really is pain. You were mistaken previously when you claimed to be in pain. No, before today you’ve never known pain. This is pain…” (495-496). This was the first time Ahmad showed such vulnerability. It was the first time that he showed his pain and emotions to a complete stranger. Even more shocking was how, on page 497, he started thinking of how Amina would take the news of Fahmy’s death. Mahfouz writes, “He remembered Amina for the first time and his feet almost failed him. What could he say to her? How would she take the news? She was weak and delicate. She wept at the death of a sparrow” (497) informing the reader of Ahmad’s first realization of how Amina would feel about what had happened. For the first time, Ahmad actually worried about someone other than himself and accepting the responsibility he has as a father and husband.
Naguib Mahfouz’s novel showed the transformation that one person can undergo as a result of specific events. Ahmad’s transition in the book was clear and surprising. It was evident that Ahmad had undergone such a huge change, but it was surprising that he did and in the manner that it happened. Ahmad didn’t seem as superior to the others as he once did and as the novel came to an end, we saw how Ahmad went from caring solely of himself and his image in the eyes of others to worrying about the feelings of others, being able to express his vulnerability to strangers, and finally acknowledging the responsibility he had as a father and husband.
Works Cited
Daniela. "Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/worshipper-blinded-by-love-and-fear_17.html >.
LaurenF. "Ahmad's Priorities." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/passage- >.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991
Talut, Abu. "The Status of Women and Men in Islam II." 28 April 1998. 02 April 2010 < http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/AbuTalut/AbuTalut5.htm >.
At the beginning of the novel, we see Al-Sayyid’s wife, Amina waiting on her husband to arrive after a night out with friends. She weighs on him hand and foot, removing his cloak, loosening his sash, removing his shoes and socks, pouring water for him to wash his face, and just sits around waiting for him to tell her what to do or giving her permission to speak. Mahfouz described Ahmad’s attitude towards this when he wrote, “Her husband spared no effort to safeguard his dignity and authority” (10). This made it apparent that he made it obvious that he was the one who held the authority in the marriage – something that is apparent in Muslim marriages. But, we also see that Ahmad cares more about his appearance outside of the home and puts in as much effort as possible into his outside relationships rather than those that should be most important, being his family’s. According to Talut’s article, this is not the responsibility of a man. Ahmad’s desire to seem perfect and powerful in public isn’t his responsibility, his responsibility is to protect his family and do what is best for them, not him (Talut, II). This strengthens the idea that Ahmad is selfish and careless with the relationship between him and his family.
As the novel progresses, we see Ahmad dismiss the idea of Amina marrying the man she loves clearly because he is afraid of what people may say about the engagement since no man had ever seen his daughters. He was worried about what people would say about this rather than his daughter’s happiness. As Daniela said in her blog, “Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear” Ahmad’s family treats Ahmad as if he were a God. She gives the example of Aisha’s feelings towards Ahmad after she’s told that she cannot marry. It is clear that Aisha is upset, but Aisha couldn’t bring herself to stand up to her father. In Talut’s article, he writes that a man’s responsibility is also to protect and defend a woman and to make his family feel safe and secure (Talut, II). It may seem that Ahmad is protecting his daughter but in reality, he’s simply protecting his image and by putting fear into his family, he is doing something that he shouldn’t do – especially if he expects to create a safe environment for his family.
Later in the book, at the beginning of Chapter 65, we see the beginning of Ahmad’s transformation. Mahfouz shows us how Ahmad reacts when he sees two British soldiers approaching him and describes his reaction by saying, “With a pounding heart and a dry throat, al-Sayid Ahmad watched the soldier approach” (442). This clearly means that Ahmad was scared. Anyone else would be scared by a man in a uniform, fully armed, and physically strong, but if Ahmad was so “God-like” why wouldn’t he be scared? God’s are usually all powerful and nothing frightens them. Seeing how Ahmad could do nothing to communicate with the foreign soldiers and get himself out of the mess made Ahmad look just as inferior as everyone else. He was no longer giving orders to everyone, he was the one taking orders. Mahfouz also shows us how Ahmad begins to care for his family as he thinks about never seeing them again when he writes, “When he [Ahmad] remembered his family, he felt such painful homesickness that tears almost came to his eyes” (445). By doing this, Mahfouz reveals part of Ahmad’s transformation in which he is no longer the “God” he was once portrayed as. He shows Ahmad finally worrying about the future of his family and how their lives will be after he is gone seeing as how he is the one that is responsible for their well being. But, he is now also shown just like any other citizen who has to give in to someone else’s commands and has to endure the possibility of possibly never seeing his loved ones again.
By the end of the book, we are introduced to a completely different Ahmad than we first were at the beginning. The death of his son, Fahmy brought forth a surprising reaction from Ahmad. At the beginning of the novel, we saw Ahmad as a man who cared solely of himself and how he was viewed. As LaurenF wrote in the blog named, “ Ahmad’s Priorities ,” Ahmad didn’t care about his relationship with his family as much as he cared about his relationship with others and his image in the eyes of the public. He did what he wanted and was content with the happiness of others rather than that of his family. But, when Fahmy is killed during a demonstration, we see Ahmad breaks down. We see him finally thinking about how his family, Amina, will take the news. We see his pain on page 495, when he replies to the young man offering his condolences to him by saying, “…Dead! I’ll never see him again at home or anywhere else on the face of the earth? How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone? What has become of all the hopes attached to him? The only hope left is patience…. Patience? Oh…. Do you feel the searing pain? This really is pain. You were mistaken previously when you claimed to be in pain. No, before today you’ve never known pain. This is pain…” (495-496). This was the first time Ahmad showed such vulnerability. It was the first time that he showed his pain and emotions to a complete stranger. Even more shocking was how, on page 497, he started thinking of how Amina would take the news of Fahmy’s death. Mahfouz writes, “He remembered Amina for the first time and his feet almost failed him. What could he say to her? How would she take the news? She was weak and delicate. She wept at the death of a sparrow” (497) informing the reader of Ahmad’s first realization of how Amina would feel about what had happened. For the first time, Ahmad actually worried about someone other than himself and accepting the responsibility he has as a father and husband.
Naguib Mahfouz’s novel showed the transformation that one person can undergo as a result of specific events. Ahmad’s transition in the book was clear and surprising. It was evident that Ahmad had undergone such a huge change, but it was surprising that he did and in the manner that it happened. Ahmad didn’t seem as superior to the others as he once did and as the novel came to an end, we saw how Ahmad went from caring solely of himself and his image in the eyes of others to worrying about the feelings of others, being able to express his vulnerability to strangers, and finally acknowledging the responsibility he had as a father and husband.
Works Cited
Daniela. "Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/worshipper-blinded-by-love-and-fear_17.html >.
LaurenF. "Ahmad's Priorities." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/passage- >.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991
Talut, Abu. "The Status of Women and Men in Islam II." 28 April 1998. 02 April 2010 < http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/AbuTalut/AbuTalut5.htm >.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Not a God, Not so Strong
The final section of Naguib Mahfouz’s, Palace Walk, brought forth a number of surprises, the most obvious being Fahmy’s death and the revelation of Ahmad’s affair with Maryam’s mother. But, one thing stood out to me the most. The way Ahmad didn’t seem as superior to the others as he once did was really surprising to me. As the novel came to an end, we saw how Ahmad, at force, had to obey the British soldiers who held him at gun point and forced him to work. For a man like Ahmad, it seemed like something so degrading.
Throughout the whole book, Ahmad had been described as all powerful and so much better than everyone else. As Daniela said in her blog, “Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear” she writes about how Ahmad’s family treats Ahmad as if he were a God. She gives the example of Aisha’s feelings towards Ahmad after she’s told that she cannot marry. It is clear that Aisha is upset, but Aisha couldn’t bring herself to stand up to her father. This may have been simply because Aisha didn’t want to disrespect her father, something that is written in the Koran as wrong, but why couldn’t she at least say what she wanted to say? At the beginning of Chapter 65, we see how Ahmad is confronted by two soldiers. When Ahmad sees the soldiers coming, Mahfouz describes Ahmad’s reaction by saying, “With a pounding heart and a dry throat, al-Sayid Ahmad watched the soldier approach” (442). This clearly means that Ahmad was scared. Anyone else would be scared by a man in a uniform, fully armed, and physically strong, but if Ahmad was so “God-like” why wouldn’t he be scared? God’s are usually all powerful and nothing frightens them. Seeing how Ahmad could do nothing to communicate with the foreign soldiers and get himself out of the mess made Ahmad look just as inferior as everyone else. He was no longer giving orders to everyone, he was the one taking orders.
Fahmy’s death brought forth a surprising reaction from Ahmad. At the beginning of the novel, we saw Ahmad as a man who cared solely of himself and how he was viewed. As Lauren wrote in the blog named, “Ahmad’s Priorities,” Ahmad didn’t care about his relationship with his family as much as he cared about his relationship with others and his image in the eyes of the public. He did what he wanted and was content with the happiness of others rather than that of his family. But, when Fahmy is killed during a demonstration, we see Ahmad breaks down. We see him finally thinking about how his family, Amina, will take the news. We see his pain on page 495, when he replies to the young man offering his condolences to him by saying,
This was the first time I actually saw Ahmad showing such vulnerability. It was the first time that I saw him show his pain and emotions to a complete stranger. What shocked me even more was how on page 497 he started thinking of how Amina would take the news of Fahmy’s death. Mahfouz writes,
Ahmad’s transition in the book was clear and surprising. It was evident that Ahmad had undergone such a huge change, but it was surprising that he did and in the manner that it happened. Seeing him take orders from someone and not be able to fight for what he wanted allowed readers to remove the perception that Ahmad was god-like. The way Ahmad went from caring solely of himself and his image to others to worrying about the feelings of others and being able to express his vulnerability to strangers was a huge turnaround from the beginning of the novel. But is his transformation legit? Is it a transformation or simply temporary feelings? Could Fahmy’s death have sparked something in Ahmad or will Ahmad go back to being the way he was before?
Works Cited
Daniela. "Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear." 27 February 2010. diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. 22 March 2010 < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/worshipper-blinded-by-love-and-fear_17.html >.
LaurenF. "Ahmad's Priorities." 10 February 2010. diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. 22 March 2010 < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/passage-im-writing-about-is-on-page-10.html >.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Throughout the whole book, Ahmad had been described as all powerful and so much better than everyone else. As Daniela said in her blog, “Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear” she writes about how Ahmad’s family treats Ahmad as if he were a God. She gives the example of Aisha’s feelings towards Ahmad after she’s told that she cannot marry. It is clear that Aisha is upset, but Aisha couldn’t bring herself to stand up to her father. This may have been simply because Aisha didn’t want to disrespect her father, something that is written in the Koran as wrong, but why couldn’t she at least say what she wanted to say? At the beginning of Chapter 65, we see how Ahmad is confronted by two soldiers. When Ahmad sees the soldiers coming, Mahfouz describes Ahmad’s reaction by saying, “With a pounding heart and a dry throat, al-Sayid Ahmad watched the soldier approach” (442). This clearly means that Ahmad was scared. Anyone else would be scared by a man in a uniform, fully armed, and physically strong, but if Ahmad was so “God-like” why wouldn’t he be scared? God’s are usually all powerful and nothing frightens them. Seeing how Ahmad could do nothing to communicate with the foreign soldiers and get himself out of the mess made Ahmad look just as inferior as everyone else. He was no longer giving orders to everyone, he was the one taking orders.
Fahmy’s death brought forth a surprising reaction from Ahmad. At the beginning of the novel, we saw Ahmad as a man who cared solely of himself and how he was viewed. As Lauren wrote in the blog named, “Ahmad’s Priorities,” Ahmad didn’t care about his relationship with his family as much as he cared about his relationship with others and his image in the eyes of the public. He did what he wanted and was content with the happiness of others rather than that of his family. But, when Fahmy is killed during a demonstration, we see Ahmad breaks down. We see him finally thinking about how his family, Amina, will take the news. We see his pain on page 495, when he replies to the young man offering his condolences to him by saying,
“…Dead! I’ll never see him again at home or anywhere else on
the face of the earth? How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father
if he’s gone? What has become of all the hopes attached to him? The only hope
left is patience…. Patience? Oh…. Do you feel the searing pain? This really is
pain. You were mistaken previously when you claimed to be in pain. No, before
today you’ve never known pain. This is pain…” (495-496).
This was the first time I actually saw Ahmad showing such vulnerability. It was the first time that I saw him show his pain and emotions to a complete stranger. What shocked me even more was how on page 497 he started thinking of how Amina would take the news of Fahmy’s death. Mahfouz writes,
“He remembered Amina for the first time and his feet almost failed him. Whatinforming the reader of Ahmad’s first realization of how Amina would feel about what had happened. For the first time, I saw Ahmad worrying about someone other than himself.
could he say to her? How would she take the news? She was weak and delicate. She
wept at the death of a sparrow” (497)
Ahmad’s transition in the book was clear and surprising. It was evident that Ahmad had undergone such a huge change, but it was surprising that he did and in the manner that it happened. Seeing him take orders from someone and not be able to fight for what he wanted allowed readers to remove the perception that Ahmad was god-like. The way Ahmad went from caring solely of himself and his image to others to worrying about the feelings of others and being able to express his vulnerability to strangers was a huge turnaround from the beginning of the novel. But is his transformation legit? Is it a transformation or simply temporary feelings? Could Fahmy’s death have sparked something in Ahmad or will Ahmad go back to being the way he was before?
Works Cited
Daniela. "Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear." 27 February 2010. diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. 22 March 2010 < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/worshipper-blinded-by-love-and-fear_17.html >.
LaurenF. "Ahmad's Priorities." 10 February 2010. diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. 22 March 2010 < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/passage-im-writing-about-is-on-page-10.html >.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Hiding Behind The Wall
Throughout the book, Mahfouz portrays Ahmad as a tyrant that unleashes his anger with his family every chance he gets and a sinner who cheats on his wife, drinks, and lives in hypocrisy. He loves women, but not necessarily the women of his house; he loves people, but we don’t get a sense of his love for his family. Ahmad seems to be an evil father who doesn’t love his children. But when Ms. Shawkat offers Ahmad a marriage proposal between her son and Aisha, we come to see the pain he feel for not being able to marry Khadija, the oldest daughter before marrying Aisha, the youngest. We finally can clearly see that he loves his daughters so much that it hurts him to no be able to make them both happy. We get a sense of his love when the author says:
During one of our class discussions, we questioned if Ahmad loved his children. Many of us quickly responded that he didn’t. We used the way he treats Kamal as an example of why we thought he didn’t love his children. But don’t parent sometimes scream at their children when they are upset. Sometimes they say things they don’t mean. I’m not saying this is the exact case of Ahmad but that just because a parent acts rough with his children doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love them. As Aby mentioned when we had this discussion, parents impose discipline on their children because the love them and not because they want to hurt them. I didn’t see Ahmad behavior this way until the author tells us that “sorrow was going to scorch his flesh and blood in a way that could spoil his whole life, making it seem ugly to him. How happy it would make him to spare no expense to delight both his daughters…Each of them was vital to him” (229). Here we see that seeing his children hurting hurt him because he loves them. He didn’t allow Aisha to marry the officer because she loved her older daughter so much and didn’t want to disappoint her and not because he didn’t love Aisha. When Ms. Shawkat proposes the marriage, he accepts because he can’t say no to her and because he doesn’t want to stand on the way of her Aisha’s destiny. He’s happy to marry her because he knows she will be happy, but it pains him to know her other daughter will suffer. Only a father who truly loves his daughters will be torn the way Ahmad appears to be when he can’t make both of his daughters happy.
I think that it’s important to examine this quote and re-analyze our opinion about Ahmad and everything he does to get the true meaning of him as character. So after doing some further examination of the quotes, what do you think about Ahmad? Have your opinions change about Ahmad or do they remain the same?
He was distressed and dejected. He had a sensitive heart, more sensitive than most people have suspected. In fact, it was too sensitive. How could anyone believe that who had only seen him grinning, bellowing, or laughing sarcastically? ...Sorrow was going to scorch his flesh and blood in a way that could spoil his whole life, making it seem ugly to him. How happy it would make him to spare no expense to delight both his daughters…Each of them was vital to him. (229)This quotes discloses a different Ahmad. From all the other accounts in the book I could never imagine that he “had a sensitive heart…In fact, it was too sensitive” (229). As I read this I started to think about the way he was toward his family in a different way. Maybe because he was too sensitive, he acted so rough with them to protect himself from being hurt by them. The anger, strictness, and sternness with the family is simply a shield to prevent the family from seeing his sensitivity. I can see now and in a way excuse Ahmad for some of his behavior. After all, I feel that many people aren’t so different from him. Many of us at some point in our lives have acted rough or even evil with people to protect ourselves; we’ve built walls to stop others from seen who we really are. Men specially are often taught to behave this way. An article form the Boston Globe says that “men are often raised to hide emotions, except for anger,” which could be another explanation of Ahmad’s behavior. So why should we judge Ahmad as rough as we have in almost every one of our class discussions?
Through this quote for the first time in the entire book, the author shows clearly that despite being extremely strict with them, Ahmad does love his daughters. Here we see Ahmad in a way that we hadn’t seen him before; we see him as a loving father, as a human being. The exposure of this side of him, made me change my point of view regarding Ahmad.
During one of our class discussions, we questioned if Ahmad loved his children. Many of us quickly responded that he didn’t. We used the way he treats Kamal as an example of why we thought he didn’t love his children. But don’t parent sometimes scream at their children when they are upset. Sometimes they say things they don’t mean. I’m not saying this is the exact case of Ahmad but that just because a parent acts rough with his children doesn’t mean that he doesn’t love them. As Aby mentioned when we had this discussion, parents impose discipline on their children because the love them and not because they want to hurt them. I didn’t see Ahmad behavior this way until the author tells us that “sorrow was going to scorch his flesh and blood in a way that could spoil his whole life, making it seem ugly to him. How happy it would make him to spare no expense to delight both his daughters…Each of them was vital to him” (229). Here we see that seeing his children hurting hurt him because he loves them. He didn’t allow Aisha to marry the officer because she loved her older daughter so much and didn’t want to disappoint her and not because he didn’t love Aisha. When Ms. Shawkat proposes the marriage, he accepts because he can’t say no to her and because he doesn’t want to stand on the way of her Aisha’s destiny. He’s happy to marry her because he knows she will be happy, but it pains him to know her other daughter will suffer. Only a father who truly loves his daughters will be torn the way Ahmad appears to be when he can’t make both of his daughters happy.
I think that it’s important to examine this quote and re-analyze our opinion about Ahmad and everything he does to get the true meaning of him as character. So after doing some further examination of the quotes, what do you think about Ahmad? Have your opinions change about Ahmad or do they remain the same?
Sources
Osborne, Helen. “Talking health to men.” 2009. The Boston Globe. February 23, 2010.<http://www.boston.com/jobs/healthcare/oncall/articles/2009/04/08/in_other_words/?page=2>
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