Naguib Mahfouz shows the audience how much care Ahmad has for his children when on page 12 he writes " making no distinction between the eldest and the youngest". This small paragraph stood out to me because it gives the audience a perspective of how Ahmad views his children. This section prepares the audience for the one meal when the males all eat together: breakfast. The reading gives a warning to what is about to occur in the book. It gives us, the audience, a sense of what level of importance Ahmad gives to his children.
Susan, this is the blog that I previously had technical difficulties with it. I sent it to you through chinquapin mail on September 14.
Showing posts with label Ahmad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ahmad. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
The fall of a curtain...
Yasins' life was changed from this moment,
Sitting next to her was her father, not someone else. When he saw him, his heart pounded harder. His father had removed his cloak and rolled up his sleeves. He was shaking the tambourine and gazing at the performer with a face brimming joy with joy and happiness. The door was open only so long as Zanuba was in the room, one or two minutes, but during that time he witnessed an amazing sight: a secret life, a long story with many ramifications. He awoke like a person emerging a long dream, deep sleep to the convulsions of a violent earthquake. (P. 249)
This part of the paragraph is extremely powerful where Mahfouz conveys the importance of having Yasin see his fathers' other life. Yasin has never seen his father drinking, singing, playing instruments, or even being relaxed in anyway. Yasin's heart pounds hard when he sees that his father is sitting next to a woman and not only that he is the complete stranger to him. Mahfouz not only lets Yasin in on Ahmad secret it seems that he is letting the reader have a look over Yasin's shoulder. Mahfouz uses the methapor of the earthquake to show this revelation to Yasin, "He awoke like a person from a long dream, deep sleep to the convulsions of a violent earthquake (249)" A dormant earthquake erupts without mercy when the time comes and nothing in the world can ever be hidden forever. Yasin was amazed at the sight he saw of the father he never really knew. So many things ran through Yasin's mind and he probably wanted to know about this made who smiled with such happiness.
Sitting next to her was her father, not someone else. When he saw him, his heart pounded harder. His father had removed his cloak and rolled up his sleeves. He was shaking the tambourine and gazing at the performer with a face brimming joy with joy and happiness. The door was open only so long as Zanuba was in the room, one or two minutes, but during that time he witnessed an amazing sight: a secret life, a long story with many ramifications. He awoke like a person emerging a long dream, deep sleep to the convulsions of a violent earthquake. (P. 249)
This part of the paragraph is extremely powerful where Mahfouz conveys the importance of having Yasin see his fathers' other life. Yasin has never seen his father drinking, singing, playing instruments, or even being relaxed in anyway. Yasin's heart pounds hard when he sees that his father is sitting next to a woman and not only that he is the complete stranger to him. Mahfouz not only lets Yasin in on Ahmad secret it seems that he is letting the reader have a look over Yasin's shoulder. Mahfouz uses the methapor of the earthquake to show this revelation to Yasin, "He awoke like a person from a long dream, deep sleep to the convulsions of a violent earthquake (249)" A dormant earthquake erupts without mercy when the time comes and nothing in the world can ever be hidden forever. Yasin was amazed at the sight he saw of the father he never really knew. So many things ran through Yasin's mind and he probably wanted to know about this made who smiled with such happiness.
Friday, September 24, 2010
I Caught You Red-Handed
"Trembling with rage, al-Sayyid Ahmad began to examine Yasin's face grimly and silently, dragging out the silence. Without taking his pitiless eys off Yasin, he pointed with his han to the door, ordering him inside. Although at that moment disappearing would have been dearer to yasin than even life itself, he was paralyzed by fear and confusion. The father was outraged, and his scowl showed he was about to explode.... He rebuked him loudly,'Go upstairs you criminal...'"- Page 279
In this passage, Mahfouz uses pathos rethoric to illustrate both Ahmad's strong reply to Yasin's madness for trying to rape the house servant and Yasin's reaction to a horribe nightmare.
Mahfouz's most used method in this section is body movement. From "trembling" to "paralyzed", Mahfouz does a wonderful job in using body movement in his writing to set up the tone and mood of the scene. He shows Ahmad's anger simply by the way he stares at Yasin's. Yasin, on the other hand, shows fear through silence. That is something I found very peculiar in this scence- There is a lot of silence going on. In fact, there are only two shorts sentences of dialog. Mahfouz does this because he wants to emphasize the importance of silence in this scene. Not only does it contribute to the gloomy mood, but it shows the huge respect and fear that Yasin has for his father's mere presence.
Looking at the entire chapter, Yasin committed a deadly mistake. Obviously. But that's not the whole point of the passage. Mahfouz wants to convey to the readers how body language solely does the trick in a Muslim patriarchy. What does it signify? Fear. Respect. Authority. Power.
Afterwards, Ahmad can't hold back his tounge and uses very, very strong langauge. Calling your son a "criminal" isn't something a father does often. Mafhouz wants to show how Ahmad takes into account that Yasin defiles the family name. He probably wouldn't care less if Yasin wasn't his son, but since he is has a big problem in his hands. As soon as the word gets out, Ahmad is going to be looked upon. This is a big influence in his tantrum.
I also found it a bit ironic. Ahmad does this all the time, except it isn't rape. A clear sign of hypocrisy.
In this passage, Mahfouz uses pathos rethoric to illustrate both Ahmad's strong reply to Yasin's madness for trying to rape the house servant and Yasin's reaction to a horribe nightmare.
Mahfouz's most used method in this section is body movement. From "trembling" to "paralyzed", Mahfouz does a wonderful job in using body movement in his writing to set up the tone and mood of the scene. He shows Ahmad's anger simply by the way he stares at Yasin's. Yasin, on the other hand, shows fear through silence. That is something I found very peculiar in this scence- There is a lot of silence going on. In fact, there are only two shorts sentences of dialog. Mahfouz does this because he wants to emphasize the importance of silence in this scene. Not only does it contribute to the gloomy mood, but it shows the huge respect and fear that Yasin has for his father's mere presence.
Looking at the entire chapter, Yasin committed a deadly mistake. Obviously. But that's not the whole point of the passage. Mahfouz wants to convey to the readers how body language solely does the trick in a Muslim patriarchy. What does it signify? Fear. Respect. Authority. Power.
Afterwards, Ahmad can't hold back his tounge and uses very, very strong langauge. Calling your son a "criminal" isn't something a father does often. Mafhouz wants to show how Ahmad takes into account that Yasin defiles the family name. He probably wouldn't care less if Yasin wasn't his son, but since he is has a big problem in his hands. As soon as the word gets out, Ahmad is going to be looked upon. This is a big influence in his tantrum.
I also found it a bit ironic. Ahmad does this all the time, except it isn't rape. A clear sign of hypocrisy.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Ahmad the Confident
Chapter fifteen begins with Ahmad closing his store and heading out into the rest of the world. In the previous chapter, Ahmad was in his store, now, Mahfouz transitions to another seen with this first paragraph. The beginning of this chapter also helps to illustrate Ahmad's confidence. Chapter fifteen is the chapter in which Ahmad pays Zubayda a visit, and this second paragraph gives insight into how Ahmad might be used to doing these kinds of things with many women. Ahmad has a confidence that can only come with experience. To supply evidence of this I can quote "...demonstrating he was accustomed to situations like this and certain the results would be to his liking" (92).
The placement of this brief passage here is important because it sheds more light on Ahmad's true character and it serves as a mean for Mahfouz to continue his story.
The placement of this brief passage here is important because it sheds more light on Ahmad's true character and it serves as a mean for Mahfouz to continue his story.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Strength
Throughout Naguib Mahfouz's Palace Walk, both the men and the women in the novel display a certain type of strength. With the men, this is displayed by taking on the roll of a superior. With the women, it is a sense of fulfilling one's duty to their husband. When it comes to the protests in which the Egyptians hold in order to rid themselves of British rule, Fahmy is the first to display a different type of strength: the will to fight for what he believes in. Fahmy is a character that we first see as calm and tolerant, but as the novel comes to an end, we can see that he becomes somewhat of a hero, especially to his father Ahmad (which is shocking because Ahmad is a character who holds the largest superior attitude out of all the men). To him, superiority matters not; it is not what he considers a strength. Fahmy chooses instead to be heroic in standing for what he believes in and trying to free his country of the suppression of British rule. This is what sets Fahmy apart from his father, Ahmad.
When Ahmad is returning home from a night’s entertainment, he is stopped by a British soldier. This is the first time we see Ahmad submit to someone else’s orders rather than give them. “... [The soldier] seized him by the shoulder, forcibly turned him around, and shoved him in the back. Al-Sayyidd Ahmad found himself moving toward Palace Walk with the other man behind him. He surrendered to his fate, but his joints felt like rubber” (443). This is the first time Ahmad displays a sign of weakness. We are not used to seeing Ahmad in a vulnerable position. There is a point in during his walk where he wishes that he could communicate or even understand what his British captor was saying. He thought:
“Where was Fahmy to interpret for him? He was stung by painful
homesickness. Where were Fahmy, Yasin, Kamal, Khadija, Aisha,
and their mother? Could him family imagine his disgraceful state?
Their only image of him was one of venerable and exalted power.
Would they be able to imagine that a soldier had shoved him in the
back almost hard enough to make him fall on the ground and herded
him along like livestock?” (445).
Ahmad is in an uncompromising position and feels weak; it is the first time he will admit that one of his sons would be able to handle a situation better than he.
For the fist time, Fahmy is exercising his strength to go against his father’s will. This is not only a rebellious display against his father, but more of a commitment to his principals. He takes part in the protests although his father forbids it and gains a sense of patriotism and self worth from it. “He had not defied his father verbally but had acted against his will and had done so repeatedly. Moreover, he had refused to swear an oath the day his father had asked him to, announcing with his tears that he would stick to his principles despite his father’s wishes” (484). Fahmy even goes as far as to ask for his father’s approval to participate in the protests. Although Ahmad is still resistant, Fahmy decides to go along anyway. The fact that Fahmy had the courage and strength to put his life at risk and go against his father’s will was very brave and heroic of him. Throughout the novel we have seen that Ahmad’s relationship with Fahmy was one of the strongest and for Fahmy to risk that, and in this culture, is a very powerful thing.
When Ahmad finds out that Fahmy was killed in one of the protests he feels a pang of guilt and sadness. “...he would scrutinize Fahmy’s life in the prime of his youth, the hopes he had aroused and the memories he had left behind, giving free rein to tears so he could totally exhaust them” (497). Ahmad is worn down and realizes that his son died doing something brave for his country. This is the turning point for Ahmad; it is sad though, that it finally stuck at the expense of his son’s life. By the end of the Palace Walk we have seen the characters develop into something greater. Fahmy, a submissive son, finally stands for what he believes is right. Ahmad, a strict and egotistical father, realizes that being harsh and following the rules is not the way to earn respect and it is certainly does not compare to the strength that his son showed.
Work Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. Toronto: First American Edition, 1991. Print.
When Ahmad is returning home from a night’s entertainment, he is stopped by a British soldier. This is the first time we see Ahmad submit to someone else’s orders rather than give them. “... [The soldier] seized him by the shoulder, forcibly turned him around, and shoved him in the back. Al-Sayyidd Ahmad found himself moving toward Palace Walk with the other man behind him. He surrendered to his fate, but his joints felt like rubber” (443). This is the first time Ahmad displays a sign of weakness. We are not used to seeing Ahmad in a vulnerable position. There is a point in during his walk where he wishes that he could communicate or even understand what his British captor was saying. He thought:
“Where was Fahmy to interpret for him? He was stung by painful
homesickness. Where were Fahmy, Yasin, Kamal, Khadija, Aisha,
and their mother? Could him family imagine his disgraceful state?
Their only image of him was one of venerable and exalted power.
Would they be able to imagine that a soldier had shoved him in the
back almost hard enough to make him fall on the ground and herded
him along like livestock?” (445).
Ahmad is in an uncompromising position and feels weak; it is the first time he will admit that one of his sons would be able to handle a situation better than he.
For the fist time, Fahmy is exercising his strength to go against his father’s will. This is not only a rebellious display against his father, but more of a commitment to his principals. He takes part in the protests although his father forbids it and gains a sense of patriotism and self worth from it. “He had not defied his father verbally but had acted against his will and had done so repeatedly. Moreover, he had refused to swear an oath the day his father had asked him to, announcing with his tears that he would stick to his principles despite his father’s wishes” (484). Fahmy even goes as far as to ask for his father’s approval to participate in the protests. Although Ahmad is still resistant, Fahmy decides to go along anyway. The fact that Fahmy had the courage and strength to put his life at risk and go against his father’s will was very brave and heroic of him. Throughout the novel we have seen that Ahmad’s relationship with Fahmy was one of the strongest and for Fahmy to risk that, and in this culture, is a very powerful thing.
When Ahmad finds out that Fahmy was killed in one of the protests he feels a pang of guilt and sadness. “...he would scrutinize Fahmy’s life in the prime of his youth, the hopes he had aroused and the memories he had left behind, giving free rein to tears so he could totally exhaust them” (497). Ahmad is worn down and realizes that his son died doing something brave for his country. This is the turning point for Ahmad; it is sad though, that it finally stuck at the expense of his son’s life. By the end of the Palace Walk we have seen the characters develop into something greater. Fahmy, a submissive son, finally stands for what he believes is right. Ahmad, a strict and egotistical father, realizes that being harsh and following the rules is not the way to earn respect and it is certainly does not compare to the strength that his son showed.
Work Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. Toronto: First American Edition, 1991. Print.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Ahmad's Achilles Heel
Omnipotent. This is how Naguib Mahfouz presents al-Sayyid Ahmad in the beginning of his novel Palace Walk. Ahmad is the father of five, Yasin, Khadija, Aisha, Fhamy, and Kamal, and the husband of Amina. In his household, like in most Islamic households, he was king and whatever he said went. What was different in his house was that he didn’t follow any rules, not even the rules in the Koran. He would stay out partying and drinking until really late, and possibly having extramarital relationships with other women, which are both unacceptable in the Muslim world. His family wasn’t really comfortable with his behavior but they couldn’t say anything because if they did, Ahmad could have gone berserk, and nobody wanted that, so they just put up with it. At one point his oldest, Yasin, begins to follow in Ahmad’s footsteps. He becomes a man crazy about women and Ahmad doesn’t think much of it. And as the rest of his children grew, Ahmad began to lose his omnipotence.
When a child becomes a teenager, takes school more seriously, and makes more friends, he develops his own ideas and becomes interdependent. He still needs his parents for economic and emotional support, but he no longer needs them for decision-making, at least that’s what he thinks. We’ve all gone through it. Ahmad had five, and they would all go through it. When asked what the worst part of being a parent is, McKennasmom03 answered, “…When [your kids] are hurt or sick and there isn't a thing you can do. Watching them go off to Kindergarten... Watching them take the keys to the car and drive off. Watching them leave home when they [have] ‘grown’. (McKennasmom03)” Ahmad would have to see his five children leave one day, and he did. Once his two daughters were married, Ahmad was left with only boys and his little girls didn’t need him any longer. But before they left him, Ahmad showed some weakness. When the possibility of his youngest daughter, Aisha, getting married before her older sister, Khadija, came up, Ahmad became concerned with the possibility of Khadija getting depressed because her younger sister married before her. Mahfouz says,
Ahmad's kindness is exposed and a small window into his sensitivity is opened.
Daniela mentions this in her blog, Hiding Behind the Wall. The way to get to his weak side is through his children, and this isn't the only example of this in the novel.
The next time that we see Ahmad's sensitivity, it is in a much more extreme manner. It isn't about hurting one of his children, it is about one of his hurting, or no longer hurting, children.“The young man said with obvious sorrow, 'We are sad to inform you of the death of our brother freedom fighter Fahmy Ahmad'… (495)” Ahmad goes crazy. If seeing your children leave once they're grown up hurts, imagine how much knowing that you will never get to see your child again hurts. But he doesn't only show his sensitivity by going crazy and crying because his son died, but he also worries about Amina's feelings. As Tianna puts it in her blog Death in the End, “He does not know how to break the news to his wife.” How would she react to finding out that her son had died. He had never really seemed to care about what Amina felt or thought, but this time it was different, very different. Her feelings were one of his main preoccupations. He couldn't believe that his son had died. He always thought that Fahmy was a nice kid that never went to any rallies or things of that matter. In actuality, Fahmy was constantly attending rallies. But this was unknown to Ahmad, and even if he did know, the loss of his son would still hurt.
By the end of the novel, Mahfouz has taken us through Ahmad's transformation from an “omnipotent” tyrant, to a sensitive person similar to everyone else. By the end of the novel we discover that Ahmad's Achilles heel is his children.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
McKennasmom03. "What Do You Think the Worst Part of Being a Parent Is? - CafeMom." CafeMom - Moms Connecting About Pregnancy, Babies, Home, Health, and More. 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2010..
Bruno, Tianna M. "Death in the End." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 26 May 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2010..
Barajas, Guadalupe D. “Hiding Behind The Wall.” Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2010..
When a child becomes a teenager, takes school more seriously, and makes more friends, he develops his own ideas and becomes interdependent. He still needs his parents for economic and emotional support, but he no longer needs them for decision-making, at least that’s what he thinks. We’ve all gone through it. Ahmad had five, and they would all go through it. When asked what the worst part of being a parent is, McKennasmom03 answered, “…When [your kids] are hurt or sick and there isn't a thing you can do. Watching them go off to Kindergarten... Watching them take the keys to the car and drive off. Watching them leave home when they [have] ‘grown’. (McKennasmom03)” Ahmad would have to see his five children leave one day, and he did. Once his two daughters were married, Ahmad was left with only boys and his little girls didn’t need him any longer. But before they left him, Ahmad showed some weakness. When the possibility of his youngest daughter, Aisha, getting married before her older sister, Khadija, came up, Ahmad became concerned with the possibility of Khadija getting depressed because her younger sister married before her. Mahfouz says,
When he could at last sit down again, he was breathing heavily. He was distressed and dejected. He had a sensitive heart, more sensitive than most people would 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... Each of [his daughters] was a vital part of him (Mahfouz, 229).
Ahmad's kindness is exposed and a small window into his sensitivity is opened.
Daniela mentions this in her blog, Hiding Behind the Wall. The way to get to his weak side is through his children, and this isn't the only example of this in the novel.
The next time that we see Ahmad's sensitivity, it is in a much more extreme manner. It isn't about hurting one of his children, it is about one of his hurting, or no longer hurting, children.“The young man said with obvious sorrow, 'We are sad to inform you of the death of our brother freedom fighter Fahmy Ahmad'… (495)” Ahmad goes crazy. If seeing your children leave once they're grown up hurts, imagine how much knowing that you will never get to see your child again hurts. But he doesn't only show his sensitivity by going crazy and crying because his son died, but he also worries about Amina's feelings. As Tianna puts it in her blog Death in the End, “He does not know how to break the news to his wife.” How would she react to finding out that her son had died. He had never really seemed to care about what Amina felt or thought, but this time it was different, very different. Her feelings were one of his main preoccupations. He couldn't believe that his son had died. He always thought that Fahmy was a nice kid that never went to any rallies or things of that matter. In actuality, Fahmy was constantly attending rallies. But this was unknown to Ahmad, and even if he did know, the loss of his son would still hurt.
By the end of the novel, Mahfouz has taken us through Ahmad's transformation from an “omnipotent” tyrant, to a sensitive person similar to everyone else. By the end of the novel we discover that Ahmad's Achilles heel is his children.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
McKennasmom03. "What Do You Think the Worst Part of Being a Parent Is? - CafeMom." CafeMom - Moms Connecting About Pregnancy, Babies, Home, Health, and More. 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2010.
Bruno, Tianna M. "Death in the End." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 26 May 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2010.
Barajas, Guadalupe D. “Hiding Behind The Wall.” Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 9 Apr. 2010.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Love and Marriage
Naguib Mahfouz is able to give the reader a taste of the fear that Amina feels in chapter twenty-nine of Palace Walk, after the accident (her being hit by a car) has taken place. Since the novel is written in third person, we are given a description of the fear that everyone in the house feels when the question of how they will confront Ahmad is brought about. To her surprise, however, Ahmad did not resort to anger, as predicted. Instead he told her to “‘Stay in bed till God heals you’” (184). When he leaves the room, Mahfouz describes Aisha’s reaction. “Her pale face blushed when she remembered the affection he had showered on her when she had been expecting nothing but his overwhelming anger that would blow her and her future away. Yes, she felt both pride and embarrassment when she started to talk about their father’s sympathy for her in her time of need and how he had forgotten his anger because of the affection and pity that had seized hold of him” (185). “Pride” and “embarrassment” are words that do not go hand in hand. Amina seems to be lying to herself about Ahmad’s affection for her. It is as if she wishes that it were really affection that Ahmad felt instead of an obligation to their marriage.
As I have mentioned in my previous response “Love, Lust, and Custom,” in Islamic culture, marriage is something that everyone must do. Love does not necessarily play a role in every marriage. With Amina and Ahmad's marriage, as Westerners, we find ourselves scrutinizing their marriage and declaring that there is no love involved. Perhaps this is true; maybe Amina is attempting to find love in the littlest things. As human beings, we strive for love, especially women. But who are we to judge or define love? In Islamic culture, I have noticed that marriage is love. We believe that love comes before marriage, and sometimes this holds true for Islamic culture as well, but usually marriage comes first in Islamic culture and the two newlyweds must learn to love one another because divorce is frowned down upon.
In the case of Amina and Ahmad, Amina feels that Ahmad must feel some kind of affection toward her since he did not get angry at her venture outside. But there is also a feeling lingering in her private thoughts that this may not be enough. “Privately she might have wished he would complete his kind treatment of her by renouncing his night out, as was appropriate for a husband whose wife had suffered what she had. Since she knew his temperament well, though, she fabricated an excuse for him ... She would justify his departure with the excuse she had already invented...” (188). It is clear that Amina wishes for Ahmad to be more caring about her fragile situation, but in the end she gives in and accepts that she will receive no more affection from him.
In the article,“Marriage in Islam,” there is a section that discusses love and how it is viewed in Islamic culture. Love is something that does not last, it is a feeling that can end; whereas marriage is a commitment that is necessary in Islamic society. “Love blinds people to potential problems in the relationship. Arranged marriages on the other hand, are based not on physical attraction or romantic notions but rather on critical evaluation of the compatibility of the couple. This is why they often prove successful.” This article makes a valid point: successful marriages are successful only if those married are compatible. Love waivers, but if two people meet each others needs, then there would be no reason for them to part. It is somewhat of a convenience factor. So although Amina desires to be loved, this is not necessarily the case in her marriage. When Ahmad summons her to return home after dismissing her, it is not he who comes to get her from her mother's house, but her sons. The reason for summoning her must have had to do with the fact that he needs her in his life, not for love, but to carry out her duties as his wife; he needs her for the convenience.
Works Cited
1.Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
2."Marriage in Islam." Jannah.Org :: Islam the Eternal Path to Peace. Web. 20 Mar. 2010..
As I have mentioned in my previous response “Love, Lust, and Custom,” in Islamic culture, marriage is something that everyone must do. Love does not necessarily play a role in every marriage. With Amina and Ahmad's marriage, as Westerners, we find ourselves scrutinizing their marriage and declaring that there is no love involved. Perhaps this is true; maybe Amina is attempting to find love in the littlest things. As human beings, we strive for love, especially women. But who are we to judge or define love? In Islamic culture, I have noticed that marriage is love. We believe that love comes before marriage, and sometimes this holds true for Islamic culture as well, but usually marriage comes first in Islamic culture and the two newlyweds must learn to love one another because divorce is frowned down upon.
In the case of Amina and Ahmad, Amina feels that Ahmad must feel some kind of affection toward her since he did not get angry at her venture outside. But there is also a feeling lingering in her private thoughts that this may not be enough. “Privately she might have wished he would complete his kind treatment of her by renouncing his night out, as was appropriate for a husband whose wife had suffered what she had. Since she knew his temperament well, though, she fabricated an excuse for him ... She would justify his departure with the excuse she had already invented...” (188). It is clear that Amina wishes for Ahmad to be more caring about her fragile situation, but in the end she gives in and accepts that she will receive no more affection from him.
In the article,“Marriage in Islam,” there is a section that discusses love and how it is viewed in Islamic culture. Love is something that does not last, it is a feeling that can end; whereas marriage is a commitment that is necessary in Islamic society. “Love blinds people to potential problems in the relationship. Arranged marriages on the other hand, are based not on physical attraction or romantic notions but rather on critical evaluation of the compatibility of the couple. This is why they often prove successful.” This article makes a valid point: successful marriages are successful only if those married are compatible. Love waivers, but if two people meet each others needs, then there would be no reason for them to part. It is somewhat of a convenience factor. So although Amina desires to be loved, this is not necessarily the case in her marriage. When Ahmad summons her to return home after dismissing her, it is not he who comes to get her from her mother's house, but her sons. The reason for summoning her must have had to do with the fact that he needs her in his life, not for love, but to carry out her duties as his wife; he needs her for the convenience.
Works Cited
1.Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
2."Marriage in Islam." Jannah.Org :: Islam the Eternal Path to Peace. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
He's Just Insecure
From the start of Palace Walk, a novel by the late Naguib Mahfouz, Ahmad Abd al-Jawad unconsciously makes himself noticed. From the beginning we see that he portrays himself as a strong confident man when in reality he is as insecure as a seventeen-year-old girl with acne. Ahmad does not handle some of the most important decisions that he faces in the novel in the best way possible. His search for security and confidence in his life causes a lot of suffering and discomfort in his family.
Amina, Ahmad’s wife, has always been one of the few people to love Ahmad and to respect his wishes unconditionally. Early on the their marriage Ahmad always made his wishes be the ones that had to be served. Amina, confronts Ahmad for going out and partying with his friends into late hours of the night and Ahmad reacts in the most horrific way. Amina had only wanted to venture a polite objection to the lifestyle that Ahmad was living. “I am a man. I’m the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior. All I ask of you is to obey me. Don’t force me to discipline you” (4). This is a great example of how insecure Ahmad is towards his manhood and his ability to take care of his family. He has to go out with his friends and be with women to satisfy his needs of being a man. He uses sexuality to secure himself of his manhood. He is so insecure that he cant even accept that his wife is right, and that the lifestyle that he is living is one no true man lives. According to Dr. Albert Mohler, “Manhood is demonstrated in a man's fulfillment of responsibility and leadership” (Mohler). Ahmad should not have to prove that he is a man because he goes out with his friends and has sexual relations with women. He should take a look at his insecurities and see that he has to be a better father and husband. That itself will prove that he is an honorable man that cares for his family. Doctor Mohler also explains in his article that, “men have to aspire to be the kind of man women would want to marry and children will trust and respect and obey” (Mohler). Ahmad instead of being honored as a father and respected acts like a tyrant and makes his children respect him out of fear instead out of their own will. The whole household transforms just to make Ahmad happy. Like Johnathan Vela said in his blog, “Ahmad disapproves with lying and catches a temper rage when he finds out somebody is lying, but then he turns around and lies.” I couldn’t agree more, when Ahmad does all of this he causes for the household to be disrupted and things to fall apart more than they would in the first place. By him trying to cover his insecurities as a man, he has lost the true essence of fatherhood. He is not giving his children good advice or love, he is making them fear him in order for that to back up his ego.
To come back to Amina, his lovely wife, who has always been submissive to his will and desires. Towards the middle of the novel while Ahmad is away attending other business, she encounters a decision and she goes out of the house to go visit al-Husayn’s shrine. She accidentally gets run over by a car, which caused a fracture that would take three weeks to heal. At first Ahmad realizes that his wife is hurt and being mad at her won’t help her recuperate. After the narrator describes that Ahmad started to really analyze what had happened and realized that if he didn’t take matters into account he would “loose control of his family, and the bonds holding it together would dissolve” (194). This shows how Ahmad is so weak and insecure that he can’t even forgive his wife for the mistake that she made. It seems Ahmad feels he will become weak if he forgives Amina, but instead he will only be seen as a merciful husband who is willing to forgive his poor wife. Instead Mahfouz makes us see the true side of most men in Egypt at the time and makes him say, “I don’t want to find you here when I come back this noon” (195). Such harsh words he is telling the best wife we have seen in this whole book. Amina is an amazing woman who is essentially the glue that the family needs to stay together. Ahmad is acting like the Goo Gone and taking the glue apart. She is the go to person and his caretaker. She is that perfect woman behind her husband and he is loosing her on pride. Ahmad should instead take this small incident to see that his methods of caring for his family aren’t working out right. Instead of trying to be a tyrant he should be a real father and make his children and wife respect him and do his wishes because it’s the best things they can do. Daniela Barajas made a very precise observations when she said, “The anger, strictness, and sternness with the family is simply a shield to prevent the family from seeing his sensitivity.” He is so insecure to let his family know that he is sensitive that he will not stop at anything to make himself seem as manly and mean as possible. I am not saying that Ahmad isn’t a man because he makes himself be respected, he just wants to be respected for the wrong reasons. He should open his heart and see that being respected for being an honest No on the other hand like Dr. Mohler said, “To be a man is to make decisions.” But the thing is that Ahmad doesn’t make stable decisions his indecisiveness is what keeps him from being more insecure and a stronger father figure. Ahmad’s attempt into making it seem like he didn’t need Amina ended up causing more trouble. Almost all of his children thought he was wrong by doing so, and didn’t agree with the decision he had made. Now, if he wasn’t so worried about what people would think of him he would see that his insecurities are caused by the desire to be a tyrant. He should just be a father who acknowledges that he makes mistakes and that mistakes are things needed in life to make people stronger. If he wasn’t such a tyrant he would more approachable.
Speaking of mistakes Yasin, Ahmad’s eldest son, has married and the father of his current wife has no desire of them being together anymore. Iffat wants something better for his daughter and believes that their marriage needs to be over. Ahmad becomes irritated and furious at his son and confronts him for what he had done. Ahmad tells him, “You have disappointed my hopes in you so much that only God and his blessings can ever repay me.” Ahmad has no sense of self-judgment and it seems like he continues to ignore his own actions when he talks to his son, Yasin about the disappointment he has caused. In the quote above Ahmad is making it clear that God is the only one that can forgive him for committing this barbaric action. Now, if Ahmad didn’t truly think this was a bad offense he wouldn’t tell this to Yasin because we all know that Ahmad has intimate relations with other women during his nights out. I still don’t believe that he doesn’t think that he has been a bad influence on Yasin. Ahmad says, “I raised and disciplined you” yes he did but he also left a little trail for Yasin to follow his footsteps and commit the same stupid mistakes like sleeping with other women and being an unfit husband. Ahmad needs to realize that he is responsible for his family’s disgraces. Since Ahmad is insecure and goes out to find women he had led his son to do the same thing for the wrong reasons. Yasin is doing it because he had seen it all his life. And the sooner he accepts that he is wrong the better it will be. He will have a chance to mend his errors and try and save his family from committing more mistakes.
Ahmad has always been a man who hides himself due to a lack of security in his personality. He never really transitioned into letting his family see who he truly was. He was someone who was always a bit insecure of how he was taking care of his family. Honesty was something that was missing from the equation that he was solving. Who knows if he would have been honest and accepting of his errors he could have saved his family from undergoing some real hardships. That is why one has to always be honest, and say when we are caring something that’s more than we can handle.
Works Cited
Barajas, Daniela. "Hiding Behind the Wall." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper.
Blogger, 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2010..
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
Mohler, Albert. "For Guys Only: The Marks of Manhood." (2005). Pure Intimacy. Web.
Mar.-Apr. 2010.
.
Vela, Jonathan. "Father's and Children's Relationships." Web log post. Digging Even
Deeper. Blogger, 23 Mar. 2010. Web. 2 Apr. 2010..
Amina, Ahmad’s wife, has always been one of the few people to love Ahmad and to respect his wishes unconditionally. Early on the their marriage Ahmad always made his wishes be the ones that had to be served. Amina, confronts Ahmad for going out and partying with his friends into late hours of the night and Ahmad reacts in the most horrific way. Amina had only wanted to venture a polite objection to the lifestyle that Ahmad was living. “I am a man. I’m the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior. All I ask of you is to obey me. Don’t force me to discipline you” (4). This is a great example of how insecure Ahmad is towards his manhood and his ability to take care of his family. He has to go out with his friends and be with women to satisfy his needs of being a man. He uses sexuality to secure himself of his manhood. He is so insecure that he cant even accept that his wife is right, and that the lifestyle that he is living is one no true man lives. According to Dr. Albert Mohler, “Manhood is demonstrated in a man's fulfillment of responsibility and leadership” (Mohler). Ahmad should not have to prove that he is a man because he goes out with his friends and has sexual relations with women. He should take a look at his insecurities and see that he has to be a better father and husband. That itself will prove that he is an honorable man that cares for his family. Doctor Mohler also explains in his article that, “men have to aspire to be the kind of man women would want to marry and children will trust and respect and obey” (Mohler). Ahmad instead of being honored as a father and respected acts like a tyrant and makes his children respect him out of fear instead out of their own will. The whole household transforms just to make Ahmad happy. Like Johnathan Vela said in his blog, “Ahmad disapproves with lying and catches a temper rage when he finds out somebody is lying, but then he turns around and lies.” I couldn’t agree more, when Ahmad does all of this he causes for the household to be disrupted and things to fall apart more than they would in the first place. By him trying to cover his insecurities as a man, he has lost the true essence of fatherhood. He is not giving his children good advice or love, he is making them fear him in order for that to back up his ego.
To come back to Amina, his lovely wife, who has always been submissive to his will and desires. Towards the middle of the novel while Ahmad is away attending other business, she encounters a decision and she goes out of the house to go visit al-Husayn’s shrine. She accidentally gets run over by a car, which caused a fracture that would take three weeks to heal. At first Ahmad realizes that his wife is hurt and being mad at her won’t help her recuperate. After the narrator describes that Ahmad started to really analyze what had happened and realized that if he didn’t take matters into account he would “loose control of his family, and the bonds holding it together would dissolve” (194). This shows how Ahmad is so weak and insecure that he can’t even forgive his wife for the mistake that she made. It seems Ahmad feels he will become weak if he forgives Amina, but instead he will only be seen as a merciful husband who is willing to forgive his poor wife. Instead Mahfouz makes us see the true side of most men in Egypt at the time and makes him say, “I don’t want to find you here when I come back this noon” (195). Such harsh words he is telling the best wife we have seen in this whole book. Amina is an amazing woman who is essentially the glue that the family needs to stay together. Ahmad is acting like the Goo Gone and taking the glue apart. She is the go to person and his caretaker. She is that perfect woman behind her husband and he is loosing her on pride. Ahmad should instead take this small incident to see that his methods of caring for his family aren’t working out right. Instead of trying to be a tyrant he should be a real father and make his children and wife respect him and do his wishes because it’s the best things they can do. Daniela Barajas made a very precise observations when she said, “The anger, strictness, and sternness with the family is simply a shield to prevent the family from seeing his sensitivity.” He is so insecure to let his family know that he is sensitive that he will not stop at anything to make himself seem as manly and mean as possible. I am not saying that Ahmad isn’t a man because he makes himself be respected, he just wants to be respected for the wrong reasons. He should open his heart and see that being respected for being an honest No on the other hand like Dr. Mohler said, “To be a man is to make decisions.” But the thing is that Ahmad doesn’t make stable decisions his indecisiveness is what keeps him from being more insecure and a stronger father figure. Ahmad’s attempt into making it seem like he didn’t need Amina ended up causing more trouble. Almost all of his children thought he was wrong by doing so, and didn’t agree with the decision he had made. Now, if he wasn’t so worried about what people would think of him he would see that his insecurities are caused by the desire to be a tyrant. He should just be a father who acknowledges that he makes mistakes and that mistakes are things needed in life to make people stronger. If he wasn’t such a tyrant he would more approachable.
Speaking of mistakes Yasin, Ahmad’s eldest son, has married and the father of his current wife has no desire of them being together anymore. Iffat wants something better for his daughter and believes that their marriage needs to be over. Ahmad becomes irritated and furious at his son and confronts him for what he had done. Ahmad tells him, “You have disappointed my hopes in you so much that only God and his blessings can ever repay me.” Ahmad has no sense of self-judgment and it seems like he continues to ignore his own actions when he talks to his son, Yasin about the disappointment he has caused. In the quote above Ahmad is making it clear that God is the only one that can forgive him for committing this barbaric action. Now, if Ahmad didn’t truly think this was a bad offense he wouldn’t tell this to Yasin because we all know that Ahmad has intimate relations with other women during his nights out. I still don’t believe that he doesn’t think that he has been a bad influence on Yasin. Ahmad says, “I raised and disciplined you” yes he did but he also left a little trail for Yasin to follow his footsteps and commit the same stupid mistakes like sleeping with other women and being an unfit husband. Ahmad needs to realize that he is responsible for his family’s disgraces. Since Ahmad is insecure and goes out to find women he had led his son to do the same thing for the wrong reasons. Yasin is doing it because he had seen it all his life. And the sooner he accepts that he is wrong the better it will be. He will have a chance to mend his errors and try and save his family from committing more mistakes.
Ahmad has always been a man who hides himself due to a lack of security in his personality. He never really transitioned into letting his family see who he truly was. He was someone who was always a bit insecure of how he was taking care of his family. Honesty was something that was missing from the equation that he was solving. Who knows if he would have been honest and accepting of his errors he could have saved his family from undergoing some real hardships. That is why one has to always be honest, and say when we are caring something that’s more than we can handle.
Works Cited
Barajas, Daniela. "Hiding Behind the Wall." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper.
Blogger, 23 Feb. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2010.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
Mohler, Albert. "For Guys Only: The Marks of Manhood." (2005). Pure Intimacy. Web.
Mar.-Apr. 2010.
Vela, Jonathan. "Father's and Children's Relationships." Web log post. Digging Even
Deeper. Blogger, 23 Mar. 2010. Web. 2 Apr. 2010.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
A Conclusion to Palace Walk
Luis Navarro
AP English
3/28/10
Naguib Mafouz wrote a tale of an Egyptian Family's struggles, compilations, marriages, divorces, male and female roles in a Muslim society, Muslim culture's trends, everything that us Westerners never really understood. Why can we not understand Muslim families? Maybe because we are predominately Christian (predominately American), because we are here and they are there, in Egypt. And Egypt? What a country filled with so much of...what was ancient Egypt; at least that's what we know. What about Modern Egypt, without the Pyramids, or lavish emperors, and everything else we boundlessly base Egypt on, on prejudice. Here is Mahfouz, writer and fantastic novelist who showed us the route to each and every character's mind, what they impulsively thought, and in turn gave us a gateway to their traditions, culture, and religion. We finally see now; as Plato might say we are no longer in the cave and out of blindness we walk, Palace Walk that is. Out of our ignorant minds we go and into theirs we venture, that's what I attempt to do. With the death of Fahmy how will the family react? How will Amina react? Will Ahmad be affected the most, and will he then in turn alter the lack of affection he expresses with his children? All questions left to ponder. But based on what we know about Aisha, about Ahmad, Kamal, Amina, the revolution for independence, one can conclude many scenarios for what exactly will proceed following the news of Fahmy's death to the family.
As Amhad sets foot just outside of Maryam's mother's home he begins slowly walking through the dark streets of the cul-de-sac, dragging his lamented body across closed stores and what seems like abandoned coffee-houses with not a single sound of life. Ahmad spotted a soldier, and Ahmad's terrifying journey unfolds.
“He saw another soldier, not the sentry, heading toward him, armed to the teeth. What new development had brought on this treatment? Was the man intoxicated? Perhaps he had been overcome by a sudden urge to attack someone? Or was he out to plunder and loot?” (442)
He encountered the soldier and was commanded to walk the way that he was not intended to walk, the way that many atrocious deaths have scolded the people who are relatives to the victims, and Ahmad prays fiercely, with the thought that he might match his fate with those dead, and his family succumb to also suffer the mourning loss of his death. It reads:
“He waded into the waves of gloomy darkness and profound silence, seeing nothing but phantom houses and hearing only the heavy footsteps that followed him with mechanical precision, as though counting out the minutes or perhaps the seconds left for him to live. Yes, he expected at each moment to be dealt a blow that would finish him off.” (443)
And Fahmy's similar terrifying journey? His encountered death, just as his father, but he was not as fortunate. Fahmy stood unable to run away. His body paralyzed, his conscience telling him to run, look away from death's inevitable stare, but it was certain that Fahmy fell to the ground, dead. There is a contrast here, between Ahmad's near-death experience and Fahmy's actual death experience. Ahmad was utterly terrified, cried even, asked God for his merciful power, and riddance of his sins. Fhamy did different; he marched in sync with his proud nation. There was an Influx of high emotions in Fahmy, the type that brought an enormous sense of prideful joy. Besides the trembling feelings that ran through his body right after he heard the gun blast, Fahmy was joyous, contempt with his nation's liberation from the English and that all peace will finally be restored. It's as if Fahmy died in peace. The bullets penetrated his body and Fahmy then sees...
“There's nothing. Nothing. Darkness and more darkness. A gentle motion's pushing with the regularity of the ticking of a clock. The heart is flowing with it. There's a whisper accompanying it. The gate of the garden. Isn't that so? It's moving in a fluid, rippling way and slowly dissolving. The towering tree is dancing gently. The sky...the sky? High, expansive...nothing but the calm, smiling sky with peace raining from it.” (493).
Yes peace; a peaceful death like the one's we all pray for to experience, on a bed, and without a budge...to silently sleep to our death. Marcell also agrees; “It’s interesting how Naguib does not outright say Fahmy is shot and killed with a bullet. Death for Fahmy did not end with darkness and nothingness, it ended with peace” According to Marcell's blog entitled “Life and Death”.
And how does Ahmad react? With immediate nothingness he “… is simply hit unexpectedly and dumbfounded” says Tianna in her article Death in the End. Ahmad locked in perplexity, looks for time alone to simmer in thought what had just happen to his son. Poor Fahmy! He must have repeated over and over in his head. He had such a promising future. The same bullets that those darn bastards of young rebels that led my son astray killed him. He is dead now, God has done everything he can to save my son from evil. But how will Amina handle such news? Ahmad shuffles his keys and finally opens the front door of his home. Amina hears the door open but avoids immediately rushing to Amhad, instead she anxiously but patiently awaits Ahmad upstairs holding a burning lamp. “What happened? Where's Fahmy?!” She shouts in her head.
"A mother knows her husband's outer as well as inner character." (212) [1]. Khadija, the wife of the great Prophet Muhammad, knew just this. She provided moral support for Muhammad, she supported Muhammad financially, and she kept aiding Muhammad even when he was having great difficulty spreading Islam. And now, that almost identical great wife, and surely mother of a murdered son, will need all the loving support and much more, to overcome her son's death. Amina knew just then that something truly horrendous had manifested. She saw it through her husband’s outer and inner character. But what could Ahmad do anyway? Besides fall to his knees tirelessly and mournfully yell, “in God's merciful hands you took my son away from me!” Though he wanted to, though it was the easiest way to relieve his pain, Ahmad did not do so. Instead he imagined such a scenario play out. This would of only made matters a lot worse, Amina's heart more fragile.
Aisha couldn't of been more vulnerable; she had given birth, she was extremely exhausted to the point of knocking out unconscious as a result from the painful contractions, and now, a few spoken words away awaited the horrible news of her dear brother's death. No, not even her angelic aesthetics could hide the sorrow that will indulge her. And just a few days ago life was born, her baby though with a weak heart, alive at least.
Not the slightest bit of noise erupted, and yet Kamal managed to seize the moment once again, to stand out, as the youngest of five should do. Oh Kamal, what a comical little dude he is, completely blind to the level of devastation that will creep up on him. His older brother is dead and here he is, melodiously voicing and moving his body to the words that say: “Visit me once each year, for it's wrong to abandon people forever.” (498). How can death be explained to a young soul, a child such as Kamal, a kid so joyous and full of life. Ahmad will be the barrier of such sad news, for Amina would be too emotionally exhausted from weeping, and besides what mother wants to tell their young son that his big brother was killed, that job is better suited for the father, for the strongest-minded, for Ahmad. But even the great Ahmad, perceived as a God-like figure in his home (as Daniela stated in her article , has trouble thinking of a way to tell Kamal of Fahmy's death.
Fahmy, finally letting go of the pains that correlate with mentioning Maryam and fully introducing his country's unity, independence, sacrifices in order to gain back Egypt, into his heart. He suffered a fatal round of bullets...but at least: “Fahmy left the house happy. He went at once to al-Azhar, where he met with his colleagues on the supreme student committee.”
Work Cited
1. "Amazon.com: Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy) (9780385264662): Naguib Mahfouz: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Web. 06 Apr. 2010..
2. Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
3. Johnson, Marcell. "Life and Death." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, Mar.-Apr. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2010..
4. Bruno, Tianna. "Death in the End." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, 26 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. <4.>.
5. Barajas, Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2010..
AP English
3/28/10
Naguib Mafouz wrote a tale of an Egyptian Family's struggles, compilations, marriages, divorces, male and female roles in a Muslim society, Muslim culture's trends, everything that us Westerners never really understood. Why can we not understand Muslim families? Maybe because we are predominately Christian (predominately American), because we are here and they are there, in Egypt. And Egypt? What a country filled with so much of...what was ancient Egypt; at least that's what we know. What about Modern Egypt, without the Pyramids, or lavish emperors, and everything else we boundlessly base Egypt on, on prejudice. Here is Mahfouz, writer and fantastic novelist who showed us the route to each and every character's mind, what they impulsively thought, and in turn gave us a gateway to their traditions, culture, and religion. We finally see now; as Plato might say we are no longer in the cave and out of blindness we walk, Palace Walk that is. Out of our ignorant minds we go and into theirs we venture, that's what I attempt to do. With the death of Fahmy how will the family react? How will Amina react? Will Ahmad be affected the most, and will he then in turn alter the lack of affection he expresses with his children? All questions left to ponder. But based on what we know about Aisha, about Ahmad, Kamal, Amina, the revolution for independence, one can conclude many scenarios for what exactly will proceed following the news of Fahmy's death to the family.
As Amhad sets foot just outside of Maryam's mother's home he begins slowly walking through the dark streets of the cul-de-sac, dragging his lamented body across closed stores and what seems like abandoned coffee-houses with not a single sound of life. Ahmad spotted a soldier, and Ahmad's terrifying journey unfolds.
“He saw another soldier, not the sentry, heading toward him, armed to the teeth. What new development had brought on this treatment? Was the man intoxicated? Perhaps he had been overcome by a sudden urge to attack someone? Or was he out to plunder and loot?” (442)
He encountered the soldier and was commanded to walk the way that he was not intended to walk, the way that many atrocious deaths have scolded the people who are relatives to the victims, and Ahmad prays fiercely, with the thought that he might match his fate with those dead, and his family succumb to also suffer the mourning loss of his death. It reads:
“He waded into the waves of gloomy darkness and profound silence, seeing nothing but phantom houses and hearing only the heavy footsteps that followed him with mechanical precision, as though counting out the minutes or perhaps the seconds left for him to live. Yes, he expected at each moment to be dealt a blow that would finish him off.” (443)
And Fahmy's similar terrifying journey? His encountered death, just as his father, but he was not as fortunate. Fahmy stood unable to run away. His body paralyzed, his conscience telling him to run, look away from death's inevitable stare, but it was certain that Fahmy fell to the ground, dead. There is a contrast here, between Ahmad's near-death experience and Fahmy's actual death experience. Ahmad was utterly terrified, cried even, asked God for his merciful power, and riddance of his sins. Fhamy did different; he marched in sync with his proud nation. There was an Influx of high emotions in Fahmy, the type that brought an enormous sense of prideful joy. Besides the trembling feelings that ran through his body right after he heard the gun blast, Fahmy was joyous, contempt with his nation's liberation from the English and that all peace will finally be restored. It's as if Fahmy died in peace. The bullets penetrated his body and Fahmy then sees...
“There's nothing. Nothing. Darkness and more darkness. A gentle motion's pushing with the regularity of the ticking of a clock. The heart is flowing with it. There's a whisper accompanying it. The gate of the garden. Isn't that so? It's moving in a fluid, rippling way and slowly dissolving. The towering tree is dancing gently. The sky...the sky? High, expansive...nothing but the calm, smiling sky with peace raining from it.” (493).
Yes peace; a peaceful death like the one's we all pray for to experience, on a bed, and without a budge...to silently sleep to our death. Marcell also agrees; “It’s interesting how Naguib does not outright say Fahmy is shot and killed with a bullet. Death for Fahmy did not end with darkness and nothingness, it ended with peace” According to Marcell's blog entitled “Life and Death”.
And how does Ahmad react? With immediate nothingness he “… is simply hit unexpectedly and dumbfounded” says Tianna in her article Death in the End. Ahmad locked in perplexity, looks for time alone to simmer in thought what had just happen to his son. Poor Fahmy! He must have repeated over and over in his head. He had such a promising future. The same bullets that those darn bastards of young rebels that led my son astray killed him. He is dead now, God has done everything he can to save my son from evil. But how will Amina handle such news? Ahmad shuffles his keys and finally opens the front door of his home. Amina hears the door open but avoids immediately rushing to Amhad, instead she anxiously but patiently awaits Ahmad upstairs holding a burning lamp. “What happened? Where's Fahmy?!” She shouts in her head.
"A mother knows her husband's outer as well as inner character." (212) [1]. Khadija, the wife of the great Prophet Muhammad, knew just this. She provided moral support for Muhammad, she supported Muhammad financially, and she kept aiding Muhammad even when he was having great difficulty spreading Islam. And now, that almost identical great wife, and surely mother of a murdered son, will need all the loving support and much more, to overcome her son's death. Amina knew just then that something truly horrendous had manifested. She saw it through her husband’s outer and inner character. But what could Ahmad do anyway? Besides fall to his knees tirelessly and mournfully yell, “in God's merciful hands you took my son away from me!” Though he wanted to, though it was the easiest way to relieve his pain, Ahmad did not do so. Instead he imagined such a scenario play out. This would of only made matters a lot worse, Amina's heart more fragile.
Aisha couldn't of been more vulnerable; she had given birth, she was extremely exhausted to the point of knocking out unconscious as a result from the painful contractions, and now, a few spoken words away awaited the horrible news of her dear brother's death. No, not even her angelic aesthetics could hide the sorrow that will indulge her. And just a few days ago life was born, her baby though with a weak heart, alive at least.
Not the slightest bit of noise erupted, and yet Kamal managed to seize the moment once again, to stand out, as the youngest of five should do. Oh Kamal, what a comical little dude he is, completely blind to the level of devastation that will creep up on him. His older brother is dead and here he is, melodiously voicing and moving his body to the words that say: “Visit me once each year, for it's wrong to abandon people forever.” (498). How can death be explained to a young soul, a child such as Kamal, a kid so joyous and full of life. Ahmad will be the barrier of such sad news, for Amina would be too emotionally exhausted from weeping, and besides what mother wants to tell their young son that his big brother was killed, that job is better suited for the father, for the strongest-minded, for Ahmad. But even the great Ahmad, perceived as a God-like figure in his home (as Daniela stated in her article , has trouble thinking of a way to tell Kamal of Fahmy's death.
Fahmy, finally letting go of the pains that correlate with mentioning Maryam and fully introducing his country's unity, independence, sacrifices in order to gain back Egypt, into his heart. He suffered a fatal round of bullets...but at least: “Fahmy left the house happy. He went at once to al-Azhar, where he met with his colleagues on the supreme student committee.”
Work Cited
1. "Amazon.com: Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy) (9780385264662): Naguib Mahfouz: Books." Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & More. Web. 06 Apr. 2010.
2. Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
3. Johnson, Marcell. "Life and Death." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, Mar.-Apr. 2010. Web. 3 Apr. 2010.
4. Bruno, Tianna. "Death in the End." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, 26 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2010. <4.>.
5. Barajas, Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Blogger, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 05 Apr. 2010.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
The Other-side
At the beginning of the novel, Palace Walk, the author, Naguib Mahfouz, portrays one of the main characters, Ahmad, as a inconsiderate father who doesn't care about anything but himself. But, as time progresses in the novel we see a change in character in Ahmad. The reason Naguib Mahfouz explains and describes Ahmad in these ways, is because he wants the audience to really grasp what being a father in a Muslim society is like. Throughout the novel, Ahmad hides his true emotions about his family, disguising himself to be an enraged father, when truly he is a kind and loving father who wants nothing more but perfection for his family. He is seen as tyrant, but as life becomes harder and he begins to lose control of his children with marriage negotiations, the pregnancy of his daughter, Aisha, and his son's, Fahmy, death we see his true emotions and love towards his family. At the end of the novel we see that Ahmad is not the evil tyrant we expect.
In one of Yesenias' blogs, Hard To Understand, she talks about Ahmad passion toward his daughter's. She mention the role of a father. She mentions in her blog, a father is the first man in a daughter life. This is very important, because the father chooses who she is going to marry; therefore, it is up to the father to shape his daughter according to what he thinks makes a perfect wife. All the times he has denied marriage offers for his daughter Aisha, wasn't to make her life miserable. He just wanted the best for his daughter and was trying to avoid family complications. Therefore, he decides to take life the way it comes and let God take control.
In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he states, “The father works hard to provide for their physical, educational and psychological (and spiritual) needs. When Aisha's first marriage arrangements come about, Ahmad grows furious of the idea. He doesn't agree that his youngest daughter should marry before his oldest daughter, Khadija. He is a afraid that if such arrangement are made, he would destroy his older daughter's future. Not only was he afraid that it would ruin her future, but he was scared his two daughter's will turn on each other and grow angry with one another. Here Ahmad is looking out for his Khadija's psychological needs. He doesn't want to make her feel as if she is ugly and unwanted. Therefore, Ahmad furiously rejects the marriage proposal. He says, “No daughter of mine will marry a man until I am satisfied that his primary motive for marrying her is a sincere desire to be related to me … me … me … me” (157). When many people read this statement, they view Ahmad as a conceited inconsiderate bastard. But, his primary motive was to protect his daughter's future and relationship with one another.
When Aisha's marriage arrangement comes about again, he agrees and lets Aisha marry Khalil. After he kindly escorts the widow of the late Mr. Shawkat out, the author describes Ahmad feelings about the whole situation. He says, “He was distressed and dejected. He had a sensitive heart, more sensitive than most people would have suspected. In fact, it was too sensitive... How happy it would make him to spare no expense to delight both his daughter's... Each of them was a vital part of him” (229). Here we see Ahmad in a different manner; Ahmad is confused and in a caring state of mind. By accepting Aisha's he wishes not to hurt Khadija, but at the same time he knows he cannot keep Aisha from life just to please her. He says, “I've thought about the matter for a long time and have decided to accept. I don't want to interfere with my daughter's fortune any more than I have already. The matter is in God's hands, both now and later” (235). He knows that his decision will effect Khadija, but realizes by denying Aisha marriage he is interfering with her future and happiness.
We also see that Ahmad really cares for his daughter, when Aisha is having the baby. Ahmad reacts and is worried about his daughter's life. He reacts saying, “What's happened to my little girl? The doctor! Why is the old lady keeping me from seeing her?” (474). If Ahmad didn't really love his daughter and just wanted her to suffer he wouldn't have even showed up. But instead he is there making sure his daughter is safe and protected.
In Daniela's blog, Hiding Behind The Wall, she talks about the sensitive side of Ahmad. She says, “The anger, strictness, and sternness with the family is simply a shield to prevent the family from seeing his sensitivity”(2010, Barajas). Knowing the responsibilities of a man, he knows he has to set an example for his children; therefore, he has to be mean and strict to show his children how to become a man.
In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he also states, “They are duty bound to protect their children in every way, physical, intellectual, moral. If the children have a temptation to do an act that is not in their long-term interest it is the duty of the parents to keep them back from that act or behavior. To this end they may resort to advice, rebuke, scolding, even hitting them”. After Ahmad finds out Fahmy is taking part revolution, he scolds him and tries to make him swear on the Qur'an. After he refuses to swear on the book, Ahmad punishes him verbally. Many people thought Ahmad was being to hard on him, and figure he should be supporting his son for what he wants to do. The reason Ahmad reacted the way he did to this situation, is because it his duty to protect his child and letting him taking part in the revolution would be protecting his child. In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he states, “If the children have a temptation to do an act that is not in their long-term interest it is the duty of the parents to keep them back from that act or behavior”. Ahmad knows Fahmy's actions could result to death; therefore, he tries to keep his son away from the revolution.
After Fahmy has disobeys his father, he returns asking for his father's forgiveness and approval on page 486. In response, Ahmad is thinking to himself, “My heart wishes to forgive him, but I'm afraid he'll think then that it's okay to disobey me” (486). Ahmad wants to forgive his son so bad, but he doesn't want to come off as being weak. Therefore, Ahmad is left putting on a slight attitude hinting to his son that he does forgive him, but that he is still mad an upset on what he has done. The reason Ahmad acts this way is to set an example on how a man is suppose to act.
Throughout the novel, Ahmad reacts to all these situations in a rude manner giving off the impression that he is a tyrant and unloving father, when really it is the total opposite. He reacts to these situations the way he does, only because he really loves his family. In some situations he could of reacted a little less ruling, but he was only reacting in the way in any father would. Ahmad was just being a father in Muslim society, he states, “It's true that fear makes men do foolish things...” (476). Ahmad reacts out of fear and desperation for perfection for his children that is why he is the way he is.
Work Cited
[weblog] Daniela, ''Hiding Behind The Wall.'' Digging Even Deeper. 23 February 2010. 22 March 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/throughout-book-mahfouz-portrays-ahmad.html)
[weblog] Yezzy, ''Hard to Understand.'' Digging Even Deeper. 24 February 2010. 22 March 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/hard-to-understand.html)
Dr. Arshed. "Parent-Child Relationship in Islam." Islam 101. Web. 06 Apr. 2010..
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
In one of Yesenias' blogs, Hard To Understand, she talks about Ahmad passion toward his daughter's. She mention the role of a father. She mentions in her blog, a father is the first man in a daughter life. This is very important, because the father chooses who she is going to marry; therefore, it is up to the father to shape his daughter according to what he thinks makes a perfect wife. All the times he has denied marriage offers for his daughter Aisha, wasn't to make her life miserable. He just wanted the best for his daughter and was trying to avoid family complications. Therefore, he decides to take life the way it comes and let God take control.
In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he states, “The father works hard to provide for their physical, educational and psychological (and spiritual) needs. When Aisha's first marriage arrangements come about, Ahmad grows furious of the idea. He doesn't agree that his youngest daughter should marry before his oldest daughter, Khadija. He is a afraid that if such arrangement are made, he would destroy his older daughter's future. Not only was he afraid that it would ruin her future, but he was scared his two daughter's will turn on each other and grow angry with one another. Here Ahmad is looking out for his Khadija's psychological needs. He doesn't want to make her feel as if she is ugly and unwanted. Therefore, Ahmad furiously rejects the marriage proposal. He says, “No daughter of mine will marry a man until I am satisfied that his primary motive for marrying her is a sincere desire to be related to me … me … me … me” (157). When many people read this statement, they view Ahmad as a conceited inconsiderate bastard. But, his primary motive was to protect his daughter's future and relationship with one another.
When Aisha's marriage arrangement comes about again, he agrees and lets Aisha marry Khalil. After he kindly escorts the widow of the late Mr. Shawkat out, the author describes Ahmad feelings about the whole situation. He says, “He was distressed and dejected. He had a sensitive heart, more sensitive than most people would have suspected. In fact, it was too sensitive... How happy it would make him to spare no expense to delight both his daughter's... Each of them was a vital part of him” (229). Here we see Ahmad in a different manner; Ahmad is confused and in a caring state of mind. By accepting Aisha's he wishes not to hurt Khadija, but at the same time he knows he cannot keep Aisha from life just to please her. He says, “I've thought about the matter for a long time and have decided to accept. I don't want to interfere with my daughter's fortune any more than I have already. The matter is in God's hands, both now and later” (235). He knows that his decision will effect Khadija, but realizes by denying Aisha marriage he is interfering with her future and happiness.
We also see that Ahmad really cares for his daughter, when Aisha is having the baby. Ahmad reacts and is worried about his daughter's life. He reacts saying, “What's happened to my little girl? The doctor! Why is the old lady keeping me from seeing her?” (474). If Ahmad didn't really love his daughter and just wanted her to suffer he wouldn't have even showed up. But instead he is there making sure his daughter is safe and protected.
In Daniela's blog, Hiding Behind The Wall, she talks about the sensitive side of Ahmad. She says, “The anger, strictness, and sternness with the family is simply a shield to prevent the family from seeing his sensitivity”(2010, Barajas). Knowing the responsibilities of a man, he knows he has to set an example for his children; therefore, he has to be mean and strict to show his children how to become a man.
In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he also states, “They are duty bound to protect their children in every way, physical, intellectual, moral. If the children have a temptation to do an act that is not in their long-term interest it is the duty of the parents to keep them back from that act or behavior. To this end they may resort to advice, rebuke, scolding, even hitting them”. After Ahmad finds out Fahmy is taking part revolution, he scolds him and tries to make him swear on the Qur'an. After he refuses to swear on the book, Ahmad punishes him verbally. Many people thought Ahmad was being to hard on him, and figure he should be supporting his son for what he wants to do. The reason Ahmad reacted the way he did to this situation, is because it his duty to protect his child and letting him taking part in the revolution would be protecting his child. In Dr. Arshed's website article, Parent-Child Relationship in Islam, he states, “If the children have a temptation to do an act that is not in their long-term interest it is the duty of the parents to keep them back from that act or behavior”. Ahmad knows Fahmy's actions could result to death; therefore, he tries to keep his son away from the revolution.
After Fahmy has disobeys his father, he returns asking for his father's forgiveness and approval on page 486. In response, Ahmad is thinking to himself, “My heart wishes to forgive him, but I'm afraid he'll think then that it's okay to disobey me” (486). Ahmad wants to forgive his son so bad, but he doesn't want to come off as being weak. Therefore, Ahmad is left putting on a slight attitude hinting to his son that he does forgive him, but that he is still mad an upset on what he has done. The reason Ahmad acts this way is to set an example on how a man is suppose to act.
Throughout the novel, Ahmad reacts to all these situations in a rude manner giving off the impression that he is a tyrant and unloving father, when really it is the total opposite. He reacts to these situations the way he does, only because he really loves his family. In some situations he could of reacted a little less ruling, but he was only reacting in the way in any father would. Ahmad was just being a father in Muslim society, he states, “It's true that fear makes men do foolish things...” (476). Ahmad reacts out of fear and desperation for perfection for his children that is why he is the way he is.
Work Cited
[weblog] Daniela, ''Hiding Behind The Wall.'' Digging Even Deeper. 23 February 2010. 22 March 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/throughout-book-mahfouz-portrays-ahmad.html)
[weblog] Yezzy, ''Hard to Understand.'' Digging Even Deeper. 24 February 2010. 22 March 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/hard-to-understand.html)
Dr. Arshed. "Parent-Child Relationship in Islam." Islam 101. Web. 06 Apr. 2010.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
Not A God, But A Human
Throughout the first part of Palace Walk, Naguib Mahfouz portrays Ahmad as a powerful, and feared man that thinks highly of himself and whose family views him as a god. Ahmad controls every move his family makes. But through his death and rebellion, Fahmy helps his father to realize that he is nothing but a human. Towards the end of the book, Ahmad loses control of his son Fahmy, who dares to disobey him. Fahmy’s behavior strip Ahmad of his power, driving him closer to admitting his humanity. Later faced with Fahmy’s death, Ahmad feels extreme sadness, which leads him to realize and accept that he is not to a god, allowing himself to break down. With this break down, Ahmad appears to be a new man that accepts his powerlessness and that gives into his human emotions.
Throughout the first part of the book, Ahmad has power, and control over everything that happens to his family because his ego has been aggrandized by the way everyone in the family fears, loves, and respects him as if he were a god. As TheJavi says in his blog, Ahmad Never Changes, that “ [Ahmad] thinks really highly of himself” so he never questions his behavior. He always wants things to be his way. He always has the power over everything and always uses that power to manipulate things, so that he can be at the center of them. For example when the officer wanted to marry Aisha, he said that “no daughter of mine would marry a man until I am satisfied that his primary motive for marrying her is a sincere desire to be related to me…me…me…me” (157). Here one can see how egotistical Ahmad is. Another time when we see that Ahmad thinks so highly of himself is when he tells Fahmy, “The only word that counts here is mine. Mine, mine, mine…” (425). Once again, Ahmad shows that he wants things to be centered around him as if he were god. Through these examples, one can see his power to control the family.
But it is the way the family behaves with Ahmad and the way they feel about him that allow Ahmad to have the power to control everything. The family adores Ahmad in a very extreme way. I feel like everyone in the family blindly follows his lead, even when he is wrong. One really gets a sense of this affection, loyalty and fear for Ahmad when the author describes the feelings Aisha had when her father decided that she wouldn’t get married before Khadija, thus denying Aisha from the opportunity of marrying the officer she had fallen for. The author writes:
Although she was hurt, angry, and resentful, these emotions could not touch her father. They fell back impotently like a wild animal stopped by its trainer, whom it loves and fears. Aisha was not able to attack her father, not even in the depths of her heart. She continued in her love and devotion for him. She felt sincerely dutiful to him, as though he were a god whose decree could only be received with submission, love and loyalty. (160-161)
Here we see that the love and fear she felt towards her father was much too strong to allow Aisha to let any of the negative emotions be against her father. The fear and the love she had wouldn’t even let her think of feeling the hurt, anger, and resentment against her father even in the secrecy of her heart. Not even the other strong emotions she felt could erase the deep love and great fear her father incited in her.
No one dares to speak against Ahmad because the fear incited by his power is intimidating. Even more than the intimidation, the affection they feel for Ahmad makes the family look at him as something close to a god. Here one can instantly see a cycle. The family’s veneration causes Ahmad to be powerful and Ahmad’s power causes the family to venerate him. Seeing not only Aisha, but everyone else comply to his wishes, simply makes Ahmad feel more powerful, even as powerful as a god. Aisha obeys him because she feels “dutiful to him, as though he were a god whose decree could only be received with submission, love and loyalty” (161). This last sentence proves that Aisha, and even the rest of the family see Ahmad as a god. They obey him because to them he is like a god; in their eyes, he has power to control everything.
Since Ahmad’s is empowered by his family’s submissiveness, when one of them, Fahmy, goes against his will, Ahmad starts doubting his power and seeing that he’s weak. Fahmy always venerated his father like the rest of the family; thus, he never dared to disobey his commands. But things change with the war because Fahmy has really strong feelings about the war, even stronger feelings than the fear for his father. When Fahmy has to confess to his father that he has been distributing handbills to promote Egypt’s independence, Ahmad is alarmed and angry, and tells Fahmy to stop. Fahmy, ultimately, refuses to swear on the Qur'an that he will stop, and instead, he continues his behavior, going against his father’s will. He does this even though in the Qur'an it says, "Three persons shall not enter the Garden: the one who is disobedient to his parents,” meaning that his offense is a great one. But despite the divine law, Fahmy disobeys his father. His son’s rebellion causes Ahmad to be stripped of his power. Ahmad says, “He said no to me for the first time in his life…should I reveal my lack of power to [Amina]? Should I seek help from her weakness after my power has failed” (449). By opposing him, Fahmy takes away the power that Ahmad was so sure he possessed, and makes him feel weak, showing that Ahmad’s power was in the hands of those that feared it. Here we see clearly that the submissiveness of the family built Ahmad’s power; thus, without everyone’s submissiveness, he lost the power to control. Here Fahmy has taken Ahmad closer to seeing his humanity.
But it isn’t until Ahmad’s death that Ahmad realizes and accepts that he is not god, and allows himself be human and break down. When Ahmad finds out his son had died, one can see how human, how sensitive Ahmad truly is because he finally lets us see it. He thinks when he gets the bad news, “How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone?” (495). Here Ahmad is saying that he can’t have life without his son; he can’t be a father without him. Before getting to this part, one would have never thought that Ahmad would think this way because one always perceived Ahmad as egotistical man and as one who never needed anyone. But with Fahmy’s death, he’s humbled. As Mauricio discusses in his blog, Sensitive Soul-dier, Fahmy makes Ahmad change his ways. Ahmad finally touches the ground and sees that he can feel pain too. Mahfouz says, “ a time would come when [Ahmad] would be all alone and could devote himself to his sorrow with all his soul…giving free rein to tears so he could totally exhaust them” (497). Ahmad sees that he can suffer too because he’s just human.
A cycle can always be broken; it just takes a small change in one of the elements involved. Fahmy broke the cycle going on with the family and Ahmad. He changed his behavior when he went against his father’s will, stopping the source of his father’s power. By dying, Fahmy places his father in a situation that Ahmad has never been in, making him feel new strong emotions such as sorrow. By making Ahmad feel powerless after disobeying him and sad and hopeless after dying, Fahmy lets Ahmad see that he can be human, and that he doesn’t always have to act like he can control everything because he can’t. Death comes when it wants to come, and Ahmad has no control over that.
Works Cited
- Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
- Mvazquez. "Sensitive Soul-dier." Weblog post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 06 April 2010. <http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/04/sensitive-soul-dier.html>
- TheJavi. “Ahmad Never Changes.” Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 24 March 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/03/ahmad-never-changes.html.>
- The Holy Quran. Maulana Muhammad Ali, 2002. Web. 6 Apr. 2010. <http://aaiil.org/text/hq/trans/ma_list.shtml>
Ahmad’s Regrets
Throughout Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, Palace Walk, we see how Ahmad treats his family with detachment and harshness. Although he does feel affection for his loved ones he does not show it. He acts like this because he believes that if he shows any sign of agreement toward them, they will begin to disobey him. Because of this Ahmad appears to never be pleased with anything his family does no matter how good it is. Ahmad acts detached and indifferent towards his family until his son, Fahmy, dies and he realizes that he was always too strict with them.
The reason Ahmad acts so strict towards his family is because he is thinks that if he shows that he’s pleased with anything they do, they will immediately start disobeying him. Yesenia describes Ahmad’s thinking perfectly in her blog entry, “Disobedient”. She says, “Ahmad is a typical father who forces his entire family to be submissive to him. He is strict to the point where he manipulates the way his wife and children act. The reason why Ahmad doesn’t show affection towards his own family is because he believes that if he does then they will take advantage of him.” Because of this fear he has of losing control over his household, Ahmad is very demanding of his family. Nothing, even anything his best son, Fahmy, does, is ever good enough.
Throughout the novel we can compare and contrast how different Fahmy and Yasin are. One of those moments in which we can see how different they are is the way the way Yasin reacts versus the way Fahmy reacts when they find out the truth about their father, Al-Sayyid Ahmad. In their eyes their father had always been a proper, honorable, and pious man. However, they then find out that he has been going to parties to sing and drink and has been having affairs with various women. Yasin and Fahmy react very differently when they learn this truth. Fahmy condemns his actions and Yasin praises him. We get a glimpse of what they about their father’s actions on the third and fourth paragraphs on page 271.
The first of these paragraphs show Fahmy’s thoughts. He says, “‘My father doesn’t differ at all from Yasin except in having sunk lower…. There must be something I don’t know… My father hasn’t done anything wrong…. He can’t do anything wrong (271).’” To Fahmy his father was a true hero, so much so that when he learned this he believed it was a lie. When he finally accepted it as the truth the image he had of his father was marred. He no longer regarded him with the same respect and admiration. He believed he was even worse than Yasin. When Fahmy learned this truth he was appalled and condemned his father’s actions.
In the second of these paragraphs we see the way Yasin thinks. He says, “’He sings. So what’s wrong about singing? He gets drunk, and believe me, drinking is even better than eating. He has affairs and so did the Muslim caliphs…. Our father isn’t doing anything sinful (271).’” Yasin always held his father in the highest esteem. However, when he learned about this truth he became even admirable to him. Yasin thought it was great that his father acted the way he did. He thought that there was nothing wrong in having many affairs and objectifying women.
This contrast of what Fahmy thought versus what Yasin thought about their father’s actions is just one example that shows how Fahmy is a better son than Yasin. Everything Ahmad has taught Yasin has been to no avail. Yasin still drinks, wastes his money foolishly, has lovers, and if that weren’t enough he praises his father when he learns he does this. Fahmy on the contrary is a proper, honorable, and pious young man; everything his father always wanted his sons to be. However, does Ahmad praise him for this? No. All he ever has to say to his family are negative things. Although Fahmy was a much better son and overall person, he never received any kind of praise from his father.
Another example of how Fahmy is a much better son than Yasin is the way Yasin tried to rape Umm Hanafi. With this incident we saw what a savage animal Yasin is. His brutal sexual desires are well described here: “He was blinded by lust. What kind of lust was it? A lust kindled by a woman simply because she was a woman, not because of any of her qualities or associations. It was a lust that loved beauty but would not turn away from ugliness. In these crises, everything was equivalent. He was like a dog that eagerly devours whatever scraps it finds” (277). This is something Fahmy wouldn’t have even thought of doing.
Another incident that greatly angers Ahmad is when Yasin sleeps with his wife’s personal maid, Nur. When this occurs Ahmad is enraged but not so much at the fact that Yasin has slept with a woman that isn’t his wife; he’s more enraged because of whom that woman is. He explains why giving us examples of his own affairs
Just as he loved beauty in the abstract, he loved it in its glittering social framework. He liked to be noticed and to have a widespread reputation…. This social use of his love did not require him to sacrifice beauty, for in his circle beauty and reputation went hand in hand, like an object and its shadow. Beauty was most often the magic wand that opened the door to reputation and noteworthy status. He had been the lover of some of the most famous entertainers of his time. Not one of them had disappointed his yearning for beauty or his craving for loveliness. For these reasons he thought scornfully of Yasin’s conquests. He repeated disapprovingly, “Umm Hanafi! … Nur! … What a beast he is (391)!
With these statements Ahmad is basically saying that he disapproves of Yasin’s conquests because they weren’t beautiful, distinguished, or influential. Yasin had no criteria to choose his mistresses; when lust blinded him he would be content to lie with any woman. And this was exactly what enraged Ahmad; he didn’t like that his son was a savage willing to sleep with any woman regardless of what she looked like or who she was. Here we see how much Ahmad disapproves of Yasin’s actions.
These reproachful actions, however, aren’t reason enough for Ahmad to value what a good son Fahmy is. Like Marixa says in her blog entry “Wake-Up Call”, “Unfortunately Ahmad only realizes where he has gone wrong when he learns that Fahmy has died while at a demonstration. This is the turning point in Ahmad’s life. It becomes the wake-up call that Ahmad needs to realize that he is not the almighty and that he is human just like everyone else.” It’s at this point that Ahmad realizes that he had a great son and that all he ever did for him was point out his flaws.
After Ahmad learns about Fahmy’s death he begins experiencing what, according to “Coping with Grief and Loss” an article in Helpguide.org a trusted non-profit resource, calls common symptoms of grief. He experiences the physical symptoms of grief, shock and disbelief, and guilt. His shock is apparent when he learns the news, “Although there was an unmistakable look of belief and dismay in his eyes, the father rejected the news, shouting, “Fahmy?” (495). And after the shock comes the guilt, Ahmad begin thinking of all the things he didn’t say or do for his son. He begins thinking about the last time he saw his alive, “Consider the memory of the quarrel they had had after the Friday prayer at al-Husayn or that of their conversation that morning, when Fahmy had appealed for his affection and he had reprimanded him –– how much of his heart would they consume? How many tears would they stir up?” (497). It’s very unfortunate, but Fahmy had to die for Ahmad to realize what a great son he was.
Works Cited
"Coping with Grief and Loss: Support for Grieving and Bereavement." Helpguide.org:
Understand, Prevent and Resolve Life's Challenges. Web. 31 Mar. 2010.
Chavez, Yesenia, “Disobedient”. [Weblog entry.] Digging Even Deeper. The Chinquapin
School: AP English Class. 24 Mar. 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/03/disobedient.html) 27 Mar. 2010.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
Rodriguez, Marixa, “Wake-Up Call”. [Weblog entry.] Digging Even Deeper. The Chinquapin
School: AP English Class. 30 Mar. 2010. (http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/03/wake-up-call.html) 31 Mar. 2010.
Ahmad: Strong to Weak
In Palace Walk by Naguib Mahfouz, one of the main characters is Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad. He is the father of good children, a husband to a very obedient wife, and the proprietor of a successful store. When the novel opens up, we, the readers, are given the impression that Ahmad is a cold-hearted womanizer who has a missing toe due to a corn and mistreats his family. The level of disrespect that he gives his family, his wife especially, is immense. He disregards the effects that his actions will have on his family, which are the influences that he is having on his son Yasin and the fear that he is instilling in his other children. But Ahmad becomes a different person when he is with his friends. He becomes a light- hearted, drinker who is considered the life of the part. But even with them, he is powerful and influential. He has the power to attract the finest singers and become lovers with them. He exemplifies the “macho man” appearance. But because of certain happenings throughout the novel, we see the great Ahmad turn into a weak, helpless ordinary person. By the end of the novel, he realizes that he has lost his influential status. He is no longer in control of everything around him, which broke him down.
But it was not always like this. In the first part of the novel, Ahmad knows that he controls all that happens in his house. On page 4, Ahmad tells Amina, “I'm a man. I'm the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior...” Ruqaiyyah W. Maqsood, a Muslim imam, would disagree with this statement made by Ahmad. He said that, “Her [a Muslim woman's] husband is not her master; a Muslim woman has only one Master, and that is God. If her husband does not represent God's will in the home, the marriage contract is broken.
What should one make of the verse in the Koran that allows a man to punish his wife physically? There are important provisos: he may do so only if her ill-will is wrecking the marriage - but then only after he has exhausted all attempts at verbal communication and tried sleeping in a separate bed.” Ahmad, obviously, goes against Maqsood because he hit her and is the most loyal, and docile woman in the novel. But Ahmad wants to scare her so he knows that she won't defy him because of fear. No one in his house would dare challenge his authority at this point. Their fear of him overpowers their love for him. Mahfouz explains Kamal's love for Ahmad as “a hidden jewel, locked up inside him by fear and terror”(50). The fear goes a lot further than Kamal. His own wife is afraid to talk to him about things or express herself because she might be beaten. Amina refrains from telling Ahmad about the things that Kamal has done at school and at home because she fears what he will do to him and sympathizes with Kamal. Ahmad knows what his family feels toward him and he feels satisfied with that. He is content as long as he gets respect and his family does not embarrass him. He does not seem to be effected by the fact that, besides respect, he does not get very many signs of love from his own family.
At his store, he has many loyal customers and employees that keep his business running successfully, which keeps his status up.
All is going according to Ahmad's plans and likings. He is blessed with a successful family and friends that all respect him and his authority. But it was not his family or friends that broke his reign of power. The Australian soldiers were the first to challenge him. A challenge from any of the soldiers was the most threatening and detrimental to Ahmad because he could not do anything to challenge them because he feared them. Ahmad say that “Their tyranny separated him from the Ezbekiya Garden entertainment district, which he abandoned in defeat,...”(11). It was the same situation when he was led by the English soldier in the middle of the night to fill that trench. It appeared that they were at a higher level that he. They were referred to in the novel as a “god” when Yasin encounters them. He cannot even decipher their language to communicate with them. Ahmad is very belittled in this scene. A man that is so well respected and honored in his community is forced to dig dirt to fill a trench that he didn't even burrow at gun point.
Ahmad senses the change in his authority. But he can't sit back and accept the truth of what is happening. He has to show and prove to himself that he still has power. This is also why he chooses to sleep with these unmarried women and party all night also. He has to prove to himself that he still has the same stuff in him that he did when he was a younger man when his pedestal held him so high above others. Maybe, this has something to do with why he gets so upset when he sees Yasin's actions resemble his. He wants to stop Yasin's rant before his son turns out to be the way Ahmad is by the end of the novel.
It is apparent that Ahmad struggles with not having power when he requests that Aisha and Khadija move back in with them until they have their babies. Ahmad, being the man that has controlled and been responsible for keeping his daughters safe, feels uncomfortable with the idea of not being able to protect them. He knows that these men cannot do as adequate job as he can and has done for majority of their lives. Ahmad's impatience when he was waiting to receive information about Aisha while she was in labor is great evidence of this. He thinks because he is her father he should be the first to find out anything that is going on in that room. He could not comprehend how he was not their first to receive the information about his daughter, especially if she is in danger of dying. Dying. Death is the major thing in the novel that throws Ahmad way off track. Death is the one thing that Ahmad knows that he has no power over. He can't bring anyone back once they have died. This is the point where he can't deny his downfall. As Daniela says in her blog He's Human After All, “to a certain extent Ahmad is portrayed as a god.” But when death arises, we, the readers, are exposed to an Ahmad that we had not seen throughout the entire novel. We see a weak, powerless human being. When he is first hit with the news, he can't even fathom the idea of Fahmy being dead. This is the only time in the novel where we see Ahmad hopeless. He does not have a solution to this. He can't get mad because that won't do anything. He sees that there is nothing in his power that will bring his son back. He knows that his power that he has adored has faded to nothing. This is the situation that finalizes it for Ahmad. He knows that he is not really that powerful. As Mvazquez discusses in his blog Sensitive Soul-dier, Fahmy is the one who brings about the true change in Ahmad. No one could say anything to Ahmad to change him. Things had to happen to him. First, soldiers belittle him, then he can't help his own daughter, and finally there is nothing that he can do for his son. There is nothing he can say to console his wife after the lost of her favorite son.
For majority of the novel, Ahmad would never have thought of being this powerless. If anything happened that upset him, Ahmad would probably drink that problem away. But he has been brought to the point where he sees that there is nothing that he can do except grieve. He wanted to always have control of everything so that nothing unexpected happens that he might not be ready for, for example Amina breaking her arm and Fahmy getting shot. But with Amina, he could felt he could solve the problem by instilling more fear in her. But with Fahmy, it is not possible to solve this problem. He can't instill fear in him and obviously fear would no have stopped Fahmy from going because it didn't before. The novel begins with a display of Ahmad's power and ends with that power being yanked away from him.
Work Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Maqsood, Ruqaiyyah W. "Islam, Culture and Women - Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood." Islam For Today. Web. 06 Apr. 2010..
Mvazquez. "Sensitive Soul-dier." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 05 Apr. 2010..
Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 05 Apr. 2010..
But it was not always like this. In the first part of the novel, Ahmad knows that he controls all that happens in his house. On page 4, Ahmad tells Amina, “I'm a man. I'm the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior...” Ruqaiyyah W. Maqsood, a Muslim imam, would disagree with this statement made by Ahmad. He said that, “Her [a Muslim woman's] husband is not her master; a Muslim woman has only one Master, and that is God. If her husband does not represent God's will in the home, the marriage contract is broken.
What should one make of the verse in the Koran that allows a man to punish his wife physically? There are important provisos: he may do so only if her ill-will is wrecking the marriage - but then only after he has exhausted all attempts at verbal communication and tried sleeping in a separate bed.” Ahmad, obviously, goes against Maqsood because he hit her and is the most loyal, and docile woman in the novel. But Ahmad wants to scare her so he knows that she won't defy him because of fear. No one in his house would dare challenge his authority at this point. Their fear of him overpowers their love for him. Mahfouz explains Kamal's love for Ahmad as “a hidden jewel, locked up inside him by fear and terror”(50). The fear goes a lot further than Kamal. His own wife is afraid to talk to him about things or express herself because she might be beaten. Amina refrains from telling Ahmad about the things that Kamal has done at school and at home because she fears what he will do to him and sympathizes with Kamal. Ahmad knows what his family feels toward him and he feels satisfied with that. He is content as long as he gets respect and his family does not embarrass him. He does not seem to be effected by the fact that, besides respect, he does not get very many signs of love from his own family.
At his store, he has many loyal customers and employees that keep his business running successfully, which keeps his status up.
All is going according to Ahmad's plans and likings. He is blessed with a successful family and friends that all respect him and his authority. But it was not his family or friends that broke his reign of power. The Australian soldiers were the first to challenge him. A challenge from any of the soldiers was the most threatening and detrimental to Ahmad because he could not do anything to challenge them because he feared them. Ahmad say that “Their tyranny separated him from the Ezbekiya Garden entertainment district, which he abandoned in defeat,...”(11). It was the same situation when he was led by the English soldier in the middle of the night to fill that trench. It appeared that they were at a higher level that he. They were referred to in the novel as a “god” when Yasin encounters them. He cannot even decipher their language to communicate with them. Ahmad is very belittled in this scene. A man that is so well respected and honored in his community is forced to dig dirt to fill a trench that he didn't even burrow at gun point.
Ahmad senses the change in his authority. But he can't sit back and accept the truth of what is happening. He has to show and prove to himself that he still has power. This is also why he chooses to sleep with these unmarried women and party all night also. He has to prove to himself that he still has the same stuff in him that he did when he was a younger man when his pedestal held him so high above others. Maybe, this has something to do with why he gets so upset when he sees Yasin's actions resemble his. He wants to stop Yasin's rant before his son turns out to be the way Ahmad is by the end of the novel.
It is apparent that Ahmad struggles with not having power when he requests that Aisha and Khadija move back in with them until they have their babies. Ahmad, being the man that has controlled and been responsible for keeping his daughters safe, feels uncomfortable with the idea of not being able to protect them. He knows that these men cannot do as adequate job as he can and has done for majority of their lives. Ahmad's impatience when he was waiting to receive information about Aisha while she was in labor is great evidence of this. He thinks because he is her father he should be the first to find out anything that is going on in that room. He could not comprehend how he was not their first to receive the information about his daughter, especially if she is in danger of dying. Dying. Death is the major thing in the novel that throws Ahmad way off track. Death is the one thing that Ahmad knows that he has no power over. He can't bring anyone back once they have died. This is the point where he can't deny his downfall. As Daniela says in her blog He's Human After All, “to a certain extent Ahmad is portrayed as a god.” But when death arises, we, the readers, are exposed to an Ahmad that we had not seen throughout the entire novel. We see a weak, powerless human being. When he is first hit with the news, he can't even fathom the idea of Fahmy being dead. This is the only time in the novel where we see Ahmad hopeless. He does not have a solution to this. He can't get mad because that won't do anything. He sees that there is nothing in his power that will bring his son back. He knows that his power that he has adored has faded to nothing. This is the situation that finalizes it for Ahmad. He knows that he is not really that powerful. As Mvazquez discusses in his blog Sensitive Soul-dier, Fahmy is the one who brings about the true change in Ahmad. No one could say anything to Ahmad to change him. Things had to happen to him. First, soldiers belittle him, then he can't help his own daughter, and finally there is nothing that he can do for his son. There is nothing he can say to console his wife after the lost of her favorite son.
For majority of the novel, Ahmad would never have thought of being this powerless. If anything happened that upset him, Ahmad would probably drink that problem away. But he has been brought to the point where he sees that there is nothing that he can do except grieve. He wanted to always have control of everything so that nothing unexpected happens that he might not be ready for, for example Amina breaking her arm and Fahmy getting shot. But with Amina, he could felt he could solve the problem by instilling more fear in her. But with Fahmy, it is not possible to solve this problem. He can't instill fear in him and obviously fear would no have stopped Fahmy from going because it didn't before. The novel begins with a display of Ahmad's power and ends with that power being yanked away from him.
Work Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991.
Maqsood, Ruqaiyyah W. "Islam, Culture and Women - Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood." Islam For Today. Web. 06 Apr. 2010.
Mvazquez. "Sensitive Soul-dier." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 05 Apr. 2010.
Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. Web. 05 Apr. 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 >.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Successful Marriage
In Naguib Mahfouz's Palace Walk, marriage is a topic that is hard to understand, but is all the more intriguing because of it. It's been difficult for the most part, figuring out what makes a successful marriage. Why is it that Amina and Ahmad have been married for 25 years, when Ahmad has proven to not be a husband that many women crave? Ahmad sneaks out on his wife all the time with various women like Zubayda and his next-door neighbor Bahija Ridwan, yet Amina stays right there through it all. In this book, marriage is such a complex part of life that research was necessary to understand what muslims believe to be important in a marriage. According to the Qur'an, Muslims are to believe that “...among [Allah's] signs is this that He created for you spouses of your own kind, that you may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy for one another...” (Qur'an 30:21). As devout Muslims, which is what they characters of the book (especially Ahmad) are, they should base all of their marriages off of this because this is their law for living a truly Muslim lifestyle. This is the basis of their faith and what they should believe as Muslims. Although there are other marriages in the book that are unsuccessful, Ahmad learns that what's important to keep a marriage alive is this verse in the Qur'an. During his first marriage to Haniya, Yasin's mother, he didn't practice that mercy that is mentioned in the Qur'an but he learns to use it during his marriage to Amina, which turns out to be the most successful marriage in Palace Walk.
The short-lived marriage of Yasin and Zaynab is very similar to the ones between Ahmad and Haniya, Yasin's mother. When Ahmad was married to Haniya he admitted to actually enjoying living with her, which is the only true emotion for women Ahmad is rumored to have outside of lust (106). Like Marixa said in her blog, Ahmad and Women, in the book, we haven't really seen much emotion out of Ahmad for women besides lust. Haniya seems to have been the only woman who brought a little of that out of him, that is until he met Amina. But the “love” is short-lived when Haniya shows that she's a woman who won't take just anything from her husband. Ahmad began to beat her when she would leave the house or do anything that he didn't want her to do. Instead of loving her and treating her like a human being instead of a dog that you train, their marriage ends up failing. This marriage, like many other marriages in the book including Ahmad's current marriage to Amina, could be or could've been a lot better if the husband would put his wife first instead of him trying to seem like a masculine guy who can control his wife. It also could've been successful if Ahmad had learned to practice the mercy that the Qur'an speaks on. Had Ahmad shown mercy to his wife and put her needs before his own needs to be fulfilled as a “man”, many things in his life would have been different. Yasin wouldn't have a strained relationship with his own mother, and probably wouldn't have the outlook on women that he has now.
After his marriage to Haniya, Ahmad goes on to marry Amina. Amina is a totally different wife to Ahmad than Haniya is and she proves to be more along the lines of a wife that he wants. She's quiet, meek, obedient, and most importantly, fearful of him. She's scared to do anything that Ahmad might not approve of, and when she does, her worst fear comes true. When she leaves the house and goes outside to visit al-Husayn, Ahmad finds out and kicks her out. Right then, it seems that Ahmad has gone back to the old ways that got him in trouble with his first marriage. He seems to solve his problems with women by putting them out. But, he knew that just putting her out his house would cease to function. Even though it took him until the end of the book to truly realize, he's not all powerful. Like Daniela said in her blog, He's Human After All, he at some point began to realize that he needs help with things and he can't do everything on your own. When he takes her back, he practices what the Qur'an says is important in a successful marriage, and that's mercy. The act of mercy includes showing compassion to someone and forgiving them for something they've done. When Ahmad finally learns the importance of mercy and showing it in his marriage, he admits to not being perfect and needing help in their home.
At first, Ahmad doesn't seem to be capable of loving anyone besides himself. Once he learned to show love to someone besides himself, he begins to have a successful marriage. That love, like the Qur'an stated, is necessary to have a successful marriage but not just in the book but in real life. In Ahmad's first marriage to Haniya, he doesn't truly love her and doesn't practice mercy on her. Love and mercy should go hand in hand with one another. If you truly love someone, then you show them mercy because you can look past the bad things they've done and forgive them. But, if you want to leave them just because they did something you don't agree with, then that's not love. That's why it's obvious that Ahmad loves Amina. He gets angry with her, he cheats on her and sometimes treats her badly, and I'm not saying that all those things are acceptable for a husband to do to his wife. But, at the end of the day, he always thinks of his wife. When he's taken away by the British soldiers, his mind goes to his family, and it's not just the kids but her as well. Even though Ahmad is still a selfish man, he learns to make room for someone else in his life, and apparently Amina was good enough to fit the bill of that person.
Works Cited
1.The Holy Quran. Maulana Muhammad Ali, 2002. Web. 5 Apr. 2010..
2.Barajas, Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. He's Human After All. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010..
3.Rodriguez, Marixa. "Ahmad and Women." Web Log post. Digging Even Deeper: Ahmad and Women. 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2010..
4.Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
The short-lived marriage of Yasin and Zaynab is very similar to the ones between Ahmad and Haniya, Yasin's mother. When Ahmad was married to Haniya he admitted to actually enjoying living with her, which is the only true emotion for women Ahmad is rumored to have outside of lust (106). Like Marixa said in her blog, Ahmad and Women, in the book, we haven't really seen much emotion out of Ahmad for women besides lust. Haniya seems to have been the only woman who brought a little of that out of him, that is until he met Amina. But the “love” is short-lived when Haniya shows that she's a woman who won't take just anything from her husband. Ahmad began to beat her when she would leave the house or do anything that he didn't want her to do. Instead of loving her and treating her like a human being instead of a dog that you train, their marriage ends up failing. This marriage, like many other marriages in the book including Ahmad's current marriage to Amina, could be or could've been a lot better if the husband would put his wife first instead of him trying to seem like a masculine guy who can control his wife. It also could've been successful if Ahmad had learned to practice the mercy that the Qur'an speaks on. Had Ahmad shown mercy to his wife and put her needs before his own needs to be fulfilled as a “man”, many things in his life would have been different. Yasin wouldn't have a strained relationship with his own mother, and probably wouldn't have the outlook on women that he has now.
After his marriage to Haniya, Ahmad goes on to marry Amina. Amina is a totally different wife to Ahmad than Haniya is and she proves to be more along the lines of a wife that he wants. She's quiet, meek, obedient, and most importantly, fearful of him. She's scared to do anything that Ahmad might not approve of, and when she does, her worst fear comes true. When she leaves the house and goes outside to visit al-Husayn, Ahmad finds out and kicks her out. Right then, it seems that Ahmad has gone back to the old ways that got him in trouble with his first marriage. He seems to solve his problems with women by putting them out. But, he knew that just putting her out his house would cease to function. Even though it took him until the end of the book to truly realize, he's not all powerful. Like Daniela said in her blog, He's Human After All, he at some point began to realize that he needs help with things and he can't do everything on your own. When he takes her back, he practices what the Qur'an says is important in a successful marriage, and that's mercy. The act of mercy includes showing compassion to someone and forgiving them for something they've done. When Ahmad finally learns the importance of mercy and showing it in his marriage, he admits to not being perfect and needing help in their home.
At first, Ahmad doesn't seem to be capable of loving anyone besides himself. Once he learned to show love to someone besides himself, he begins to have a successful marriage. That love, like the Qur'an stated, is necessary to have a successful marriage but not just in the book but in real life. In Ahmad's first marriage to Haniya, he doesn't truly love her and doesn't practice mercy on her. Love and mercy should go hand in hand with one another. If you truly love someone, then you show them mercy because you can look past the bad things they've done and forgive them. But, if you want to leave them just because they did something you don't agree with, then that's not love. That's why it's obvious that Ahmad loves Amina. He gets angry with her, he cheats on her and sometimes treats her badly, and I'm not saying that all those things are acceptable for a husband to do to his wife. But, at the end of the day, he always thinks of his wife. When he's taken away by the British soldiers, his mind goes to his family, and it's not just the kids but her as well. Even though Ahmad is still a selfish man, he learns to make room for someone else in his life, and apparently Amina was good enough to fit the bill of that person.
Works Cited
1.The Holy Quran. Maulana Muhammad Ali, 2002. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.
2.Barajas, Daniela. "He's Human After All." Web log post. He's Human After All. 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.
3.Rodriguez, Marixa. "Ahmad and Women." Web Log post. Digging Even Deeper: Ahmad and Women. 20 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Mar. 2010.
4.Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990. Print.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Sensitive Soul-dier
The ending of Naguib Mahfouz’s novel, Palace Walk, shows one of the main characters opening himself up to the reader. Like an oyster, he opened his strong shell to expose his soft inside. Throughout the entire novel, al-Sayyid Ahmad plays the tough dictatorial father who allows no questioning of his authority, and does whatever he pleases whenever he pleases. But in a dramatic change of events, Ahmad reveals that he isn’t only the strict tyrant that he is perceived to be, he is a delicate, innocent person who, like most other on this world, is torn apart after finding out terrible news about one of his children.
“The young man said with obvious sorrow, 'We are sad to inform you of the death of our brother freedom fighter Fahmy Ahmad… (495)'” Ahmad learns that his son Fahmy just died during a peace rally. He asks the soldiers many questions and among them is a comment which shows Ahmad's ignorance. Ahmad thinks that this was Fahmy's first rally against the war, well it wasn't. Fahmy had gone behind his father's back and attended other rallies before. He must have thought of the saying, “What daddy don't know, wont hurt him.” Well that didn't, but Fahmy's death did. And with Fahmy also died the tyrannical Ahmad that Mahfouz portrayed throughout the novel. Like Daniela mentioned in her blog, Hiding Behind the Wall, “...[H]e was too sensitive, he acted so rough with them to protect himself from being hurt by them.” She is talking about how he acts with his daughters, and this also applies to his sons. But after Fahmy died, he can't be tough on him anymore, and there is no more act.
Like previously mentioned, Ahmad wasn't the nicest guy in the world. He wasn't faithful either to his wife or his religion, he was mean spirited, and he obviously wasn't a good role model, but an even like the death of your child, that can really turn a person around. I'll sidetrack to my personal life briefly. Whenever my mother hears a story about how someone's son died, she says, “Ay no! Yo no podria vivir sabiendo que se me murio un hijo.” With that, she summarizes some of the feelings that Ahmad is having. He could not live knowing that one of his children died. No one can truly feel what Ahmad feels unless they are a parent themselves.
And Ahmad learned a lesson that any other parent in this situation would learn. As I believe Johnathan tries to get at in his blog Father's and Children's Relationships, he learns what the role of being a father is. The death of Fahmy is going to bring him closer to his remaining children.
Fahmy is now dead, but he left an inheritance of lessons for his family, and the first one to get his share, Ahmad, learned quickly, and changed his ways.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990.
“The young man said with obvious sorrow, 'We are sad to inform you of the death of our brother freedom fighter Fahmy Ahmad… (495)'” Ahmad learns that his son Fahmy just died during a peace rally. He asks the soldiers many questions and among them is a comment which shows Ahmad's ignorance. Ahmad thinks that this was Fahmy's first rally against the war, well it wasn't. Fahmy had gone behind his father's back and attended other rallies before. He must have thought of the saying, “What daddy don't know, wont hurt him.” Well that didn't, but Fahmy's death did. And with Fahmy also died the tyrannical Ahmad that Mahfouz portrayed throughout the novel. Like Daniela mentioned in her blog, Hiding Behind the Wall, “...[H]e was too sensitive, he acted so rough with them to protect himself from being hurt by them.” She is talking about how he acts with his daughters, and this also applies to his sons. But after Fahmy died, he can't be tough on him anymore, and there is no more act.
Like previously mentioned, Ahmad wasn't the nicest guy in the world. He wasn't faithful either to his wife or his religion, he was mean spirited, and he obviously wasn't a good role model, but an even like the death of your child, that can really turn a person around. I'll sidetrack to my personal life briefly. Whenever my mother hears a story about how someone's son died, she says, “Ay no! Yo no podria vivir sabiendo que se me murio un hijo.” With that, she summarizes some of the feelings that Ahmad is having. He could not live knowing that one of his children died. No one can truly feel what Ahmad feels unless they are a parent themselves.
And Ahmad learned a lesson that any other parent in this situation would learn. As I believe Johnathan tries to get at in his blog Father's and Children's Relationships, he learns what the role of being a father is. The death of Fahmy is going to bring him closer to his remaining children.
Fahmy is now dead, but he left an inheritance of lessons for his family, and the first one to get his share, Ahmad, learned quickly, and changed his ways.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy). New York: Anchor, 1990.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Wake-Up Call
After having everyone regard Ahmad as a hero throughout the entire book, we finally see that Ahamd is human just like everyone else. For one thing, his friend Muhammad Iffat takes a stand and defends his daughter from the injustices that Ahmad and Yasin put women through. After Zaynab finds her husband cheating on her with her maid, Nur, she flees to her father’s home and tells him everything that Yasin has done. Iffat says, “Is my daughter destined to share a husband with her in a polygamous marriage? By the Lord of Heaven, no”.(406) Muhammad Iffat feels that his family’s honor has been disrespected and therefore requests for Zaynab and Yasin to get a divorce. Ahmad reacts as if it is only natural for a man to have other women whenever he pleases and that shows he is a hypocrite and a narcissist. Since Ahamd seems to be only concerned with his honor, he scolds Yasin and for the first time Yasin doesn’t look at his father as a hero, instead he thinks, “Discipline yourself. Give yourself some advice. Have you forgotten Zabuyda? Jalila? The music and the wine? After all that, you appear before us wearing the turban of the most authoritative Muslim legal scholar…”(410) As Lauren describes in her blog, “Ahmad leads a double-life”. According to Dr. Gail Saltz, “secrets can cause people to behave in ways that seem entirely out of character — to go to any desperate length to conceal what simply must be hidden, at all costs”. This is exactly what Ahmad is trying to do with his life because he knows he feels ashamed for the things he has done.
Unfortunately Ahmad only realizes where he has gone wrong when he learns that Fahmy has died while at a demonstration. This is the turning point in Ahmad’s life. It becomes the wake-up call that Ahmad needs to realize that he is not the almighty and that he is human just like everyone else. Ahmad asks, “Won’t you allow me to begin his funeral procession at his home”.(496) This is the first time Ahmad asks for permission to do something. It is incredible to see Ahmad would ask if he could bury his son because before he would usually just do as he pleases. Now he questions, “ How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone?….This really is pain.”(496-497) As Daniela mentions, “he admits….that he is not God”. This is the moment when Ahmad knows that that things have to change.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990
Saltz, Gail. “When does a secret become a double life?” MSNBC. April 11, 2006. Web. March 17, 2010. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12191728/
Barajas, Daniela. “He’s Human After All” Digging Even Deeper. Web. 27 Mar. 2010.
Clemons, Lauren. “Leading a Double Life” Digging Even Deeper. Web. 27 Mar. 2010
Unfortunately Ahmad only realizes where he has gone wrong when he learns that Fahmy has died while at a demonstration. This is the turning point in Ahmad’s life. It becomes the wake-up call that Ahmad needs to realize that he is not the almighty and that he is human just like everyone else. Ahmad asks, “Won’t you allow me to begin his funeral procession at his home”.(496) This is the first time Ahmad asks for permission to do something. It is incredible to see Ahmad would ask if he could bury his son because before he would usually just do as he pleases. Now he questions, “ How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone?….This really is pain.”(496-497) As Daniela mentions, “he admits….that he is not God”. This is the moment when Ahmad knows that that things have to change.
Works Cited
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990
Saltz, Gail. “When does a secret become a double life?” MSNBC. April 11, 2006. Web. March 17, 2010. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/12191728/
Barajas, Daniela. “He’s Human After All” Digging Even Deeper. Web. 27 Mar. 2010.
Clemons, Lauren. “Leading a Double Life” Digging Even Deeper. Web. 27 Mar. 2010
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