(no subject)
paper #1 middle east
Jasmine Trosian
December 6, 2005
Geography 209
Monday 2 pm discussion group
Myths.
The Middle East- a war-ridden desert wasteland, teaming with oil just under the surface and terrorists behind every water-deprived bush, where it’s every man for himself and savage behavior is allowed and accepted. Where love knows no meaning and emotions are useless. At least this is what a common American idea of the middle east is. But what about love? What about pain, and anger and betrayal and pride? What about humanity? Americans see the middle east in an unrealistic light, a light that separates human beings like cattle. Them and Us. They are bad and evil and inhuman. We are good and holy and humanitarians. In the novels, Midaq Alley and The Yacoubian Building, these American myths of lives so difference there can’t even be communication, are dispelled, and the reader is faced with emotions and feelings parallel to their own. Though the situations are different, the themes and messages apply to both cultures. In the movies, City Victorious and Tales of Arab Detroit, the undeniable similarities are brought to life through film and camera. These novels and movies prove the truth that Americans dislike to think about and consider. We are all the same on the inside, and we all experience the same things.
In the movie, Tales of Arab Detroit, select families were chosen and interviewed about living in America as an Arab. Some embraced the American culture, quickly giving up old ways, while some cherished and held dear the old ways, detesting change. A storyteller visits the city to tell “The Epic”, a one hundred hour story, and is a distinct symbol of the former lives of these people. The community and families in this movie, and all of the 200,000 Arab immigrants living in Detroit are all fighting for the same thing- A place to call home and some respect from their neighbors. Every person in America is fighting for that same thing. The struggle between the past and the present that is so prevalent in this film is true for everyone from all walks of life. The people who just entered America yesterday and the people who have been here for hundreds of years. Even today, the older generations complain about younger generations losing respect for old times and old ideals. With each new generation come new customs, and Tales of Arab Detroit personified this wonderfully, especially in relation to the language. While many Arab Americans know Arabic, as they grow older and have children, eventually the Arabic begins to lessen and finally cease. Just as with every other culture here. There comes a time when it just seems silly to try and teach this whole other language to a child, when maybe the person attempting to teach wasn’t taught very well, didn’t learn it from their parents, isn’t fluent, etc. Tales from Arab Detroit really does a good job of introducing the ever changing Arab-American culture, and the changing dynamic by highlighting past and present, and using the storyteller as a graceful figure of a beautiful, but passing, history.
In the novel, Midaq Alley, each person represents something bigger. From the barber who’s name means Lion to the businessman who wishes for more money and power, everyone is important and has a specific reason to do what they do. They each feel very specific emotions that every person there and every person here has felt. “He was in love. A new fire burned within him, desire melting his nerves and intoxicating his brain.” Love... A specific and definite emotion felt by everyone at some point or another, but just one of many. Anger, pain, and disappointment, these are things that Abbas feels, and these are emotions that everyone understands and can relate to. By using such strong diction and emotions, Mahfouz creates within the reader a sympathetic attitude towards these characters. “He felt all the sorrow, disappointment and despain...” He truly drives home the extreme emotions being felt by these characters, and while this novel was used to say something about Egyptan society at the time, it can now be taken and applied to our current society, or really any society at any time. The themes and motifs in this book relate to everyone.
In the movie, The City Victorious, the story is told of a young man longing to leave behind village and peasant life to live and work in the city. A longing for money that is hard to make and harder to keep. This idea of moving to the city in hopes of making money is truly what the American Dream is based around. Moving up in life. Not settling for what you are handed. This movie could just as easily been a corn farmer in Nebraska as a general farmer in a Nile village. In Egypt, people go to Cairo, “the mother of the world”, to travel and go the other countries and cities to make money. There is a deep pride in Egypt about Cairo, that is rooted deep within the history of the city. El Cariaha- the city victorious. Just as in America there is a deep-seated love for their country. Although the protagonist has to return home, he refuses to continue his old job and longs, like many Americans for something much better.
In the novel, The Yacoubian Building, many of the same emotions and feelings are used as in Midaq Alley. A much more recent story, set in the same city, The Yacoubian Building is a good example of how life here and life there mirror each other in all ways, emotions, jobs, and even class divisions. “Make money, Taha, and you’ll get everything but if you stay poor they’ll walk all over you.” In this Egyptian society, the same as here, the poor get walked on by the rich. This is a reoccurring theme in both the novel and in real life, not just in Egypt, but all over the world. While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and there isn’t much to be done about it. Anger, hate, disgrace and shame all are emotions that end up as a result of these divided classes, and this is common here as well.
Through the use of the novels, Midaq Alley and The Yacoubian Building, and the movies, The City Victorious and Tales of Arab Detroit, the truth is easy to see. Though we are different, with different customs, situations and lives, we all are undeniably human. Everyone feels pain, and everyone feels love. Americans seem to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to the Middle East, a “if we don’t think about it, maybe it will go away,” mentality, or if not that, then the idea that the Middle East is evil, or inhuman. These myths need to be dispelled and by reading these novels, or watching these movies, they would be.
Jasmine Trosian
December 6, 2005
Geography 209
Monday 2 pm discussion group
Myths.
The Middle East- a war-ridden desert wasteland, teaming with oil just under the surface and terrorists behind every water-deprived bush, where it’s every man for himself and savage behavior is allowed and accepted. Where love knows no meaning and emotions are useless. At least this is what a common American idea of the middle east is. But what about love? What about pain, and anger and betrayal and pride? What about humanity? Americans see the middle east in an unrealistic light, a light that separates human beings like cattle. Them and Us. They are bad and evil and inhuman. We are good and holy and humanitarians. In the novels, Midaq Alley and The Yacoubian Building, these American myths of lives so difference there can’t even be communication, are dispelled, and the reader is faced with emotions and feelings parallel to their own. Though the situations are different, the themes and messages apply to both cultures. In the movies, City Victorious and Tales of Arab Detroit, the undeniable similarities are brought to life through film and camera. These novels and movies prove the truth that Americans dislike to think about and consider. We are all the same on the inside, and we all experience the same things.
In the movie, Tales of Arab Detroit, select families were chosen and interviewed about living in America as an Arab. Some embraced the American culture, quickly giving up old ways, while some cherished and held dear the old ways, detesting change. A storyteller visits the city to tell “The Epic”, a one hundred hour story, and is a distinct symbol of the former lives of these people. The community and families in this movie, and all of the 200,000 Arab immigrants living in Detroit are all fighting for the same thing- A place to call home and some respect from their neighbors. Every person in America is fighting for that same thing. The struggle between the past and the present that is so prevalent in this film is true for everyone from all walks of life. The people who just entered America yesterday and the people who have been here for hundreds of years. Even today, the older generations complain about younger generations losing respect for old times and old ideals. With each new generation come new customs, and Tales of Arab Detroit personified this wonderfully, especially in relation to the language. While many Arab Americans know Arabic, as they grow older and have children, eventually the Arabic begins to lessen and finally cease. Just as with every other culture here. There comes a time when it just seems silly to try and teach this whole other language to a child, when maybe the person attempting to teach wasn’t taught very well, didn’t learn it from their parents, isn’t fluent, etc. Tales from Arab Detroit really does a good job of introducing the ever changing Arab-American culture, and the changing dynamic by highlighting past and present, and using the storyteller as a graceful figure of a beautiful, but passing, history.
In the novel, Midaq Alley, each person represents something bigger. From the barber who’s name means Lion to the businessman who wishes for more money and power, everyone is important and has a specific reason to do what they do. They each feel very specific emotions that every person there and every person here has felt. “He was in love. A new fire burned within him, desire melting his nerves and intoxicating his brain.” Love... A specific and definite emotion felt by everyone at some point or another, but just one of many. Anger, pain, and disappointment, these are things that Abbas feels, and these are emotions that everyone understands and can relate to. By using such strong diction and emotions, Mahfouz creates within the reader a sympathetic attitude towards these characters. “He felt all the sorrow, disappointment and despain...” He truly drives home the extreme emotions being felt by these characters, and while this novel was used to say something about Egyptan society at the time, it can now be taken and applied to our current society, or really any society at any time. The themes and motifs in this book relate to everyone.
In the movie, The City Victorious, the story is told of a young man longing to leave behind village and peasant life to live and work in the city. A longing for money that is hard to make and harder to keep. This idea of moving to the city in hopes of making money is truly what the American Dream is based around. Moving up in life. Not settling for what you are handed. This movie could just as easily been a corn farmer in Nebraska as a general farmer in a Nile village. In Egypt, people go to Cairo, “the mother of the world”, to travel and go the other countries and cities to make money. There is a deep pride in Egypt about Cairo, that is rooted deep within the history of the city. El Cariaha- the city victorious. Just as in America there is a deep-seated love for their country. Although the protagonist has to return home, he refuses to continue his old job and longs, like many Americans for something much better.
In the novel, The Yacoubian Building, many of the same emotions and feelings are used as in Midaq Alley. A much more recent story, set in the same city, The Yacoubian Building is a good example of how life here and life there mirror each other in all ways, emotions, jobs, and even class divisions. “Make money, Taha, and you’ll get everything but if you stay poor they’ll walk all over you.” In this Egyptian society, the same as here, the poor get walked on by the rich. This is a reoccurring theme in both the novel and in real life, not just in Egypt, but all over the world. While the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and there isn’t much to be done about it. Anger, hate, disgrace and shame all are emotions that end up as a result of these divided classes, and this is common here as well.
Through the use of the novels, Midaq Alley and The Yacoubian Building, and the movies, The City Victorious and Tales of Arab Detroit, the truth is easy to see. Though we are different, with different customs, situations and lives, we all are undeniably human. Everyone feels pain, and everyone feels love. Americans seem to stick their heads in the sand when it comes to the Middle East, a “if we don’t think about it, maybe it will go away,” mentality, or if not that, then the idea that the Middle East is evil, or inhuman. These myths need to be dispelled and by reading these novels, or watching these movies, they would be.