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Arab Women and Their Spouses Essay

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Arab Women and Their Spouses

In many societies, the relationships between people differ and in some ways are all alike. None so obscure as the relationship between man and woman. It is especially intriguing to witness the compatibility of both especially in marriage. Using the three novels Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, A Woman of Five Seasons, by Leila Al-Atrash, and A Balcony over the Fakihani, by Liyana Badr one might begin to analyze the different relationships between men and women in Arab culture. While any relationship is uniquely different, these novels will aid in getting a better idea about Arab women and their husbands.

The stories begin with the novel Pillars of Salt where Maha and Um Saad are roommates in a mental …show more content…

Her mother told her that, "men were birds of prey; they chased the quarry as long as it was alive and struggling, but when they had killed it and filled their stomachs, they looked around for another" (p16). As a result, Maha was happy that she never met with Harb in private, for she could have ended up like Nasra and would never get married. Perhaps if she did meet with Harb he would taken advantage of her and then thrown her away like something used. Maha couldn?t help to think that maybe Harb was "just like any other man in [the] tribe, he proposed to [her] because [she] said no" (p 16).

On the night before the wedding Maha was not allowed to spin for "spinning on the night of your engagement was a bad omen" (p 24) and instead she had to prepare for the wedding feast because her mother, who had died, was not there. As it would have been tradition for her mother to do so. The day of the wedding was hard for Maha, because she had to cook all the food for the tribe and still get herself ready for presentation, seeing as the mother-of-the-groom was to inspect her (p 41).

Another tradition arose on the wedding night, when proof is expected of the bride?s virginity. Of course "all the members of the tribe would wait outside the door for proof", but it became uncomfortable for the couple to proceed with all the distraction. Maha asked herself "what if they were never given the sheet with blood on it?" (p 44) Would the tribe believe that Maha

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