1. I find Kamal, the youngest child of the family, a very positive character: funny, smart, affectionate, mischievous, energetic, passionate. And yet he rudely steps on the omnibus conductor's foot (51), he's scared of Jinn (genies, spiritual creatures), gets into fights and in fact loves fights, and does things behind his father's back. Is it still okay for me to think of him as a positive character? Why?
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2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him?
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3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qu'ran) that he brings home to her. Comment.
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2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him?
OR
3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qu'ran) that he brings home to her. Comment.
15 comments:
Yeena Sung
2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him?
“ Kamal had gotten a ladder one day and climbed onto the arbor of hyacinth beans and jasmine, high above the roofs. His mother, seeing him there poised between earth and sky, had shrieked in terror until she had forced him to come down.”
“He had beaten them with his stick, paying no attention to Kamal’s Screams.”
Ahamad saves Kamal from being beaten up by the gang but he beats him up because of the situation that happened written on top of this sentence. I think he saved him from the gangs because he loves Kamal very much and he does not want him to get hurt. However, after seeing him in this action, the father gets very angry not because he doesn’t like him but because he wants him to be careful more. Although it was not a right way to show that he care about Kamal, I think it was his way of showing that he cares him very much. In addition, I think he beaten Kamal up because he was afraid that something dangerous might have happened and is relieved that Kamal was okay.
1. I find Kamal, the youngest child of the family, a very positive character: funny, smart, affectionate, mischievous, energetic, passionate. And yet he rudely steps on the omnibus conductor's foot (51), he's scared of Jinn (genies, spiritual creatures), gets into fights and in fact loves fights, and does things behind his father's back. Is it still okay for me to think of him as a positive character? Why?
Yes, it is okay for you to think of him as a possitive character! He keeps the story so interesting. Children see the world in such a different view than grown ups. It's refreshing.
For example, beginning on page 47 and moving onto page 48, Kamal sees the beautiful woman in the cigar shop window. Like most men gazing at a sexy picture, he fantasizes. However, it is not in the way that one would expect from a man. Because he is still so young and ignorant (of where babies come from, etc.), he fantasizes about spending time with the beautiful woman, and playing in the beuatiful land out the window behind her. "He would swim in the green river valley or cross the water in the skiff that appeared ghostlike far off in the picture. He would shake the palm trees till the dates fell around him or sit near the beautiful woman with his eyes gazing at her dreamy ones." Kamal seems to appreciate the real beauty in the picture, while a grown character would only be looking at the woman's breasts or lucious legs and lips.
Not to mention earlier on the book where he puts on his father's clothes and makes his mother laugh so hard she can hardly breathe. Amina has been in her house for so long, aside from her trips to her garden on the roof, that Kamal cheering her up is something to make her day more interesting. He is a brightener to the book. He makes the reader smile.
The other characters are not the most cheering. In a lot of ways, Kamal is the comic relief. Without his occassional bouts of pureness, the book would become too complicated and depressing.
"...the sound of the bell signaling the end of the day brought a joy to his soul unmatched by any other in those days, still the breeze of freedom he inhaled lightheartedly outside the school gates..." gives us a taste of how optomistic he is, and how Kamal sees the world through a sweet, little boy perspective that cannot be matched. Parts like, "He took a piece of pastry with the total delight he experienced only on such a sweet occassion," are irreplacable. They keep the story lighthearted. What with Amina's secludedness, Aisha's reckless love encounters, Khadija's outspoken harshness, Ahmad's sterness to his family while outside the house he enjoys life so much that he forgets his own loyalty to his wife, and the two oldest brothers' grown up lives, it sometimes feels so good to run into a character like Kamal.
I bleieve it is still okay to think of Kamal as a positive character because he brings a certain cheerfulness to the book. He adds an innocent look into the world made so complicated and sinister by the other characters. He is a very positive character. The reader enjoys his sweetness and funniness.
3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qu'ran) that he brings home to her. Comment.
Kamal was a boy who was very interested in his religious studies as he usually asks many during class. His mother was a woman in which was scarce in the knowledge of religion. In this case she had her son teach her his daily information he learned in class.
I believe this may show that in this culture, the woman are not educated often or maybe even at all. Amina, however, is a woman who wishes to learn as much as possible. Even when she was younger, her father who was a religious scholar, also taught her.
She is very interested in religion as she had her son start to "teach" her ever since he was in kindergarten!
This may have also helped Kamal gain some responsibility from having a burden of teaching his mother and knowing she relied on his knowledge he came home with everyday.
2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him? When this happens, the father first comes to Kamal’s aid because he does not want him beaten up by the gang because they could severely hurt him or even kill him. The reason his father beats him after this is for getting in the fight in the first place. I think that the message is clear here since this incident shows that Kamal’s father is protecting him but he should not have beaten him, he should have only reprimanded him.
Sang Eun
1. I find Kamal, the youngest child of the family, a very positive character: funny, smart, affectionate, mischievous, energetic, passionate. And yet he rudely steps on the omnibus conductor's foot (51), he's scared of Jinn (genies, spiritual creatures), gets into fights and in fact loves fights, and does things behind his father's back. Is it still okay for me to think of him as a positive character? Why?
It is still okay to think of Kamal as a positive character, because it is natural for him to be acting like that. He is only a ten-year old child and during his age, it is natural for him to do some naughty things behind his father's back. Kamal is a kid and he can't be perfect and well-behave like his father wants him to. Just because he gets into fights and does bad things behind his father's back, don't mean that he is okay to be thought as a negative character. Besides, he grew up in an environment where restricts him from having a fun or do some mischievous things. Thus this restriction would have made him to have more desire to behave wrongly. Therefore, I think it is reasonable for Kamal to be naughty and it is fine to think of him as a positive character.
1. I find Kamal, the youngest child of the family, a very positive character: funny, smart, affectionate, mischievous, energetic, passionate. And yet he rudely steps on the omnibus conductor's foot (51), he's scared of Jinn (genies, spiritual creatures), gets into fights and in fact loves fights, and does things behind his father's back. Is it still okay for me to think of him as a positive character? Why?
I also agree with Sang Eun, that it's okay to think positively abour Kamal. Although he has been fighting and also doing things that he should not be doing, he is young and when your young you can go to the worng direction. As long as Kamal grows up to be a better person I think it's okay. Kamal is only 10 years old and with his family issues I think he is too stressed out. His father drinking and always being strict might make him to feel stressful. I don't think him acting like a bad kid is just to grab attantion and wanting to be loved. So, I think you should still feel positively about Kamal.
Heather Rhee
Q3
Answer
When Kamal comeback from school, he starts to teaches his mother Amina about religion, which he had learened from school. He reviews all the thing which he had learend for his mother and Amina really enjoys it.
I have a same idea with Brianna. I think this part shows that it was not normal for women to go to school. Amina is not knowledgeable not only in the religion part but also in every other parts of studying and the world she is living right now. This happened because she was unable to go out and learn something, not because she was stupid to learn.
I also think that Kamal is a great son who loves his mother a lot because he is helping his mother to have a precious experience, which she really wanted to have, everyday. Maybe teaching someone everyday is a troblesome work but he enjoys teaching his mother without complaining.
I think this small lesson he gives to his mother also can help him to study harder. He will concentrate more in his class with a great attitude because in order to teach his mother, he have to learn from his teacher. Also, the lesson can be a study review time with his mother so it will help him to understand the subject in a better way.
savannah,
question #4,
3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qu'ran) that he brings home to her. Comment.
Every day during school Kamal has religeouse studies and every day after school Kamal repeats his religiouse studies to his mother helping her memorize and understand the suras. I feel that this is very good actualy extremely good for both Kamal and his mother.
This habit or daily exercise of Kamal's is very good for him because it motivates him to stay focused and attentive in class. If Kamal did not pay attention he not only would let down his mother who undoubtably looks forward to it but also would maybe force his mother to talk to his father about it.
This activity is also very healthy for the mother. As it says in the beginning of the book Amina is a very religiouse person. Amina misses visiting the shrines of the gods and well being outside. Her husband does not let her out at all with the exeption of a couple scarce visits to her mothers but even those were extremely rare. By teaching his mother the new suras he is giving her a window to the outside world, at least religiousely.
2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him?
Ahmad saves Kamal from the gang because he loves him so much. But after saving Kamal from the gang, he starts to beat his own son. And the reason why I think he does that is because he is trying to teach Kamal a lesson and try not to get into any fights at all. Ahmad wants Kamal to be very protective.
3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qur'an) that he brings home to her. Comment.
"He would have to repeat what he has grasped to his mother at home, as he had been doing since he was in Qur'anic kindergarden."
Kamal and his mother have a very close relationship. Everyday after he comes home he reteaches what he has learned in school to his mother. This shows that they both have a close connection to religion and it is something they enjoy discussing together. Religion is Kamal's favorite subject in school. It is the one class that he really cares about and asks many questions. I find it great that he and his mother have intimate conversations about religion and its something they have in common.
2. In the incident in which the school disciplinarian and then his father save Kamal from being beaten by the gang, he ends up being beaten by his father. Why does his father first come to Kamal's aid and then beat him?
I believe that Ahmad, Kamal's father, takes this course of action because he is forced to maintain two different personas, as we discussed earlier in the reading. One persona, viewed primarily by the public eye, is Ahmad, the affable, charming, married man. However, the Ahmad his family knows is a very different one, who relies on violence and physical threats to enforce his word, which is law in his household. The results of Ahmad's being thrust into a context in which he must take two courses of action for the same event is a striking example of his two-facedness.
Sung Kun Kim
Q. 1
Even though he makes many mistakes, he is still the youngest member of the family. He is only at age when curiosity overflows. It is also the time between adult and kid. We can realize this when he looks at the poster of a woman at the street. Also, he is scared of Jinn, which means he is still young. As a boy he likes rough actions and fights. So these minor act of Kamal is understandable because of his age. Therefore, I still think of him as a positive character.
Answer to #2:
"Kamal escaped from the sticks of the toughs, but it was like jumping out of the pan and into to fire. His father's stick did more to his feet than tens of other would have"
"...this same father had been sweet and kind to him not so long ago..."
Ahmad cares deeply for Kamal, but thinks of him as mischievous and sly. This is somewhat usual for boys around Kamal's age to be slightly cheeky, one might call it. Although Ahmad managed to help him out of the tight spot with the gang, he was furious with Kamal for being in that position to begin with, and decided to teach him a lesson. Although this seems like an odd way to display your caring for another, this is probably Ahmad's reasoning.
3. Notice that Kamal gets home from school and, every day, teaches his mother what he has learned in religion class, and that she memorizes the suras (verses from the Qu'ran) that he brings home to her. Comment.
I think that its very sweet that he would teach her what he learned and that it's a good way for the two to connect.
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