Palace Walk Themes Pt. I

The mosque of Al-Husayn, where Amina visited just before being struck by a car.

How does the theme of right v. wrong present itself in Palace Walk? Find an example from our reading and base your response on that example.

Good luck!

Palace Walk, 185-196

A painting of a dynastic succession of rulers in India in the time of Islamic rule. This painting was made about 1680. It was commissioned by the ruler at the time; he sits on the far right side of the semi-circle. The others in the circle are his ancestors. Notice that the picture is about males having power, and the importance of the relationship between father and son and the passing on of power. Can you think of a connection with Palace Walk? But that's not the question for this evening's blog. This is:

On the one hand, there is Ahmad, the father's harshness with his family, which he demonstrates once again in this reading. On the other hand, there is the deep affection and love the other family members have for each and for their father, too. Any thoughts on how these two things--the harshness and the affection--can co-exist? Or how one feeds the other, or counteracts the other?

Palace Walk 174-184

At the bottom of page 176, Mahfouz writes, Kamal asks the following:

"How could this accident happen after she was blessed with a visit to our master al-Husayn?"

(Remember that Al-Huseyn was a holy man very important to Amina, whose tomb is in the mosque Amina and Kamal had gone to visit that day.)

Umm Hanafi replies, "Who knows what might have befallen her, we take refuge in God, had she not been blessed by visiting her master and ours?"

In your own words, what did Kamal mean? What did Umm Hanafi mean? How would you answer Kamal and Umm Hanafi? How do you think the author would?

Palace Walk 164-173

This rug was made in India in the seventeenth century, and Palace Walk is set in Egypt in the early 1900's. However, it was produced by an Islamic people and its style would have been familiar to the characters in Palace Walk. It is referred to as "Sun Rosette." The inner circle contains writing featuring elaborate calligraphy.

In this reading, things go wrong in a big way for Amina and Kamal. Although no one really did anything wrong, and so no one deserves blame, weigh the relative errors of judgment made by the family members, especially those of Amina, Kamal, and Yasin. How much does each error deserve to be excused?

Genesis 20-22

First, please note that chapter 20 includes almost an exact repeat of the part of chapter 12 in which Abram pretends Sarai is his sister in order not to get killed.

In chapter 22, we read the dramatic tale of Go ordering that Abraham sacrifice Isaac's life. Here are two paintings of the incident, both by the same painter, Caravaggio, who painted around the year 1600. Which of the two versions do you personally prefer, and why?

This is a matter of taste, so there's no arguing right or wrong; still, we have reasons for our preferences. I'm sure sure you'll be respectful of others' views.

Here are the pictures. If you go to wga.hu (don't write www first) and search for these pictures by putting "Caravaggio" for in the "author" box and "Abraham" in the "text" box, you'll see these pictures in thumbnail form. If you click on them, you'll get a nice, big version of the paintings. Or you can just look here:

Genesis 16-19

a picture of the Tower of Babel by Pieter Breugel the Elder.



A number of striking things happen in chapters 16-19:

the rivalry between Sarai and Hagar (16),
the introduction of circumcision (17),
Sarah's laughter (18),
the negotiation between Abraham and God over the city of Sodom (18), and
the treatment of the angels by the men by Lot on the one hand and by the men of Sodom on the other (19).

Choose one of these incidents, try to say what's going on as best you can, and then, if you can, talk about what's striking or interesting about the incident. You might keep in mind the themes we've been tracing so far (morality, sense of history, the covenant, the holy).

Good luck!

Genesis 11-15

For tonight's blog, please see below. First, however, a painting of a scene from the Noah story, by Jacopo Bassano:

It was painted around 1600.

For tonight's blog: please identify instances of the theme of morality (right v. wrong), the theme of time/history, and/or the theme of the covenant (an agreement between God and his special people. Two examples in total are enough. In each case, please share a thought or two about the example. If all of your examples are "taken," please do contribute your own thoughts about your examples. Good luck!

Genesis 7-10

After reading these four chapters, please summarize, using three sentences, one of the chapters, as follows:


chapter 7: Sofia, Rocco, Rachael, Alex M, Evan, Alison

chapter 8: Turner, Rosamund, Hunter Nami, Renee, Jake

chapter 9: Danny, Grete, Austin, Alex. P., Matt


We won't be summarizing chapter 10.


Remember to do your own summary even if someone has done your chapter before you get there. Try to do one that's still more comprehensive, or more concise, or more elegant, or more . . . whatever else.

Genesis chapters 4-5-6

After reading the three chapters, go back and write a three-sentence summary of one of the chapters. Here are your assignments:

chapter 4: Sofia, Rocco, Turner, Rosamund, Danny, Grete
chapter 5: (I know it's a strange chapter to summarize; do your best) Rachael, Alex M, Hunter, Nami, Austin, Alex P
chapter 6: Evana, Alison, Renee, Jake, Matt

If someone has already summarized your chapter on this blog, try to do one that's even more comprehensive and non-list-like; and try to avoid plot summary.