1. Amina asks Ahmad to approve of an engagement between Fahmy and Maryam. Much of the conversation is narrated from the point of view of the eavesdropping Khadija and Aisha. Why do you suppose the author chose to present this conversation from the daughters' point of view?
2. Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
3. Ahmad "believed that getting angry over a trivial matter would prevent serious offenses, which would truly merit his anger" (130). What do you think of this ide of Ahmad's?
4. When Khadija hears her father's angry response to Fahmy's idea, she is "seized by fear and anxiety, but. . . these were mixed with relief" (128). Why might Khadiza feel relief?
5. Note how affectionate Maryam is with Kamal: "kissed his lipos time and again." Can you come up with a reason for her acting so affectionately?
6. Can you see how chapter 21 (131-136) is both sad and comic?
7. Notice something no ones else has yet noticed about this reading assignment.
2. Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
3. Ahmad "believed that getting angry over a trivial matter would prevent serious offenses, which would truly merit his anger" (130). What do you think of this ide of Ahmad's?
4. When Khadija hears her father's angry response to Fahmy's idea, she is "seized by fear and anxiety, but. . . these were mixed with relief" (128). Why might Khadiza feel relief?
5. Note how affectionate Maryam is with Kamal: "kissed his lipos time and again." Can you come up with a reason for her acting so affectionately?
6. Can you see how chapter 21 (131-136) is both sad and comic?
7. Notice something no ones else has yet noticed about this reading assignment.
13 comments:
Answer to #3:
"The observable effects of his anger, like the rage apparent in his eyes, complexion, words, and the gestures of his hands, subsided, but the anger deep within his chest lingered on like dregs at the bottom of a pot."
This philosophy of Ahmad's, that if he becomes angry at trivial issues, he will prevent serious problems, is an interesting notion. It is fair enough of him to think this - it is logical, and probably culturally accepted. This philosophy has been employed throughout the ages, and although this thought process is still used today, most often you will find that it is tiered (in reference to punishment systems and such).
However, in most cases, this philosophy doesn't work. Fahmy still intends to marry Maryam, and although the mother is terrified of her husband, she still is prone to help her children. Even Kamal is mischievous, despite his father's warnings. Ahmad seems to be a slightly insecure dictator of his family - insecure perhaps because he is concerned that he does not have total control over all his affairs.
2. Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged because Fahmy should have no knowledge of the girl wht so ever beside the fact that she is there good neighbor's daughter and his sisters friend. In this culture it is completely inapropriate for an unmarried man to look at or even notice an unmarried woman. Ahmad knows that for Fahmy to wish to be engaged he would have needed some reason to like the girl. That would mean he had seen her and even admired her before which is not at all accepted in there culture.
#2
Ahmad asked such a question to Amina about what made Fahmy wanting to get engaged is that since Ahmad's family is very high positioned and he expected Fahmy to be in interested to other girls that are way better than Mayram. And also he was wondering if he has seen her before because according to this whole story, Fahmy does not even look at his neighbors nor talk to them
Yeena Sung
2. Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
“I don’t know what could corrupt a schoolboy to the extent that he would make such an outrageous request…But a mother like you could well ruin her children.”
Fahmy talks to his mom about getting engaged Amina is very happy and worried at the same time for she has to talk to Ahmad about it. Amina carefully brought up the subject and told Ahmad that Fahmy wants to be engaged with Marym. Ahmad gets very angry and asks her what made Fahmy ask to be engaged. One of the reasons that he said this was because, since Amina is his mother, Ahmad believes that Amina made an effect to him and he doesn’t like it at all. So, he wants to make Amina feel embarrassed and afraid. In addition, he asks this question because Ahmad doesn’t get how Fahmy would fall in love at such a young age if he just saw her in the streets according to Amina and he gets suspicious. Also, if Ahmad really liked the bride, then he wouldn’t have said anything; however, he does not like her because he believes she is not the best for his son in a way that she doesn’t have a high status.
6. Can you see how chapter 21 (131-136) is both sad and comic?
Yes, I can see how chapter 21 is both sad and comic.
It's sad because of the doomed relationship between Fahmy and Maryam. It says, on page 131 it describes Fahmy's state of mind after he learns that his father will not let him marry Maryam. It says, "Kamal could not remember seeing his brother in such a state. He would never forget Fahmy's condition when they talked privately in the study: eyes wandering, soul troubled, and voice trembling." Fahmy is obviously heartbroken over his father's response. Maryam is silent after Kamal relays the news to her. It is not specifically illustrated what that silence means, but it distresses Kamal, who wants to make her speak and be happy again. He tries to cheer her up, so she must look at least a little sad about it. Then, she covers her grief and hides it from Kamal and herself by sending a flirtacious message back to Fahmy, saying, "Tell him that she won't know what to do if a suiter asks to marry her during this long period of waiting." It's a message meant to lighten the mood, but perhaps the reader will catch on that Maryam is implying two things. A) She will try to wait for him, and B) She may not be allowed to wait as long as he will take. It's a complicated, sad reality both ways. If she waits, she will wait a long time for him, maybe longer than acceptable, and she may be older than acceptable when she finally marries him. If she doesn't wait, she will have to go the rest of her life wondering what it would be like to have been with him. She will wonder about him and what became of him most likely until her dying day. That's just usually how it works with regret.
The comic part of the chapter is that Kamal is the one relaying the message. It is stated that he sometimes sneaks into the yard and plays in the wheel-less cart in the corner. Also, he once asked what the mother of the household was doing when she "waxed" her face to get smooth, hairless skin. She did it to him to show him. His simple innocence brightens the chapter. An example is on page 133, when Kamal tries the hair removal for himself. It says, "He had not been content with the pleasure of doing it but had asked her, 'Why do you do this?'" Also, when he's in Maryam's bedroom, they tease each other with tickles. It says, even before Maryam touches his skin, "A nervous laugh escaped him, as though her fingers actually were tickling him. He yelled at her, 'Have mercy, Miss Maryam,'" which is cute! There are several other instances of cuteness, like the "proper greeting" is a kiss between Kamal and Maryam. Then, when Kamal repeats Fahmy's message to Maryam he says it with "a frankness the indicated he did not understand the seriousness of the news he brought," and that's something that I think every reader can just see a cute, chubby little boy in a huge, striped shirt doing. Kamal is still young enough to pull off things older characters wouldn't be able to do. He's still a little boy, and that means he's cute. The things he does are cute and comic. Even the image of him sneaking out of the house and running down the street to Maryam's, in his big shirt and with his round, little body, is comic, just inherently funny.
Sang Eun
1. Amina asks Ahmad to approve of an engagement between Fahmy and Maryam. Much of the conversation is narrated from the point of view of the eavesdropping Khadija and Aisha. Why do you suppose the author chose to present this conversation from the daughters' point of view?
The author chose to present the conversation from the daughters' point of view to be more fasinating so that the readers can have dramatic feelings toward the story. If the author had presented the conversation from the father and mother's point of view, the story would have been simple and plain. In addition, the readers would have gotten too much information about the conversation that there would have been no dramatic point or guesses from the readers. However by telling the story from the daughters' point of view, it was possible for the readers to guess more and get information only from what the daughters were telling.
Heather Rhee
Q1
Answer
In this chapter, Amina and Ahmad have a conversation about Fahmy's enagement. Khadija and Aisha, the sisters, listin to this conversation and we can read their point of view in this chapter.
I think this present of point of view had created a more meaningful story line. If it was a normal stroy (from the authur's point of view), we will only know how the parents feel about the engagement. However, it was possible to know the thinkings of the 4 members of the family. Furthermore, it was also possible to see the relationship bonds between each other. For example, the girls gets worried about their mother and this shows that they love their mom.
"They felt great sympathy for her"
It was also interesting to see the imagination of the girls because it allowed me to read and think more deeply.
"Khadija imagined that their mother had recoiled i alarm"
When I read this sentence, I was able to imagine this situation and think about the conversation more from Khadija's view.
Ka Yeon Nam
Question 2
Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged after hearing it from his wife becuase there was no way that he could have seen her. People those days it was innapropriate for other men to look at a girl. Also, if he have never seen her, than he will not have feelings that even ask his mother and father to get engaged. If Fahmy have seen her, it would not have been accepted.
4. When Khadija hears her father's angry response to Fahmy's idea, she is "seized by fear and anxiety, but. . . these were mixed with relief" (128). Why might Khadiza feel relief?
Fahmy's sister Khadiza gets afriad of her father but, she also feels relief because in the previous chapters, she thought that Maryam being older than Famhy was a problem. She said "How can Mother a gree to that". In the book the word Mother is capitalized which might mean that she really can't believe in things that her mother Amina, is letting Famhy to do. Also she thinks that Maryam is not nearly good as Famhy who is going to be a judge someday. She also says that "Famhy will be able to marry a girl a hundred times more beautiful than Maryam and at the same time one who's educated, rich,...". She feels that Famhy is much better than Maryam so when their father diagrees Famhy getting engaged to a woman next door, and gets mad, she feels scared but at the same time she feels relieved because than she doesn't have to worry about Famhy getting married to a worng woman. Worng woman as in who is not educated well and who is not beautiful.
1. Amina asks Ahmad to approve of an engagement between Fahmy and Maryam. Much of the conversation is narrated from the point of view of the eavesdropping Khadija and Aisha. Why do you suppose the author chose to present this conversation from the daughters' point of view?
I think the author chose to present this conversation from the daughters' point of view because seeing things from a child's point of view is always more interesting. Children see things in more emotional and exciting perspective. They take most things they hear to heart and dwell on little matters that adults wouldn't look at twice. Children take actions and words into more consideration and pay more attention to their surroundings. Children also have a more sensitive take on things and believe everything they hear from an adult is true and they must follow it.
1. Amina asks Ahmad to approve of an engagement between Fahmy and Maryam. Much of the conversation is narrated from the point of view of the eavesdropping Khadija and Aisha. Why do you suppose the author chose to present this conversation from the daughters' point of view?
I think the conversation is being told from the girls' point of view because,one, there is much emotion of either side of the conversation. The mother feels scared to ask Ahmad for approval of the engagement, while Ahmad feels the anger and vexation of how this would ever come to pass. Although, there are some nice and interesting emotions that come from the two girls, Khadija and Aisha. For example, on page 129, "'Perhaps, sir, he heard his sisters talking about her...' A tremor passed through the bodies of the two girls. Their mouths were gaping open in alarm as they listened. I think the author showed it from a third "party" because it gives, shows, and tells the different concerns. For example the two daughters will observe Amina's and Ahmad's feelings on the subject, but they will also have outside intellectual information to bring to the table and to compare and contrast. Another reason, the author wanted to show the bonds between the family members and how the two sister's might have felt for their mother in her "needy" period and how they felt about their father when he was outraged.
2. Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask such a thing?
Some Muslim families may pick their children's spouses for them. The family in his book may be one of them. Or, he may be upset that Fahmy went to Amina before him.
I think because Ahmad's family has a higher status that any family with a lower status then he won't even have a second glance at them and he wouldn't want his son marrying someone of lower status then his own.
MAKE-UP BLOGS→
p.121-126
Why is kamal so excited to tell his secret?
I think that the reason Kamal is most excited to tell his secret is not based on the material of the secret, but the fact that he’ll get attention from his family. He does not seem to think about the fact that he will be revealing Fahmy’s secrect and he’s more focused on what he’ll get out of it.
p.127-136
Ahmad asks what made Fahmy ask to be engaged? Why would he ask suck a thing?
When Fahmy’s mother introduced the idea of Fahmy’s question to be engaged to Ahmad, Ahamd was confused on why Fahmy would even ask this. Fahmy thinks that he has seen the neighbor before and if it’s who he’s thinking, of then he wishes to marry her.
CURRENT BLOG→
p.163-173
Amina insists that the driver of the car be allowed to go and that she is fine, when clearly she is not. How is this typical of Amina?
When Amina gets slightly hit by the car, the first thing that most likely goes through her mind when she wakes up from fainting is how to clear this history, so that nothing stirs up that her husband would notice. She insists that she is fine because that is the only way they will let the driver go. She wants the driver to be let go because if things become arise her husband will notice that she was out.
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