Introduction of the Books
Men in the Sun
Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972) was a Palestinian story writer and was deeply involved in politics, during the Arab-Israeli in 1948 war he and his family were expatriate to the part of Palestine.In 1952 during his education from Damascus, he was again deported to Kuwait because of his association with the Movement of Arab Nationalists.He was leading the Arab Nationalist movement and during his leadership he worked hard for the independence of Palestine. Due to getting exile for so many times he was confronted with many problems because of not certain proof of citizenship. On July 18, 1972 he and his niece Lamees Najim were killed by Israeli’s. He was one of the prominent Palestinian novelist. He was granted the Lotus Prize of Literature by the conference of Afro-Asian writers after his assassination.
In this novel Kafnani has described the challenging life of three Palestinian residents who were trying to leave their country due to the Zionist Jews who have taken over the large region of Palestine. The characters in this book include Abu Qais, Asaad, Marwan and Abul Khaizuran. Abu Qais worked as a farmer before the Nakba, but after it, he can no longer work as a farmer because of the dominance of Islaeri groups. He decided to move to Kuwait, where he can find any job to fulfill the basic needs of his wife and kids. “Abu Qais reminisces about his past, his friendship with Ustaz Selim, the birth of Hosna and the loss of his main source of income, his olive trees. He had realized that "in the last ten years, ” he had “done nothing but wait" and he decided to change his and his family’s lives for the better, by making his way to Kuwait, which "only lived in his mind as a dream and a fantasy". Asaad was the most irritated character of the book, he has no one to support was younger than Abu Qais. His struggle for the livelihood has always been a source of his disgrace, his previous attempts to move to Kuwait were not successful as agent leaves him in the middle of the voyage. “The second protagonist we meet is Assad, a shrewd young man. He tells his story to a character only referred to as "the fat man", who smuggles people from Basra to Kuwait. This is Assad's second attempt to travel to Kuwait; he failed the first time because the fat man "took advantage of his innocence and ignorance, tricking him, making him get out of the lorry after the journey on a burning hot day, telling him he must walk round H4". Lastly, Marwan was the youngest among them. His father left them so he has to look after his family, for the help of his family and mother, he planned to travel to Kuwait. Abdul Khaizuran was a truck driver who provides conveyance for people to move to Kuwait. His basic occupation was to supply water. He was unmarried because he lost his virility during his fights with the enemy for the sake of his country.
These three people were dreadfully looking for a peaceful life as their life was hard-hitting due to the Israeli’s intervention in their homeland which has taken up the basic necessities of them. Abdul Khaizuran promised these three men that he will provide safe transportation for moving towards Kuwait at a low price, he was an honest transporter unlike others. Three men got emotionally attached to each other during their way to Kuwait. During their journey they have to be seated in the hot truck so that they cannot trapped by the custodian. On their way to Kuwait there were various check points which were watched over by the guards, to get these three men save from the guards he asked them to sit in the truck for six to seven minutes for the first time.
When Abdul was stopped for the second time by the security guard, he started asking useless questions and Abdul was worried for the three men who were getting burned in the hot sun, he somehow managed to run from his questions and took the truck at a safe place so that he can check them out, but when he opened the truck he found them dead. They died due to the choking inside the metal truck. “He mourns his companions. Abul Khaizuran considers burying the bodies in the desert, but he decides to unload the corpses for the municipality to dispose of properly. Abul Khaizuran returns to Basra, wishing that the men had banged on the side of the tank.” With the expectation that these dead bodies will get an appropriate .The author does a brilliant job as this novel is speaking in support of a mass of Palestinians who are roasting under the hot sun in need of getting a chance to live their lives peacefully.
Season of Migration to the North
After the liberation of Sudan from British Empire on January 1, 1956, Tayeb Salih wrote Season of Migration to the North in 1966.Tayeb Salih, 12 July, 1929 – 18 February, 2009. He was born in the Karmakol adjacent to the village in the North of Sudan. He belongs to a family of agrarian and spiritual instructors, his focal goal was to work in the fields. He moved to England for higher education, before leaving, he was associated with a radio station. In London he used to write for the Al-Majalla newspaper, then he worked in the BBC’s Arabic Service and then he became director general of the ministry of information in Qatar, lastly he worked with UNESCO in Paris. By the Arab Literacy Academy this book “Season of Migration to the North” was awarded the supreme essential novel of the 20th century. He died at the age of 80 years.
The characters in this book include Mustafa Saeed, The Narrator, Jean Morris, Sheila Greenwood, Ann Hammond, Mahjoub, Bint Mahmoud (Hosna), Bint Majzoub, The Narrator's Wife, The Narrator's Father, Hajj Ahmed (The Narrator's Grandfather), The Narrator's Mother, Wad Rayyes, Isabella Seymour, Mrs. Robinson and Mr. Robinson. The narrator’s name is not revealed in the novel. The narrator belongs to the Wad Hamid, a rural community in the Northern Sudan. He moved to England for studies and returned to his homeland with a certification of the Poet. The people of his town celebrated his arrival all were so pleased to meet him as they have a few people who got an education from abroad. Among them only one man did not come to meet him. “While having tea with his parents the morning after his return, the narrator recalls an unfamiliar, middle-aged man who stood silently in the crowd that welcomed the narrator back. His father explains that the man is Mustafa Saeed, a stranger who moved to Wad Hamid five years ago”. The narrator was interested in knowing about this person who doesn’t belong to their nature. His father told him that Mustafa Saeed belongs from a Khartoum and migrated to Wid Hamid five years back, he was an agriculturalist. Mr. Mustafa Saeed was not much fascinated in knowing about others and letting anyone know about him. One day narrator visited his grandfather who knows so much about the people of Wid Hamid, his grandfather told him that Mustafa is a respectable citizen and a husband of Honsa who was a Mahmood’s daughter. One day Mustafa came to meet the narrator, “In their conversation, the narrator reveals to Mustafa that he earned a doctorate in English poetry, but is offended when Mustafa replies that “we have no need of poetry here” and that he should have pursued a more practical subject that could help advance the country, like engineering or agriculture” Mustafa Saeed was a star of this Novel who got his education from London and came to this township.
“Mustafa’s narrative now flashes forward, when he first meets Jean Morris at a party ten years later. He is drunk but is stunned by her arrogance and cold beauty when she enters the room.” Mustafa engaged into some vulgar habits in Cairo, where he married Jean Morris, later on he killed her. “Mustafa explains that he transformed the innocent girl “into a harlot”, and that one day she would gas herself to death, leaving a note that says, “Mr. Saeed, may God damn you”. Ann Hammond was his girlfriend, she committed a suicide because Mustafa spread a rumor that this innocent girl was in a habit of making money in an unrespectable means. Sheila Greenwood, and Isabella Seymour also committed suicide because of him. He got into the cage for the murder case, then he came back to his homeland where he married again. Lastly Mustafa died, according to the narrator as he has killed himself. Mustafa left his children and wife. “He also leaves the narrator the key to his “private room” where his diaries are kept, saying that although his life holds no useful lessons, the narrator is free to satisfy his curiosity now”.
“In a part of Mustafa’s story that is not revealed until now, we find out that Mustafa hoped to be executed at his murder trial, since he had wanted to commit suicide after killing Jean Morris but had not had the courage. He recalls that even Ann Hammond’s father, one of the jurors, voted for life imprisonment instead of capital punishment, explaining that Ann might have killed herself for reasons unrelated to Mustafa”.
“Wad Rayyes, who is seventy but still handsome and libidinous, mentions that he hopes to take another wife”. Wad Rayyes wanted to marry Hosna but she not interested in marrying again. “The narrator reveals that Wad Rayyes has proposed, to which Hosna responds: “If they force me to marry, I’ll kill him and kill myself”
“The narrator asks Hosna if she loved Mustafa Saeed. She hesitates, and then replies tenderly that he was a generous husband and father. It becomes clear that she does not know about Mustafa’s torrid past. However, she was suspicious because Mustafa would sometimes speak in “gibberish” (English) in his sleep”. After twenty nine days narrator receives a letter from his friend Mahjoub mentions that Hosna has killed Wad Rayyes and herself. “Wad Rayyes’s eldest wife, Mabrouka, is unfazed by his death, and she says he deserved it for forcing Hosna to marry him”.
The Stone of Laughter
It is a Lebanese novel written during the Lebanese Civil War by Hoda Barakat in 1990. This book got an Al-Naqid prize, converted into English by Sophie Bennett.Hoda Barakat was born in 1952 is a Lebanese novelist. She belongs to the Beirut and then she relocated to Paris and still living there. Her books are formally written in Arabic and interpreted into English, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Dutch and Greek. She was working as a professor and columnist during the Lebanese civil war.
The characters in this novel include Khalil, the leading character of the novel, Naji was a friend of Khalil, Youssef was Khalil’s cousin, Nayif works at a news print and was also Khalil’s friend, Madame Lsabelle was Naji’s mother, The Brother, he was Nayif’s friend and was interested in Khalil and Mustafa who was an estate agent also known as bridegroom and used to work for Khalil. “Because Khalil is feminized, he is excluded and alienated from his own society”. In this story Khalil is surreptitiously attracted towards Naji and they both were talking about the relocation of Naji to Saudia Arabia. Khalil was in a practice of vacuuming and washing his room after every encounter on the roads he was not accepted by his society. Whereas the 14 years of civil war have affected the beauties of Beirut and destruction of the multicultural environment of Beirut. Khalil was only in connection with his friends who used to work for a newspaper, he actually wanted to stay away from the war but it wasn’t possible. “While country is engaged in the most atrocious civil war, he spends his time shopping, cooking, cleaning the house, daydreaming about the male loved ones, replacing broken window panes and reading”. He was too much fascinated about Naji, but he was killed by a gunman because of his association with a group of assailants. After Naji’s death, he used to remain all day and night in his room listening radio channels. Khalil has to hide in his house as shelling and shooting has started again, his uncle’s family has shifted to Beirut and started living in Naji’s flat. In the beginning Zahrah was obsessed for Khalil, she used to invite her for dinner with her family, Khalil was liking her admiration and her too, but when he saw Youssef he fell in love with him and forgets about Zahrah whom he was admiring before.
Youssef joined a territorial army, which made him busy, eventually he has less time to spend with Khalil, which was the reason of his misery. Khalil went for an interview in a newspaper, but he was disappointed because of deficiency of his knowledge in politics. Youssef got killed in one of the street fighting, due to the grief of the death of his two friends he suffered from stomach ulcer, he was admitted in hospital for surgery, was content with the environment of the hospital. After getting discharged from hospital, he started taking care of himself. On the instruction of his neighbor Mustafa he rented the Naji’s house to a woman and her son, his memories with Naji and Youssef revived when he saw that boy. His friend Nayif familiarized him with his friend identified as the brother, he felt charm towards Khalil. This person the brother give him a card and tell him the way to exchange drugs in return of the weapons. Khalil ultimately recognizes that to be away from becoming a target for anyone he should start targeting others. “Go upstairs, go inside, things aren’t the way you think. I’ll come up in a minute, if you allow me, and I’ll explain what's going on. Trust me”. Khalil came inside her apartment and closed the door, his motive was to sexually harass that lady.
“Khalil had a mustache and a pair of sunglasses”. In the end Khalil as transmuted, he just makeover himself as a new person. “Khalil is gone, he has become a man who laughs. And I remain a woman who writes”. He has started smuggling weapons and rapes a young woman, it has emphasized that Khalil was an innocent and soft-hatred person in the beginning, but now he has become a ferocious person who felt contentment in hurting others.
Thesis Statement
Some books acquire awards and prizes due to their content, realistic characters, history and creates interest of the readers. “Men in the Sun’ has stressed the hardships of the Palestinian in the form of source of income, education and money due to the continuous attacks by the Israeli troops. It has also focused on the deaths of Palestinian people not only by Israeli’s but also they have lost their lives in search of peace for themselves and their family.“Season of Migration to the North” was basically a result of the worst political situations. It has emphasized on the freedom of the people and their limitations, beyond going their constraint will only result in discontentment from life, one should not forget his values and foundation. Lastly“Stone of Laughter” was awarded with a prize, this is associated with the transformation of Khalil into a man with fierceness. The main idea in this is the destruction of the nation with the hands of the male which has considered a female.
Comparison of the Three Books
Kanafani has illustrated the dreadful state of the Palestinian in an artistic approach and he is communicating their tough life styles. This story is based on the relocation of three men from three different age groups. This book pronounces the administrative, legal, communal and social certainties of the people of Palestine, it is about the life-threatening era, explaining their survival deeply affected by the actions of international people. He can feel the sorrows of Palestinian’s because he himself faced the problem of refugee for a longer period of time. He is basically focusing on the problematic situation of the country.
The subjectivity of this novel “The Season of Migration to the North” was the unrestrained politics of that time. Most of the Africans countries got freedom in the 1950s and 1960s, some were because of nonviolent negotiations and some were through unpleasant situations. Where as, the novel is about the man who left his village for higher education where he forgets about his culture and turned into a bad-mannered personality. He got into the habit of hurting and killing innocent girls and women, which eventually resulted in his own suicide attempt. Despite of using his education and knowledge to revamp his village he had to hide his past because of his bad-character. At the beginning of this novel Salih focused on the decency and honesty of villagers, but at the end he stated that villagers can also be a fierce, harsh like people in Western countries. This story is about the liberty and its boundaries, moreover, one should not overlook his origin.
, This novel is based on the masculinity of a man whose feminine side is more noticeable and his problems, it has a sarcastic interpretations about life on the battlefield in Beirut. It portrays the religious war finally The Stone of Laughter is about the Lebanon war, which lasted for 14 years and a man named Khalil, who has a tremendously feminine touch which is a gap between his male and female section. He faced the appealing force by two directions. The rape of his tenant was the virtue of his violence and masculinity.
All of the three books are written by different authors, but there is a similarity among them. In three of these novels men are the one who is spreading the evil in this world and becoming the cause of distress to the homeland and women. Like in Men in the Sun, Palestine was getting destroyed by the Israeli army troops, which eventually resulted in the death of so many people and the demolition of the country. Whereas, in The Season of Migration to the North there was a man named Mustafa, who rescinded the lives of so many girls because of his loutish character along with that his education was of no use for his villagers (nation). In the last book The Stone of Laughter also portrays the war, which was abolishing the nation as well as a corrupt nature of men which was depicted by smuggling drugs and harassing the females. Moreover the authors focused on the point that if we would not take ownership of our belongings then others will get a chance to destroy it.
References
(Men in the sun)
http://www.bookdrum.com/books/men-in-the-sun/9780894108570/summary.html
http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-men-in-the-sun/#gsc.tab=0
(The Stone of Laughter)
https://jrib.wikispaces.com/file/view/Stone+of+Laughter+Part+I..pdf
http://jrib.wikispaces.com/file/view/Stone+of+Laughter+Part+II..pdf
(Season of Migration to the North)
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapter-1
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapter-2
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapters-4-and-5
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapters-4-and-5
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapters-4-and-5
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapter-6
http://www.gradesaver.com/season-of-migration-to-the-north/study-guide/summary-chapters-7-and-8
