The society depicted in Hisham Matar’s novel In the Country of Men is one where people do not feel safe to hold beliefs contrary to the beliefs of the Gaddafi regime and one where acts of dishonesty and betrayal are sometimes necessary for survival. As supreme leader of the Libyan people, Gaddafi dishonestly represents himself as the benevolent ‘Guide’ of his people embodying qualities such as generosity, love and forgiveness. This sort of misrepresentation and disloyalty is a betrayal of the Libyan people. Matar’s novel suggests the only hope the Libyan population has of a happy existence is to mimic the values of the regime, fight against it covertly or flee from it. Qualities such as honesty and loyalty become irrelevant when your life is at stake and it is difficult to condemn any response from people living in such circumstances. The Guide in the novel is presented as a God-like overseer of his people who acts with a loving and compassionate heart. The Libyan people are expected to feel grateful for the Guide’s protection and for all he gives them to make their lives abundant and happy. This is in spite of the reality that the Guide is a threatening presence who takes more than he gives and that the people feel constantly spied upon and at risk of being exposed as a traitor to the regime. The true colours of the Guide are very obvious to the people through the televised interrogations and executions and the intimidating presence of the Revolutionary Committee men who give lie to sayings like ‘only the guilty live in fear’ and give rise to sayings like ‘walk by the wall’. Najwa’s visit to Um Masoud and Ustath Jafer emphasises the false face of the Guide. Najwa visits Ustath Jafer to prevent Faraj’s execution at the hands of ... ... middle of paper ... ...ily, friendship, life itself are all considered dispensable by people in pursuit of power. Matar’s intention it would seem is to both condemn the Gaddafi regime for its blatant abuse of power and for its disloyalty to its people and to mourn the effects of such regimes on ordinary lives. The sadly beautiful scene at the end of the novel where Najwa and the grown up Suleiman reunite underlines the importance of human lives and the tragedy when a political system betrays their interests and cheats them of what is rightfully theirs – in this case a mother’s right to her son, a son’s right to his mother. ‘‘Mama! Mama!’ When I reach her she kisses my hands, my forehead, my cheeks, combs my hair with her fingers, straightens my collar.’Mama and Suleiman’s relationship is still alive but its death would not have been a surprise in such a society, under such circumstances.
We as human beings all have choices. Many of the choices we make can affect us for the rest of our lives. Among the more important decisions a person will ever have to face is that of betrayal. Often times we are in a situation in which we must chose sides: “Whom to betray?”, and in this case, the options are friend or country. I agree with E. M. Forster’s view on personal relations and patriotism, believing that “I hope I should have the guts to betray my country” (Forster) over my friend. A person should always – and one might even say has a duty to – place his conscience or the moral laws he has set for himself over any conflicting manmade law.
No one knows what will happen in his or her life whether it is a trivial family dispute or a civil war. Ishmael Beah and Mariatu Kamara are both child victims of war with extremely different life stories. Both of them are authors who have written about their first-hand experience of the truth of the war in order to voice out to the world to be aware of what is happening. Beah wrote A Long Way Gone while Kamara wrote The Bite of the Mango. However, their autobiographies give different information to their readers because of different points of view. Since the overall story of Ishmael Beah includes many psychological and physical aspects of war, his book is more influential and informative to the world than Kamara’s book.
In 1996 the war in Sierra Leone was becoming a horrific catastrophe. Children were recruited to be soldiers, families were murdered, death came easily, and staying alive was a privilege. Torture became the favorite pastime of the Revolutionary United Front rebel movement, which was against the citizens who supported Sierra Leone’s president, Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. I was in the grips of genocide and there was nothing I could do. Operation No Living Thing was put into full effect (Savage 33).
Marcus, Johnathon. "BBC News - Arming Libya's Rebels: A Cautionary Tale." BBC - Homepage. 30 Mar. 2011. Web. 02 Apr. 2011. .
Critics have already begun a heated debate over the success of the book that has addressed both its strengths and weaknesses. The debate may rage for a few years but it will eventually fizzle out as the success of the novel sustains. The characters, plot, emotional appeal, and easily relatable situations are too strong for this book to crumble. The internal characteristics have provided a strong base to withstand the petty attacks on underdeveloped metaphors and transparent descriptions. The novel does not need confrontations with the Middle East to remain a staple in modern reading, it can hold its own based on its life lessons that anyone can use.
With the struggle of social stature between two boys; Amir, a Pashtun - Sunni Moslem that is considered of a higher class with seniority, and Hassan, who is looked down upon because he is a Hazara of lower class. Hassan and his father Ali, (a good friend of Baba, Amir’s father) live in a mud shack on Baba’s property together – they are servants for Amir and Baba. Despite the social differences between the boys, and at a time in Afghanistan when bigotry has sparked flame between these two ethnic groups, they still find a way to create what seems to be an everlasting bond with one another. “Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard, and under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba, his was Amir.” (Page 13) Even as children, Amir was always the weaker one; Hassan was always sticking up for him and fighting his battles for him. Even though Amir was educated and Hassan was not, Amir still found ways to be jealous of Hassan at times especially when he corrected him and foun...
After war Daru had requested to be transferred to a small town, where the silence of the town echoes in the schoolhouse; and it was hard on him. Now that he has company the same silence still muter the house. He thought about war and how he fought next to other men, whom he got to know and to love. The presence of the Arab imposes on Daru a feeling of brotherhood that he knew very well, and that he didn’t want to share. Men that fought together, or share rooms, or were prisoners or soldiers grow a peculiar alliance. However, Daru tries not to think about it, such feelings aren’t good for him. Daru wishes the Arab runs away because he feels as much of a prisoner as the
Furthermore, losing her father and older brother means that Najmah had to do most of the chores outside of the house leaving her mom all by herself. Najmah and Mada-Jan were keeping the farm and home up and running, even with the birth of Najmah's new baby brother, until, “My mother lies on the ground nearby with her legs splayed at odd angles to the rest of her. She reaches her hand toward me, and opens her lips to speak. Instead of words, blood pours from her mouth. By the time I reach her she stares with glassy, dead eyes”(67). Najmah does not know what could have gone worse, she has to take care of a farm and home by herself! But luckily Najmah also has other neighbors that haven't lost their families and are traveling to Pakistan. Najmah only agrees to this because she hopes that Baba-Jan and Nur will be there waiting for her. In addition to all this Najmah has forgotten that she will lose the home that she was born in and spent the last twelve years in, " I look back over my shoulder at the path we've ridden all through the night. But they are far, far behind us, and I realize I will never see them
Authors often use their works as a way to express their own opinions and ideologies. However, it is the skill of the author that determines whether these ideas are combined with the plot seamlessly, making a creative transition of ideas from the author’s mind, to the reader’s. There is no doubt that George Orwell is a masterful writer, and one of his most popular works, 1984, clearly expresses his negative views of the Totalitarian government. A common theme in the dystopian society in 1984 is betrayal: The Party is very intolerant towards any form of disloyalty, and anyone who plots against them or Big Brother will eventually either betray their own mind and accept Big Brother as their leader, or be betrayed and revealed to The Party by one of their so-called comrades. Overall, Orwell is using this constant theme of betrayal to show how alone and alienated the protagonist (Winston Smith) is in his quest against Totalitarianism, thus showing how flawed and hopeless the political system is.
The lost boys of Sudan view war as bad luck, since they have no control over violence in their region. The lost boys did not choose to be born within these two groups, and are not willing to participate in violent activities, in their environment. The boys are not supportive of the war, and it is from this reason that they are fleeing away from their home country to avoid recruitment into militia groups (Ajak, 2006). Therefore, war causes separation of family members and disintegration of ethnic groups. People lose their ethnic identities during instances of war as they seek refuge in new environments. According to the boys, war leads to premature death, fear, hunger, disability, violence, displacement and diseases. War exposes people to more harm than during peaceful periods (Ajak, 2006). The lost boys feel that war is a threat to their lives and schooling. It is a tradition for...
Daru, the schoolteacher in a remote area of Algeria, is torn between duty and what he believes is the right thing to do when he is suddenly forced in the middle of a situation he does not expect. He must escort an Arabic prisoner to the nearest town. It is not that Daru has much sympathy for the man; in fact, he does not, and actually finds himself disliking the Arab for disrupting so many lives. "Daru felt a sudden wrath against the man, against all men with their rotten spite, their tireless hates, their blood lust." Unfortunately, Daru loves his homeland, and cannot bear to think of leaving, despite the chaos that is raging around him between France and the Algerian natives. I believe that Daru makes the right choice in letting the prisoner choose his own fate. Daru has reaso...
Throughout the narrator’s elaborate life; he experienced love, friendship, and sickness; as well as many other things described in his book: Love in Exile. This book discusses the different cultures and personalities that the narrator observes, the love of the narrator’s life, Brigitte, and the life of Bahaa Taher in general and the kinds of cultures he experiences.
Authority in a society is a necessary evil which when unfettered, results in the abuse of power. Power has long been considered a corrupting and a disrupting force in function and in influence. Underlying motives and greed fuel those who seek to gain and or abuse this power. The Crucible examines this twisted force as it corrupts societies’ clergy, blinds its justices, and empowers those who seek to abuse it. Arthur Miller shows how power can be a corrupting influence and how it can blind the judgment of authoritative figures.
...es based on their desires instead of the desires of their male counterparts. As the women age, they take on new names to represent their physical and emotional changes. Naseem gains power as a married woman and becomes Reverend Mother while Mumtaz acquires power through the realization of her reproductive abilities. These women have varying degrees of power over their lives but it is limited to the value Indian society places on the domestic sphere and the importance of a woman’s place in this sphere. A married woman will garner more respect and have more of a voice than an unwed daughter living within her father’s household, while motherhood is regarded as one of the most important roles for a woman and given special considerations. Rushdie portrays ascension to power within the realm of the home and family by to show how power is passed between social boundaries.
The Guide, a novel by R.K. Narayan is rooted in everyday, down-to-earth characters in which he believes depicts the Indian way of life. This Bildungsroman novel is told in chronological manner with two stories in one plot. It reflects upon Raju’s life since he was a little boy to the present day. Set in Narayan’s fictional town, Malgudi, Raju tells the story of his past in the first person narration while his experience as a swami is told in the third person narration.