A Thousand Farewells Summary

Nydell, Margaret K. (. K. Understanding Arabs: A Guide for Modern Times. Intercultural Press, Yarmouth, ME, 2006.

Palestinian identity has lasted the test of time through exile, diaspora, and attempts at cultural white-washing. It is through these situations that Palestine has created a unique sense of identity, unlike many nation-states. The Palestinian identity has come to transcend borders, nationality, and mediums. It is not only represented in politics and protest, but in personal expression and the arts. This paper argues that both national identity and cultural productions of Palestine represent the diaspora through noticeable adaptation based on location and support the idea that Palestinian identity isn't singularly definable.

In his novel, The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini depicts his homeland Afghanistan as a host to many different cultures and classes, such as Pashtun and Hazara, Sunni and Shiite, with this dichotomy of beliefs and attributes being powerful enough to shape diverse, sometimes negative relationships amongst the characters of the novel and their behavior to each other, as well as establish that individual’s identity. Each person interprets the impact of the role of belief and social status differently, while all living in the same setting, adding to their complexity and depth as a character in the novel with many different figures tied together by the same geographical and cultural conditions.

The Road to Chlifa, novel illustrated by Michele Marineau describes the story about a boy who lives in Beirut Lebanon. The country has been in the civil war for 15 years. The protagonist in the novel is Karim, 17-year-old boy who lost the girl whom he loved a lot during the war. On the other hand, the antagonist is the war going in Lebanon and children in Karim’s school in Montreal. This novel gives a very important message about friendship, and love, about how time makes you responsible before your age. There are many themes in the book such as love, friendship, isolation, courage, discrimination and much more.

Do we really know how it feels when you’re loved ones are killed after every second or when you will stop breathing? No matter how sad we become after listening to their painful stories, we can’t really feel the pain or problems that the victim’s relatives had gone through. The Road to Chlifa, novel illustrated by Michele Marineau describes the story about a boy who lives in Beirut Lebanon, a country that has been in the civil war for fifteen years. Karim expresses the theme of isolation, through his feelings for Nada. The protagonist in the novel is Karim, 17-year-old boy who lost the girl whom he loved, during the war, and the antagonist is the war occurring in Lebanon and also the school that Karim attends in

Do we really know how it feels when you’re loved ones are killed in a war or when you will stop breathing? No matter how sad we become after listening to their painful stories, we can’t really feel the pain or problems that the victim’s relatives had gone through. The Road to Chlifa, novel illustrated by Michele Marineau describes the story about a boy who lives in Beirut Lebanon, a country that has been in the civil war for fifteen years. Karim expresses the theme of isolation, through his feelings for Nada. The protagonist in the novel is Karim, 17-year-old boy who lost the girl whom he loved, during the war, and the antagonist is the war occurring in Lebanon and also the school that Karim attends in Montreal. Karim left lonely after his parents went to Montreal, then Bachir moved to Paris and the one whom he loved died.

‘Wild Thorns’ by Sahar Khalifeh is an insightful commentary that brings to life the Palestinian struggle under the Israeli Occupation and embodies this conflict through the different perspectives brought forth by the contrasting characters. We are primarily shown this strife through the eyes of the principal character, the expatriate Usama, as well as the foil character of his cousin, Adil. Khalifeh skillfully uses literary devices such as emotive language, allusions and positive and negative connotations to highlight life under the Occupation. As the audience, these techniques help encourage us to consider the struggle more in depth, and due to the wide variety of characters, invite us to relate to them.

This story is told through a first person perspective as each refugee has their own secrets to keep while seeking a new life. This was a highly effective choice as it enabled the reader to “be in their shoes” and witness the brutal journey these refugees have faced. In order to show us the severity of the journey, imagery is needed since it helps the audience picture the situation as most of us cannot imagine what life at this time was. When Joana arrived at the port, as “animals roamed helplessly in the streets and people screamed out for food and lost family members” (152). This description shows how this war has torn apart everyone physically and emotionally as complete chaos unfolds. It is also an appeal to pathos as her audience would feel devastated by having to witness such a scene. This is because nobody should have no food to eat or not know whether they were safe. As a result, the description of the port upon Joana’s arrival proves that even after their journey was completed, the fight for survival was not over. Instead, it was just beginning as everyone fought for a boarding pass that one hoped would allow them to

This essay is about the universal refugee experience and the hardships that they have to go through on their journey. Ha from Inside Out and Back Again and other refugees from the article “Children of War” all struggle with the unsettling feeling of being inside out because they no longer own the things that mean the most to them. Ha and the other refugees all encounter similar curiosities of overcoming the finding of that back again peaceful consciousness in the “new world” that they are living in .

There are many countries in the world and every country is unique and individualistic with many exclusive qualities. Everyone in the world has a culture but it is not easy to accept or agree with other people’s culture. The ethnography, “Guests of the Sheik”, written by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea really captures what it is like to live and to be immersed into another culture. Ethnography is “comprised of the writings of the anthropologist, detailing the life ways of a particular culture, investigated by means of direct fieldwork” (Arenson, and Miller-Thayer 1). Elizabeth Fernea lived in a small village of El Nahra in southern Iraq for two years to gather data for her anthropologist husband Bob. In the beginning, she had limited knowledge of Iraq, its religion or culture, but as she started connecting with the women of the society, she came to learn both about this foreign country and about herself. Acculturation is “the process of acceptance resulting for the contact between two cultures, or an individual interacting in at least two cultures” (517). As she builds relationships with the woman’s, she is acculturated.

Ever since, Palestinians have had to adapt to new places and cultures in order to survive, which makes it more difficult for them to preserve their own. Said presents several examples of transculturation throughout the essay. For instance, the use of the Mercedes, even though Said describes it in negative terms, the use of the Mercedes has come in handy for Palestinians. Enduring one disaster after another, Palestinian identity is arduous to preserve in exile. It is a struggle of having no country. Our country is a big part of who we are. As we are born, we are destined to become a part of it. It becomes part of our identity. Things that we grew up with meant something to us. We usually treasure things that became part of our lives. Even unconsciously, we take hold of it. Home brings us memories, memories that we want to hold on up to our last breath.

The Kite Runner (2003) by Khaled Hosseini, an Afghan-born American novelist and physician, unravels the abnormal life of a young Afghan boy Amir, who lives in the war corrupted country of Afghanistan from 1963 to 1981 and then seeks asylum in America and later returning to Afghanistan for his nephew. The novel is set from the 1970s to the year 2002 during the Taliban takeover. Hosseini’s text is foreign to me as a western reader provoking a new particular way of seeing certain ideas such as; a new perspective on violence, discrimination and the class divide in society and family honour. The author uses narrative techniques such as; involving sensory imagery, which develops the foreign setting, mood and unique ideas associated with life in Afghanistan.

Social conditions are what shape a country. Over the years, people, not only in Afghanistan, but around the world create norms that define people’s roles in life, their future, and how they should be treated based on their gender and beliefs. Khaled Hosseini’s first novel, The Kite Runner, comments on the social conditions of Afghanistan through telling a story about the lives of two Muslim boys; a privileged Sunni Pashtun, Amir, and his long-time friend and servant, Hassan, a loyal but disadvantaged Shia Hazara. Hosseini expresses Amir’s uncertain feelings toward Hassan which form the decisions he makes throughout the book. These choices result in Amir destroying his relationship with Hassan. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini is a commentary on the social conditions in Afghanistan as shown through the roles of women and men in society and the ideals of Afghan culture. Unfortunately, these problems are still active in most of Afghanistan.

The novel, Midaq Alley, written by Naguib Mahfouz, tells the story of various characters living in a poor alley in Egypt during World War I. Of all the people in Midaq Alley, Hamida is the one who lusts most for an escape from tradition and poverty. She despises her traditional culture, and longs for a life free from the social and cultural constraints that fall upon her. Hamida is introduced as a strong character; however, the temptation of modernization guides her towards a more enticing lifestyle. Hamida’s character portrays how easy it is for one to abandon their culture, traditions and values.

As a further means of separating the population into distinct groups, religion acts as a divisionary force between characters and cultures. There are two primary conflicting cultures represented in the novel that are the cause of religious differences: Sunnis versus Shi’ites and secularism versus religious fundamentalism. Similar to the discrimination based on ethnicity, the conflict based on religion is primarily exemplified through Assef and Hassan, who are Sunni and Shi’ite, respectively. As such, any justification for inclusion and exclusion of people not based solely on ethnicity could just be rationalized through differences of religion. With this prevalent culture present, the importance is in the author’s depiction of the “bleak hypocrisies of the Taliban period--the disgusting cruelties performed in the name of righteousness” as stated by David Denby in “Hard Life.” Through the