LITERATURE ASSIGNMENT

Through the protagonist, Khalid,the author uses to disclose the real picture about the themes of love and politics in the Arab society which was undergoing changes through the French authority.Khalid who served as a soldier in the military dedicated his life to his country and as a young man he was trying to set up his life as an individual. At this time Algeria as a nation was politically unstable,as the nationals were struggling to be independent by fighting the French colonisers who were oppressing them.In his prime age, Khalid was among those who were to fight the colonial masters and liberate their beloved country.

The french had taken over Algeria and had forced changes,they used assimilation method to rule.All those who were born during their reign including the author were to use French as their first language and not their mother tongues.The author openly stated that he had to write her original work in French and not arabic since it would have been considered as a sign of rebelion and disrespect to the their masters,this shows the extent o which the French masters were forcefully imposing changes in the Arabic society. The Algerian country like most Arabic countries was previously ruled kings and Emirs who centralized powers and ruled in a dictatorial manner and this historical concept left Algeria easy to conquer by any colonizer, since it only needed to attack the central leadership and the state while be affected. French introduced assimilation as a method to disrupt the nationals by ensuring that they are split and vulnerable to them.

Among the many changes that the French masters tried to effect, Ahlam’s Mostaghanemi chose to focus on the love and political themes and how they changed and affected Khalid’s life. According to the literature by Mosteghanemi (2003), Khalid loses his hand in battle, showing the adversity that political turmoil the country had on nationals. The political state became more unbearable and fear and tension engulfed everywhere that some citizens had to go to exile for their safety, Khalid was one of them and it’s in exile that he explained why he fled, in his work , “The Constantine night creeps up on me from my window of exile…” (Mosteghanemi, 2003). Such exiles not only affected the individuals but also scattered relatives hence affecting the family as a unit.

The heroes who stood and fought for their country were however never dismayed despite some of them being crippled. “He is proud of the loss in one way; it occurred while fighting to redeem their nation from oppressors and he also feels that part of his life was gone with that loss”. Mosteghanemi’s (2003).This shows the determination they had to liberate their country.

Many people lost their lifes in the civil war and the struggle for liberation and this is revealed on the author’s account; as observed through the eyes of Hassan, Khalid’s brother, “Casantinians only come back for weddings and funerals" (Mosteghanemi, 2003). The author describes the number of deaths using an imagery style; there seemed to be death all round, instigating this comment from Hassan. Hassan himself was to be killed in the civil war later. Years after this battle claimed his hand, and part of his mind per se… (Mosteghanemi, 2003) and people died in thousands.

However, even with the unstable political state the theme of love thrived. According to Foreland (2011) Arabs are a little conservative and sketchy when it comes to matters of love for a long time. They typically take religious approach when it comes to issues concerning love and intimacy. Their approach to love and such intimate matters is cautious, having stemmed from teachings of their prophet about respecting this kind of connection (Abdulrahim, 2013).

There have been changes in the approach over the years and the Arabs have become less conservative than before, the ladies are allowed to dress the way they deem modest unlike before when there was strict mode of dressing as stated by their religion. “I still remember you once saying, ‘what went on between us was real love. What didn’t happen was the stuff of love stories’” (Mosteghanemi, 2003), in this context Khalid’s woos Hayat who was one of his comrade’s daughter despite being old enough to be her father; Hayat on the other hand remains silent and cold towards him.

The protagonist had a bad experience in his past life which left him without a hand, he lost his brother in the civil war, but he is still focused to start life again and move on. The protagonist depict the patriotism of the heroes in which they prioritized their country before their own life, this has although changed their lifes in many ways as Khalid finds himself in love with a young lady at his old age. Although Khalid is a hero, the same picture is not reflected in his daily life as he struggle to achieve what he has lost in the entire period he spent in the civil war to liberate his country.

In the first three lines of the A Damascene Moon poem by Nizar QabbaniGreen, he brings into picture the long distance he had come to see his suitor. He claims to have travelled several moon nights from Damascus which is his hometown to Tunisia. This reveals the theme of love and affection the Arabic literature embodies. The poet uses hyperbolic style to express how good and romantic he can sing and he says “whose singing turns the herbs green”, considering that they were living in deserts, the act of herb turning green was great magic, he compares his voice with such a wonderful act.

In his poetic work, the writer uses a lot of imagery to create and he says “from Damascus, love begins... for our ancestors, Worshipped beauty, they dissolved it, and they melted away, from Damascus, horses begin their journey”. Its love that made the persona’s ancestors to travel from Damascus to Tunisia, which is miles away. The journey involves risks, this helps in bringing the sanctity and value that the Arabic society had towards love. It’s through the theme of love that bad experiences are forgotten and healed .They worshipped love meaning that beauty was highly regarded and they that they could spent all what they had to get the beautiful ladies regardless of the distance between them.

In his monologue old Khalid is full of bitterness; it is surprising that Khalid harbored such bitterness towards his beloved Hayat. The relationship seems very one sided. Mosteghanemi (2003) as Khalid attempts to convince Hayat who was indecisive; it is through this that the real picture depicts the love theorem and culture in this work by carefully circumventing the topic of love and sexual intimacy in the perceived connection between Khalid and Hayat. The Arab society is very elusive when it comes to issues concerning sex and affection. There author doesn’t show any direct relation to the sex topic apart from a few thrown back utterances by Khalid subjected to Hayat. However through Khalid monologue and Hayat’s choice to listen to him silently, enhance in developing the theme of love and affection.

Despite politics taking over every aspect in the Arab society, love remained a highly treasured theme and it has a religious attachment.

Citations

Abdulrahim, S (2013). Between Empire and Diaspora: Identity Poetics in Contemporary Arab-

American Women's Poetry. Web. Available from

http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/19525/1/Safa'a%20Thesis.pdf

Foreland, L.R (2011). Love versus Political Commitment An Arab Intellectual’s Dilemma as