Wild Thorns Analysis

The essay States, by Edward Said, describes the trouble for Palestinians to find their identity due to the loss of their homeland. He also describes the situation of the Palestinians and the isolation that they feel through photographs that he had taken. Said has many different pictures throughout this essay and each of them play a part in supporting the main point of this essay. Said believes that, without a homeland, the Palestinians cannot have an identity and the Palestinians should not be content with being exiles forever. So the purpose of the pictures is to support and further strengthen this idea. The photographer wants the viewer to understand the struggle that the Palestinians are going through.

Imagine that one day, soldiers storm to your village and demand you to leave the area temporarily due to security reasons. The next day, you find out that your house and the entire village have been pillaged and destroyed, leaving you with no shelter. Well, this was just the beginning of the many tragic incidents that Elias Chacour experienced during his life as a Palestinian. In the book, Blood Brothers, Chacour recounts the events of his life as a testament of peace and reconciliation among all ethnic and religious groups in Israel. In the book, Chacour uses a first-person narrative structure, the theme of peace, and logos in his story to urge the readers to re-evaluate their deeply held biases on issues involving the conflict and to become

Israel and Palestine have been battling over territory, dominance, and political freedom for many years. After the Second World War, Israeli forces occupied Palestinian territory, ridding the land of Arabs. In response, the Palestinian people demanded control over their historic land, but the Israelis refused to relinquish power over the territory. In a matter of six days, the Jewish Israeli people conquered the West Bank all the way through to the Sinai Peninsula. After the war, the Israeli forces continued to take over Palestinian land by putting pressure on them to abandon their nation. Due to this ongoing conflict, Sahar Khalifeh utilizes violence and social constraints to explore the lives of Israeli and Palestinian men through vivid diction and descriptive imagery in the 1985 novel Wild Thorns.

‘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.

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 universal ideals of peace and eradication of conflict in combination with the proficient use of rhetoric will enable these values to transcend to today’s audience. Through the adroit use of rhetoric in foregrounding Sadat’s ardent “Speech to the Israeli Knesset” effectively aligns audiences with his exemplary message to deliver a peaceful base on justice. Sadat promotes a sense of responsibility, and creates an urgent call for political action through the use of pathos as he emphasises the horror both nations are suffering. “Why should we bequeath to the coming generations the plight of blood, death, orphans, widowhood, family disintegration and the wailing of victims?” The effective use of imagery of war alludes to the tension which caused

Rottenberg examines the divide in this novel by referring to the divide as a “transfer” or “expulsion” and it is used as a divisive meaning because of the state’s refusal to recognize its Arab citizens. This criticism sheds light on the true identity of the conflict: “Let It Be Morning is a disturbing account of anti-Arab racism within is a disturbing account of anti-Arab racism within the Jewish mainstream, and of the deep divisions within Palestinian society” (Rottenberg 140). The statement that is made throughout Rottenberg’s criticism is about the disrespect that is shown to Arabs in Israel throughout the novel. She makes a bold point about the divisive meaning behind the conflict, but it is valid because of the lack of respect and the overwhelming hatred that Arabs like Sayed Kashua receive everyday in that

Conclusion- Summary of first two paragraphs. We are witnesses to terrible injustices. As Israel responds to real and perceived threats, the Palestine's of the West Bank in Gaza remain dominated by military occupation or under siege, subjected to violent military incursions, and continually traumatic lost. We are witnesses to the world's impotence to achieve justice. Stone by stone, Israeli settlement in the West Bank expand seizing land and water, reducing Palestrina's hope, and increasing their despair. We are witnesses to structural violence. Within Israel itself, Palestine's have full citizenship and legal equality, but their reality is largely shaped by legally enforced injustices such as unequal funding for their communities infrastructures and schools, and the symbolic violence of being treated as a potential fifth column. We are witnesses. The convulsions that are

Marcus, Itamar. "From nationalist battle to religious conflict." Palestinian Media Watch. Feb 2007(2007): 18. Web. 1 May 2016. .

Kanafani’s novella “Returning to Haifa”, is an uplifting tragedy that talks about two Palestine refuges, Said and Saffiya, trip back to Haifa after they lost their child in exile. Both were still living in their rough past, enduring all the memories from their rough past. Later in the story, they find out that their firstborn son Khaldun is grown up to be a Jew working in the Israeli military. Kanafani uses style and figurative language to aid the readers understanding of with the harmful repercussions associated with loss the characters experienced.

As suitors flock to Amal’s house through any means possible, Guela fights “them all to the bitter end and [emerges] victorious from every battle” (26). The exaggerated depiction of how Guela guards her daughter’s sexuality emphasizes the dominance of male desire, which can be likened to the desire of Zionists to occupy the state. For one, the different methods of “attack” employed by young men, whether violent or polemic, reflect the same methods utilized by Zionists to obtain positions of power over and within the state. As a lawyer, she takes on the task of defending “the underdogs, especially the Arabs” against the encroachment of colonizers (20). Consequently, Guela’s protective presence extends beyond the realm of her daughter, and thus the similarities between Amal and the Israeli state abound.

Khalidi appropriately begins chapter three, by picking up where chapter two left off- highlighting the infectiveness of the Palestinian leadership. Early on in the chapter, the importance of factionalism within the leadership takes precedence, and the two prominent groups of the time are denoted: al-Husayni and al-Nashashibi. Khalidi goes onto give background on the two competing factions, and the reader learns that both parties had previous ties to the ruling political apparatus of the former Ottoman Empire. Unabashedly, both parties vied for power, because of their inherent belief of superiority to that of the average Palestinian. Playing right into the British and Zionist hands, the divide can conquer technique of pinning the leadership against each other, denied an effective campaign to be waged that could counter the status quo.

Samih Farsoun started his chapter in analyzing the situation of the Palestinian displacement in 1948-1993, "the destruction of Palestinian society, and the displacement of Palestinians and their spread in the horizons and their physical attachment, “in order to realize the dream of the Zionist leaders to establish" Jewish Israel Exclusively.

The impact that global politics has had on the individuals of the Middle Eastern region is highlighted in the life experiences of Naji, Nasir, and Ghada. Each person is looking for a better tomorrow, but that is not easy to find due to the difficulties that arise in the differences in religion, culture, and even gender. Naji endured the struggles of being Jewish, Nasir had to deal with being a young man with slim job opportunities, and Ghada had to deal with the struggles of being a woman. Although each faced a slightly different problem, the one thing they had in common was their fight to survive.

    The presence of community and its role is presented in both African and Middle Eastern literature. These themes can be seen a variety of times in both pieces of literature. In “The Beekeeper’s Journey” the idea of inclusivity and community is presented as the author writes, “‘He could not fire a rifle with accuracy, he could not use a blade with any skill, and he knew nothing about fighting, so he would die...” (The Beekeeper’s Journey 8). In this Abbas (The main character of the story) is so committed to a sense of duty that he is willing to die for his community. Through this connection to his community, he is knowingly entering a battle with the knowledge that he will die. Thus furthering the idea of community over oneself in this story and many others that fall into the same genre of Middle Eastern literature. A piece of African literature that