An Analysis of Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih

Changes in slave trade were significant to migratory patterns during this time period. In the

Joyce’s “Araby” and Bambara’s “Lesson” pose surprising similarities to each other. Despite the narrators’ strikingly clear differences, such as time period, ethnicity, social class, and gender the characters have important similarities. Both narrators are at crucial developmental stages in their lives, are faced with severe adversities, and have a point of clarity that affects their future.

Written by Tayeb Salih, the novel ‘Season of Migration to the North’ as described by The Observer “is an Arabian Nights in reverse, enclosing a pithy moral about international misconceptions and delusions.” The novel is set both in England and the Sudan, showing the stark social differences within these two locations. In this essay, I will evaluate the reasons supporting and opposing Mahjoub’s statement as defined in ‘Season of Migration to the North’.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini takes a solid focus on the lives of two young women, Mariam and Laila, who grow up in a struggling and turbulent Afghanistan. This book emulates the lives of those who have actually been affected by the extreme changes of power within their culture. From the Soviets to the Taliban, these people are caught in a war they cannot win but must deal with the consequences of. The lives of Mariam and Laila are consumed and silenced by those with power over them, namely males with traditional values. The book conveys the idea that even with an immense amount of destruction and terror wrought throughout Afghanistan, underneath lies a beauty that has been muted but it still provides hope for the future.

In the novel “The Moor’s Account” by Laila Lalami, the author stresses how the main character Mustafa is effected by his family and how that relates to the future he has in the New World. This is most identified by how he feels about his father, the giving up of his name, and his struggle to fight for a new life. Unlike other slaves in the New World, Mustafa ibn Muhammad ibn Abdussalam al-Zamori chose his fate for the possibility of a better life. He had the opportunity to try to work for himself and his family while still in Morocco. In fact, his father had even wanted him to do that. But Mustafa knew that he was confident in his decision to sell himself into slavery so that his family can be better off from there. In the story, the reader sees how Mustafa struggles as he journeys from Morocco and across the New World in search of the possibility for a new life. Overall, the reader sees how Mustafa struggles with not following his father’s guidance, his loss of humanity from his name being taken away, the quest to avoid changing his entire humanity in his new life, and how everything changing has affected him and changed him as a person.

It is typical for Americans and the world in general to judge people from North Africa, particularly Arabs. This they do without actually walking in their shoes and living their lives. In particular, after the wave of terrorism that hit the United States and the world at large since the turn of the century, there has been a negative perception towards North Africans and the Arab world at large. It is for this reason that Julia Clancy-smith took a trip to Algeria and Tunisia in order to give the world an unbiased view of the world in which North Africans live (Clancy-Smith 50). The author focused on the political and religious actions of those considered the Muslim and their followers. Additionally, she gives a detailed analysis of the accommodation and resistance to the colonial rule. She rejects the popular position that Tunisians and Algerians were victims of colonial aggression from the west and argued instead that Muslim notables actually understood the complications of the outside world and were therefore, able to manipulate the changes that were taking place around them. This paper is focused on reviewing this book in the context of the twenty first century.

Throughout Khaled Hosseini’s novel, The Kite Runner, the reader observes many injustices committed due to the presence of the Taliban and cultural conflict in Afghanistan. One of the most concerning issues in Afghanistan is the mistreatment and inequality that women face on a daily basis due to Taliban mandates. Women in Afghanistan are treated as inferior beings to men and are unable to stand up for themselves due the laws the Taliban enforces. Hosseini uses the wives of Amir and Hassan, Soraya and Farzana, to represent the injustices to which women in Afghanistan are subjected.

Hisham Matar’s strikingly expressive and poetic debut novel In the Country of Men is very much a coming of age novel documenting the life of Suleiman as he strives to discover who he is. As per the title of the text, Matar explores through the searching and often naïve eyes of Suleiman, the types of men present within Libyan society. Although mid-twentieth century Libya presented an ideal of the ‘Libyan man’ as strong and authoritative, Readers, through various interactions between Suleiman and the men he encounters, uncover that in reality, the ideal man isn’t necessarily all that society has to offer. As such, it is ultimately Suleiman’s role to determine which man he truly is amidst the “madness” of living under the regime.

The story “Araby” as told by James Joyce is about a young boy that is fascinated with the girl across the street. But deeper down the story is about a very lonely boy lusting for her love and affection. Throughout the story, we see how the frustration of first love, isolation and high expectations breaks the main character emotionally and physically. James Joyce uses the first-person viewpoint to tell this story which helps influence the plot, characterization, themes, and understanding of the main character.

“Araby,” is a story of emotional passion carefully articulated by the author, James Joyce, to mark the end of childhood and the start of adolescence. It is told from the perspective of a young boy who is filled with lust for his friend, Mangan’s, sister. He lives in a cheerless town on a street hosting simply complacent families who own brown faced houses that stare vacantly into one another. The boy temporarily detaches himself from this gloomy atmosphere and dwells on the keeper of his affection. Only when he journeys to a festival titled Araby, does he realize that his attempt at winning the heart of Mangan’s sister has been done in an act of vanity. Joyce takes advantage of literary elements such as diction and imagery to convey an at times dreary and foolishly optimistic tone.

In Season of Migration to the North, was written refers to 1898 when Great Britain started the occupations in Sudan. The narrative explained the questions that everyone asked him when he came back from London. “They say that women are unveiled and dance openly with men, it’s true” (4) Wad Rayyes asked. Women in the village did not have this freedom. This idea contrasts with what Mustafa explained his experience in the West. Mustafa was described as an inhuman genius and has a hobby of seducing women. He was educated and successful in both Britain and Sudan. He was the only child of a camel trader who died before he was born. Mustafa volunteered to go to school after the conversation he had with the government official. He liked the official’s hat saying “Will I wear a turban like that?” (19). He wanted to

The fictional accounts of women’s experiences in Fadia Faqir’s, Pillars of Salt, illustrate issues articulated by women’s rights activists in the Middle East. Traditional roles of women and men and a mythology of femininity and masculinity are juxtaposed with the disparate realities of the characters. The damaging forces of colonial rule, war, and Westernization are also exposed.

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.

“Prospero, you are the master of illusion. Lying is your trademark. And you have lied so much to me (lied about the world, lied about me) that you have ended by imposing on me an image of myself. Underdeveloped, you brand me, inferior, that is the way you have forced me to see myself, I detest the image! What’s more, it’s a lie! But now I know you, you old cancer, and I know myself as well.” Caliban, in Aime Cesaire’s “The Tempest”

In the Season of Migration to the North, Tayeb Saih portrays the heavy issues of sexism and colonialism through the role of women. The book not only informs its readers of the stereotypical gender roles, but it also illustrates the truth behind colonialism as a conquest of a people often enslaving them mentally and leaving them empty. According to this lens, the gender roles of men like Mustafa Sa’eed and Wad Rayyes represent the colonizers who ravish the colonized (personified by the female characters). Salih’s men are primarily sexual beings who see women as theirs to conquer while the women are meant to be subservient to sexual conquest.