In chapter 6, on My Neighbor’s Faith, tilted God is Greater, narrated by Jennifer Howe Peace tells the story of a girl who is a junior in college who travels to London and is exposed to different culture and religion. She originally comes from a Christian family in the United States, so she hasn’t ever actually encountered other religions. While studying around aboard, she meets a guy named Mohammad who invites her to join a Sufi poetry group. Little did she know that this group would forever change her perspective of religion. As her study’s went on, she slowly began to feel that original biblical text she had always been reading since a child, weren’t changed her mind set on faith. She also realized that faith couldn’t be inherited, you need …show more content…
It starts with her friend Sahar telling her a story that involved her veil. Soon after both students in graduate school create a play that lets people know about stories involving Muslim American women and their reality they face. They titled the play The Hijabi Monologues and performed it in many different venues. However, one night performing the play in Miami, where Sahar was from, Sahar’s mom made an appearance. The play began the way it always does and tells the stories about Muslim American women and who they are. They hope to have the audience learn about what different women encounter and leave the play with a more open minded perspective. After the play was finished, Zeenat goes up on stage to interact with the audience and give a feel of what they thought of the play. One man in particular stood out in the way back with his hand up. When she called on him the man stood up and said “I just wanted to say thank you. I have to admit that before watching this play, when I saw an Arab looking man in the airport, I would be watching him instead of reading my newspaper. When I saw a Muslim woman in a veil, I would be worried that she had a bomb under there. Now, I’m an African American man in my fifties and I should know better, but I have to admit, I was scared. So thank you.” (Pg18-19) The man noticed that all Muslim
The process of making decisions when growing up acts as a barrier, in particular the uncertainty and risk involved which makes the decision challenging and confusing. The post adolescence stage has Shafana in a bizarre stage of life where she must take full responsibility for her decisions and actions. In the beginning of the play the word veil is symbolic for the foreshadowing of the play “to recognize the veil of knowing and surrender to unknowing,” – Shafana. Here the veil is symbolic of the uncertainty that waits when escaping the societal criteria and transitioning to adulthood and life wearing the hijab. Shafana uses a monologue to expose her feelings of the
While growing up with her father, her religion was forced upon her, as for their punishment the children were sentenced to “the verse”, in which they were required to right out one hundred lines direct from the bible by memory. She doesn’t seem to enjoy the idea of faith, but there is no doubt that she realizes it’s
In the exposition we meet our protagonist who is a young women of Islam who wears the traditional veil that muslim women are advised to wear under the law of the Quran were it says, “And tell the believing women to reduce some of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which necessarily
One of the most controversial topics concerning Muslim women’s rights is the idea of the veil. It is believed by some Muslims that the veil is an Islamic obligation that all Muslim women must adhere to. But nowadays, the veil can have different meanings that are not necessarily religious. In her article “Reinventing the Veil,” Leila Ahmed addresses some of the different meanings that the veil can have. Marjane Satrapi explores one of those meanings in her animated autobiography Persepolis (2008). In Persepolis, Marjane tells the story of her rebellion against the Iranian Islamist regime that takes over Iran, oppresses women, and forces them to wear the veil. What was interesting to me was seeing Marjane wear the veil without being oppressed, although she does not believe in it, and is being forced to wear it. In Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi escapes being a subject to the Iranian Islamist ideology by establishing her individual identity through transforming the veil from a means of oppression into a means of feminist rebellion.
The author, Naheed Mustafa, starts out with two points of view others have of her, a “Muslim terrorist” or an oppressed woman (Mustafa 1). However, with these two points of view, Mustafa is suggesting that people only view her in these two ways because in their eyes a Muslim woman cannot be more. Then she introduces the hijab, a scarf which covers her neck, head, and throat, but explains that young Muslim women like her are “reinterpreting” the purpose of the hijab: give women absolute control over their bodies. According to Mustafa, the hijab does not only give women absolute control but freedom. Yet, others do not understand this concept or why a young woman who was born in a land that is free and full of opportunities like North America
Fatima is a little girl at school. She is Muslim religion. One day Fatima retuned from her school, She was upset .Her mother try to ask her what happened? . She was sad because her classmate Billy makes fun of her mother’s Muslim dress. He saw them at the grocery story. Fatima’s mother says that a person’s words and actions are more important than anything else. Her mom’s words help Fatima say and do something that will teach Billy a lesson. Feelings lead Fatima to come up with a plan to teach Billy a lesson about acceptance. Fatima looks happy and peaceful when she come up with her plan. She decided to talk in Talk Time. In the morning, Fatima ware Hijab’s mother. Fatima’s mom taught her daughter the process of putting on the Hijab. Everyone
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novel that provides insight into a young girl living in Iran during the hardship of war. Persepolis takes place during the childhood of Marjane Satrapi. It gives a background of the Islamic Revolution and the war in Iran. Satrapi attempts to guide herself in a corrupted world filled with propaganda. She tries to develop her own morality concerning religion, politics, and humanity. Satrapi was blessed enough to have high class status and parents who had an open mindset about the world around them. Thanks to her slightly alternative lifestyle, she is able to reconstruct gender norms that society has set by depicting the different ways women resist them. “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod is an essay detailing the misconceptions surrounding the veil. Through this essay we can see how colonial feminism, the form of feminism in which western women push for a western way of living on their third world counterparts, has shined a negative light on cultures all around the world - particularly Islamic women. The essay shows how women who don’t conform to American societal structures are labeled as women who urgently require saving. Through this essay one can develop a thorough understanding of the veil itself and the many representations it holds to different entities. Although in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood Satrapi
Ultimately, Satrapi’s images of the indistinguishable characters accentuate the perception of a western reader to see the Veil as quite oppressive. In America, young teenagers live in a society where clothing and hair is meant to define and express themselves. It is normal for a 17 year old girl to curl her hair and go on a date with her boyfriend. However, in Iran, this is not the case, and as evident in Persepolis, woman are restricted to show her hair or publically show affection to any man who is not her husband. This restriction is something that not many people, especially in predominantly Christian societies are accustomed to. On page 74, Taji, Marjane's mother warns her daughter by explaining one of her experiences, "They insulted me. They said that women like me should be pushed up against a wall and fucked. And then thrown in the garbage. ...And that if I didn't want that to happen, I should wear the veil...” Indeed, Marjane had always been deprived of her individuality, not only as a woman, but as a person. Being a woman in Iran meant Marjane was never able to fully express herself, not only by not
During the interview she explained to me her culture and what the Hijab meant to her. She also explained some of the challenges she still faces in our society. She says that when people see her and how she dresses they
The women of Saudi Arabia have been oppressed by the men of the country for generations due to the ignorance of the people, their Islamic faith, and the government. They have no rights and they must receive permission from their husbands or fathers to work, travel, and receive medical attention. The memoir Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean Sasson, is an excellent example of the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia and the literary devices of characterization and setting help to bring the oppression to life.
“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.
Readers are told the story of Persepolis through the eyes and journey of Marjane (Marji). One example of the social reality of Iran that Persepolis presents to readers is women’s mode of dress. In the beginning of the novel, Marji states, “Then came 1980: the year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school” (1.4). At this time, Marji is only ten years old, yet she still resists the veil and somewhat realizes the gender inequalities present in her reality. Although both boys’ and girls’ clothes change within their separate schools, girls are the only ones who are required to wear the veil. The hijab is a piece of fabric that women are required to wear -- concealing parts of their face and all of their hair. Not only is this a significant part of the social reality, but this is a legal
Readers are told the story of Persepolis through the eyes and journey of Marjane (Marji). One example of the social reality of Iran that Persepolis presents to readers is women’s mode of dress. In the beginning of the novel, Marji states, “Then came 1980: the year it became obligatory to wear the veil at school” (1.4). At this time, Marji is only ten years old, yet she still resists the veil and somewhat realizes the gender inequalities present in her reality. Although both boys’ and girls’ clothes change within their separate schools, girls are the only ones who are required to wear the veil. The hijab is a piece of fabric that women are required to wear -- concealing parts of their face and all of their hair. Not only is this a significant part of the social reality, but this is a legal requirement of all women in Iran. Men are not legally bound by what they wear, nor are they required to conceal their
The book Act of Faith by Eboo Patel has a quote on the front of the book saying, “A beautifully written story of discovery and hope.”. This quote hits right on the nose with how one might feel after reading this book, especially for me. With the staggering stigma of Muslims and Islam in todays society, I slowly caught myself picking up on these outrageous stereotypes. It was never to the point where I thought all Muslims were terrorists, but I always felt a slight angst when one boarded my plane. Eboo Patel’s book opened my eyes to a better understanding of what other individuals go through with being Muslim. While going through my life, I had started to believe that some Muslims just snapped one day and decided to execute a duty in the name of Allah. This changed though when Eboo told his story on his radical thoughts. How it was not instantaneous but it was drawn out by propaganda that targeted the
The characters portrayed by Leila Aboulela to a great degree vary vastly in their levels of religiosity. This novel showcases a wide spectrum of Muslim identities. Most of the devout believers follow Islam, as they are constantly expressing their faith, thru means of prayer, recitation or other adorations. These religious members are accepting of veil culture, because they have more to value than materialistic objects and western culture. For instance, the young school girls that wore tobes, while Najwa skirts to university. Also, the servants she had back home, as she would be coming home from a party at dawn, they would be make their absolution, “A light bulb came on. They were getting ready to pray. They had dragged themselves from sleep in order to pray. I was wide awake and I didn’t,” this quote from the novel, illustrates a young Najwa understanding the basis of Islam and the importance of prayer (Aboulela, 32) However, this is an evident class divide, illustrating that those with wealth are more secular and those with less are humbled towards their faith. In her time in London, Najwa befriends woman at the local mosque and develops an interest her recitation. Her realization and locality to religiousness triggers her spirituality.