Re: Behind the Battlefield: Loss, Separation, Sacrifice, and Triumph

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: Tendai L.C. Madenyika : Arab Women Novelists : Professor M. Jiyad : Spring 2007 : Behind the Battlefield: Loss, Separation, Sacrifice, and Triumph : : “Before we set off we all warned one another how, if you’re questioned, you must answer: “I’m Lebanese.” But he was a young man in the first flush of manhood, in his fifteenth year, in his fifteenth year. People had become weak with hunger, but his face had grown round and healthy. He’d got taller during the siege and his body had shot up in a quite uncanny way. On the way one of them stopped him and asked, “Lebanese or Palestinian?” : “Palestinian,” Jamal answered. A bullet to the head, just like that. : We passed by him-he’d gone on ahead of us because he was impatient. I just glanced at him, receiving such a shock my feet could no longer move forward or hold up my body. My nerves shattered, but I couldn’t stop or lean over him and touch him with my hand. If any of us were to stop by someone who’d been killed, they’d pick us out and finish us off at once. I couldn’t. We moved on, right past him. : I looked at him, stretched out there on his back, as if he was asleep or had fainted. There was no blood at all. Then because they…So I didn’t bend over him. I didn’t stop. I didn’t touch him with my hand. : My mother wasn’t with me at that moment. When she saw him she fell into the ditch, with my baby brother that she was carrying, in an indescribable state. She was a mother, the mother of Jamal who lay stretched out on the road as is asleep or in a faint. She couldn’t stop by him either. We went on, everyone totally stunned. I don’t have any clear memory of it. Death hovered over us all” (Badr, p.14, 15). : The haunting passage above is an excerpt from the novella entitled ‘A Land of Rock and Thyme’, which is one of the three that form the novel, ‘A Balcony over the Fakihani’ by Liyana Badr. The story is a poignant depiction of the journeys of a young Palestinian girl, Yusra, with her family as they flee Israeli raids. Subsequently, it also chronicles her marriage to Ahmad, a fighter in the resistance. The passage portrays the blatant disregard for human life that is common in times of war and conflict. Death is one of the unifying themes found among the novels “Pillars of Salt” by Fadia Faqir, and “A Balcony over the Fakihani”. Other recurring themes mainly found within these novels, (and to some extent in the other books read in the class), revolve around the loss brought about by death, separation, and being uprooted. This loss is both physical and emotional. Each individual woman’s heartrending cries from the agony of bereavement rings out, and continues to echo in the minds of readers long after the book has been perused from cover to cover. In spite of being dealt a heavy blow by the death of loved ones, women in these novels can be seen bearing each other up in times of crises. As a result of the support system women offer one another, solidarity as a theme is also evident, which in this case, encompasses all the other novels read. : The loss I have chosen to investigate in this paper is brought about largely as a result of involvement in the armed struggle, directly and indirectly. The women in these novels, Maha, Yusra, and Suad, are married to Harb, Ahmed, and Umar, respectively – men involved directly with the armed struggle. These unions are short-lived, yet they are filled with joy and promise, despite the hardships faced by the women as a result of the absence of their husbands. The lifestyles they lead are meager and humble, in comparison to those of Nadia, and Asya whose husbands are into business ventures that seek to capitalize on the opportunities brought about by the conflict of war. The men actively engaged in the fighting are portrayed as gentle and loving, warm-natured and passionate for the causes for which they lay down their lives. An example from ‘Pillars of Salt’, to substantiate this, is as follows: : “We attacked one of their bases at dawn. They attacked us with what looked like metal eagles. We lost many men,” he said with tears caught in his eyes…He buried his face in my chest and said, “We had to withdraw. We had to withdraw.”…”My love for you is frightening, Maha. Like Antar Ibn Shadad, I gallop towards metal eagles because I see a glimpse of your face there, our children’s faces and the high foreheads of the Arabs” (Faqir, p.83, 84). : The men in this case not only dedicated their lives to the struggle, but in some instances even went to the extreme of forsaking part of their compensation for it. Ahmed confessed to Yusra that the sales balances for the organization’s accounts had failed to match up, and he had thus taken it upon himself to pay for the difference from his salary. Under their present circumstances, some (if not most) women would have been upset with their husbands for distributing a sizeable chunk of their income without consulting them. Yet, despite the fact that the young couple had recently married, were expecting their first child, and looking for accommodation, and now had little to get by on, Yusra was supportive of Ahmed’s actions. Ahmed seemed genuinely remorseful that he had not consulted her, but she ‘tried to show him that this didn’t worry [her]’ (Badr, p.24). Ahmed’s comrades must have applauded him for parting with a portion of his salary, but to what extent where his actions selfless? With the responsibility of taking care of a young wife, and a baby on the way, had he fully considered the ramifications this would have on his family? Yusra’s reaction, however, allows readers to understand how both she and Ahmed regarded their involvement in the cause as much bigger than them. It also shows their commitment and willingness to make untold sacrifices for the freedom of their land and people. : In times of political turmoil and uprooting, people mourn for the former glory of their land and yearn for things to become right again or even better. It is the norm that whenever people from that country meet, especially among those in exile, they debate, cry, sing, and think up ways they can help to bring about restoration within their country. In A Woman of Five Seasons, this is what happened among ‘the poor, the disposed, the opportunists – [who] all flock[ed] to the newly oil-rich state of Barqais in search of wealth’. These people enjoyed elaborate dinners and often spoke about the need for change in their land, yet they were rather reticent to offer their money in support of the cause. When Najwa Thabit spoke at one of the lavish dinners, she implored the people to financially support the revolution. However, as Najwa gave her speech, the hushed conversations of some of the women present at the table gives insight into their attitudes. : “To hell with her,” one of the other women muttered. “How about the five percent they take off our salaries each month? What do these people think we are? Do they think we own a bank?” : “She won’t be happy,” another whispered, “until she’s taken all our salaries. So the revolution can buy Persian carpets!” (p.39). : There is a sharp contrast to the attitudes of the wealthy people in Barqais to that of Yusra and Ahmed, who compared to them, were impoverished. While the majority of the people in Barqais offered their lip-service to the revolution, while keeping a tight reign on the purse strings, Ahmed and Yusra parted with the little funds that they had. The hypocrisy of the people in Barqais is revolting, and even Nadia was ‘sickened by the falsehood among the women, and how they sing about [their land] and yet do nothing but fatten their wallets’. : “When we came to Barqais, he planted me among the families of his friends, among people who thought of nothing but money and getting money. The emptiness started hemming me in, I felt it when I was with him, and when I was with other people” (p. 33). : Nadia felt stifled by people’s pretentious attitudes and the drive to amass more wealth for their personal fulfillment, while turning a blind eye to the suffering endured by the ones who were fighting for the cause – for them. Nadia agreed with Najwa Thabit’s view that ‘those who strive with their money are equal to those who strive with their lives’, and this ultimately led her to convince Ihsan to donate money to the cause, as well as to other charities. : From the above examples, it is evident that in times of war there are people who sacrificed more than others. Why is that? Ahmed was actively involved in the warfare; therefore, he had first hand knowledge of the significant role money played in supporting the war effort. Therefore, he was able to even conceive the idea of forfeiting part of his salary, although the decision must have been difficult, since he was equally committed to his family. Nonetheless, his view of money was as a means to an end, which would ultimately benefit his family and countrymen. The people in Barqais, on the other hand, did not have that fighting experience, and thus could not relate directly and personally to Najwa’s plea for financial support. Additionally, their parsimony can be attributed to the fact that most of them had immigrated to Barqais in order to acquire wealth, thus would have been more or less tight-fisted. However, attitudes towards making sacrifices can be ingrained as a result of cultural expectations and beliefs. : Jalal, as the first born son, was confined to playing the role his culture assigned to him and accordingly, sacrificed most of what he wanted in life for his family, in order to receive praise from his parents as being the dutiful son. Jalal’s family knew that if they wanted something from him, he would resist a little or not at all, yet would eventually give in to their requests. This is evidenced when he did not fight Ihsan for Nadia. Thus, from the time he was young, Jalal was used to sacrificing his desires for something seemingly greater than himself. For that reason, it seems fitting for him to have joined the cause, and sacrifice his own ambitions and life for his country, since he shared their ideology. After some time it became evident that Jalal soon tired of always having to sacrifice his own ambitions and desires. He spoke to Ihsan, asking him if he wanted to buy his birthright from him in order for Jalal to ‘get him off his back’. He uses the Judaic/Christian example of Esau who sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for some lentil soup because he was ravenous after coming home from hunting, and needed something to eat. This begs the question, what is Jalal hungry for that he no longer wishes to lay down his life? Could it be money, power, or his freedom - the freedom to go after what he wants, no matter what or who might stand in his way? : “You’re his wife because I’m a donkey! I shouldn’t have left you to him. I was ignorant too. I was twenty-three, and in your twenties you don’t play your own parts-you play that parts assigned to you by family rules and values, you submit to them, without any power to resist. I was the eldest, and they made me to believe that my part was to live for them, to make sacrifices, even of the things dearest to me, for the sake of happiness. I shouldn’t have left you to him….But I’ll take you from him. I won’t be a donkey for ever” (p. 105, 106). : Jalal began to realize that his part in life was not to always sacrifice his own happiness for that of others. What made him grow dissatisfied with his role of sacrificing himself, and begin to step out of the role society and tradition had confined him in? Having spent most of his life always bowing down to the pressures of others, Jalal must have had a gradual awakening experience (Aha! Moment) that made him step out of the part he was assigned to play out according to Middle Eastern culture. The reasons behind his revelation might have been the growing tensions among him and his fellow comrades in the revolution, as well as between him and his wife Najwa Thabit, whom he believed had a lot of influence with the chief and used that to slander him in his eyes. Most importantly of all, however, is his involvement in Ihsan’s deals. : Ihsan needed Jalal’s influence in order for him to execute his deals to supply his Highness with arms. As a result, Jalal was able to gain an audience with his Highness, which must have made him realize that he some level of authority, and could exercise it to significantly alter the landscape of the revolution, in addition to the figures in his bank account. Ihsan wanted Jalal to convince his Highness to give him a commission of four percent on the deal, in addition to the two percent they would receive regardless. Thus, if Ihsan had his way, the total commission would amount to six percent which both Ihsan and Jalal would share evenly. Ihsan was of the opinion that he was entitled to at least a four percent commission, since the normal fee charged by most brokers was at least ten percent. He argued with Jalal, stating that his motivation for carrying out the deals was because of the cause, yet Jalal saw right through his lies. Even Nadia did not believe that the ‘deals’ Ihsan and Jalal performed were for the cause. She knew that Ihsan carried them out mainly for his own personal ambition. : ‘He gripped my shoulder and shook me angrily. “They’re not our deals,” he said, trying to lower his voice. “You know that, Nadia. We’re both doing this for the cause! Why won’t you believe that? You don’t know how important money is”’ (Al-Atrash, p.102). : In spite of his involvement in the deals, Jalal was uncomfortable with using the respect his Highness had towards him to further Ihsan’s profiteering aspirations. Yes, he wanted the money, but unlike Ihsan, was not consumed by greed to acquire it, despite Ihsan’s impassioned pleas. : “Jalal, please - tomorrow’s my last chance. Explain things to them. You wouldn’t let me lose my share, would you?” Jalal opened the door, paused,[and] then turned to him. : “Our share, Ihsan. You’ll take two percent and no more. The other two are for me – of the total!” (p.76). : This is the first time Jalal refuses to bow down to Ihsan’s demands. In addition, it becomes evident that he has become corrupt when he corrects Ihsan that the four percent commission would be theirs, not Ihsan’s alone. : Jalal’s rebellion mirrors to some degree that of Fatima Mernissi who received encouragement from her mother to rebel against those she felt wanted to take advantage of her. She spent much of the time, however, confused as to when the most opportune time to do so would be. : “You ought to carefully consider the situation, and analyze everything. Rebel when you know there is some chance you may win.” After that, I spent much energy analyzing my chances to win whenever it became evident that people were taking advantage of me’ (Mernissi, p.117). : Fatima received encouragement from her grandmother Yasmina to never accept inequality even that imposed upon her by societal norms. Fatima was a curious child, and always asked questions to help her understand what was going on in her life. : “Talking to Mina was essential, because I needed to know all the details. I needed to know more – I needed to know how to get out of the well” (Mernissi, p.169). : She was exposed to the harems in both the city and the village, which helped instill her overall perspective of the world, since she was able to meet women from other nations, and their life stories. Fatima’s parents are very loving, and care for her. When she has nightmares, they hug and kiss her, while comforting and urging her to go back to sleep. : The men in Dreams of Trespass, are not as controlling, and to some extent, are even supportive of women. During the radio incident, when the men discovered that the women had made a copy of the key they interrogated them. Still, when none of them confessed to having any knowledge of the duplicate, the men let the matter rest, even though they knew better. Another example of the men’s gentle nature is given by Krisha, who was the favorite driver for Grandfather Tazi’s wives. Krisha refused to divorce his wife because she did very little housework, since she was not fond of doing so. Fatima also mentions that her father ‘loved his wife [her mother] so much, that he felt miserable about not giving in to her wishes and never stopped proposing compromises’ (Mernissi, p.77). In contrast, the men who are into commercial activities brought about by the war, Daffash, Abu Saad, and Ihsan, are not as outwardly loving and caring as the fighting men presented in the novels. : Daffash is viewed as a traitor who is so desperate to gain wealth that he will dishonor his father, and join forces with the English who are killing off his people. He beats Maha to the point where she needs serious medical attention, all the while plotting to take over the farm that their father left to her in his verbal will in front of the village elders. He is conniving and calculating, and is easily swayed by the traditions of the colonial powers, as he is already taken in by them, and the lifestyles they lead. Daffash is a classic example of the clash of cultures. Instead of being eclectic and assimilating certain aspects of the foreign culture (English), Daffash seems to have turned his back on the local culture, turning back to it only when it suited his scheming purposes. : Ihsan on the other hand lives and breathes money; it fixates him and dictates his actions. He uses his brother’s involvement in the war as a front for him to gain an audience with the influential business people. Having done so, he is fueled by thoughts of amassing more wealth and prestige. He thinks in money terms, and will only undertake to do something if he will receive something of value in return. Were it not for Nadia, who had to convince him to donate money for the cause, he would never have done so on his own. Ihsan is like a script writer in his actions. His machinations are methodically executed with the hope that everything will work out for his own ends. By ensuring that Nadia stopped reading worthwhile books, Ihsan reveals his lack of patience for acquiring knowledge. On the contrary, what he displays is his knack for gaining access to information that would elevate him in the business world. He is very generous with his money, and lavishes expensive gifts upon Nadia for his own selfish ambitions. : “She talked well, and lately she’d started talking cleverly about fashions and artists. She didn’t even insist so much, now, on having books. He was well content with her new hobby. Tomorrow, he thought, will Nadia be able to stand out? Make other women say how elegant she is? Will she know how to use her fingers and neck, to make the diamonds shine on them? And if she does? Then, Ihsan, those women will talk about your wife to their husbands - and the men will talk about you! Barqais will come to know just what Ihsan Natour’s worth! (Al-Atrash, p.5). : “But you, Ihsan, he thought, you won’t start small the way Faris did, you won’t accept anything less than the summit. That’s where your wars and victories are going to happen” (Al-Atrash, p.26) : ‘Ihsan raced to the top of a hill, with Jalal and another young boy in pursuit. When he fell, he pulled on Jalal who had overtaken him, so that he too fell down. The summit became his alone, the earth, and spring, and the women and children all beneath him. Jalal’s racing to a summit of his own, he thought. It’s a different peak, but a summit’s still a summit. The first to reach it sits on top, no matter what the difference in the tracks and paths’ (Al-Atrash, p.28). : The above passages show that Ihsan’s character is akin to one who supplants, and is also deceitful. He exhibits a “bring him down syndrome” where he would rather witness a scenario where all people who are competing against him fail rather than triumph over him. He disregarded Jalal’s compassion and threw dirt in his eyes and ran off towards the summit, such that his mother expressed her concern by saying, “How I fear for you from yourself, son.” : Abu Saad, the butcher, is an egotistical and greedy man. He does not treat Um Saad well, and has the audacity to bring into their home a younger woman, thus kicking Um Saad out of her bedroom. She is forced to sleep on the kitchen floor as a result, and is severely beaten when she tried to fight for her dignity and honor. Thus Abu Saad succeeds in breaking down Um Saad, whose sole purpose in her married life was to please her husband and children. She embodied the dutiful and loving wife, and yet was ultimately shunned and disgraced by her husband, and to some extent, even her children who would joke and play around with their father’s new wife. : : Saif proves to be the exception to the rule. He is generous with his money, and genuinely loves Asya. He, however, is unlike the other fighting men because he does not outwardly express himself in a manner that assures Asya of his love for her. He bottles his emotions inside, is usually aloof, and pushes Asya away when she approaches him to try and bridge the gap between them. She, for example, asked him to dance with her and to hold her while they lay in bed, yet each time he either refused altogether, or did so grudgingly. Instead, Saif’s true feelings are elicited by the confession of betrayal from Asya, which leads him to become obsessive and violent. He, however, refuses to tarnish Asya’s image by telling people the real reason behind their divorce, which reflects on his level of affection for her. : “She fell asleep afterwards, right there on the floor, and I kept my arms around her all night, but in her sleep she turned away from me. I thought then that I would do anything to hang on to her” (Soueif, p.653). : Communication is vital to maintaining any form of relationship. In Asya and Saif’s relationship, this key component was lacking. They each assumed things about the other, and what they disliked they bottled up. Their problems were exacerbated by the distance between them when Saif was away at work, which in itself symbolizes the magnitude of their separation from each other emotionally within their marriage. In Dreams of Trespass, Mina warned that, ‘One has to be careful in life not to confuse wishes with reality. But we did, and we paid for it’ (Mernissi, p.168). Both Asya and Saif paid dearly for mixing up the reality of the problems within their marriage, to their wishful thinking of how things actually were between them, and what they meant to each other. : When Asya took a walk with Saif, and began mentioning how their love was no longer a ‘grande armour’, Saif looked surprised and hurt. One would wonder why this would come as a shock to him, since they had grown distant, mostly argued, and had not made love to each other for several years in their marriage, (a fact Asya hid from her mother). It appears that both Asya and Saif had different definitions for love, and neither of them had clarity pertaining to what the other wanted from the marriage. Thus, their expectations were different, and when one of them did not conform to the other’s needs, their marriage began to collapse. : When Asya experienced pain during intercourse, and had the miscarriage, Saif resolved to give her time to mature, and become comfortable with herself. He decided to take her in as a sister, and his best friend, instead of divorcing her. : ‘Five years of thinking she’s young, she’s fragile –’ (Soueif, p.628). : Yet, Asya took this to mean that he had somehow rejected her. When she would throw herself at him, by asking him to hold her, (which he briefly and reluctantly did), she began to think that she was undesirable in his eyes. Asya’s sense of the erotic was very powerful, as shown by her elaborate sexual fantasies. Therefore, all that coupled with her not being sexually intimate with her husband throughout most of her marriage, only served to fan the flames of her sexual appetite. : Saif, on the other hand, had hoped that they would eventually make love properly, once Asya got over the anxiety and pain. He, therefore, delved into his work in Damascus to focus his energy (sexual and otherwise), into something constructive for their future. He yet he did it all for her. : ‘You’re blaming me?’ he says. ‘Blaming me for doing my best for you? You think I was having fun out there in Damascus? You think I wanted to be out there –’ (Soueif, p.627). : We see that when Saif began to comprehend the extent of Asya’s betrayal, he no longer felt the need nor the drive to continue working in Damascus, since the reason to continue doing so has been lost to him. : However, Asya viewed Saif’s work as being his way of getting away from her. She felt lonely, and even more so when he did not meet her in Paris as he had agreed to. Thus, she led herself to believe that he felt that he could go on without her, while she often pined away for him. Asya lived through her imagination, and often used it to play out entire possible conversations between her and Saif, to the extent that she led herself to believe that he also was having an affair with a Palestinian woman. She wished for Saif to excite her sexually, and even imagined Gerald Stone as Saif when they committed adultery. The end result of confusing reality with wishful thinking thus becomes apparent, when Asya and Saif’s marriage lands on the rocks due to her infidelity. : When juxtaposed with Harb, Ahmed, Umar, and some of the men in Dreams of Trespass, Daffash, Ihsan, Abu Saad, and Saif seem to lack depth of character. The soldiers are represented in the novels as being driven by a purpose greater than themselves. Jalal in this case, though he was once committed to the cause, had the capacity of a being gentle and loving husband, had he married Nadia. However, he became disillusioned with the principles and everything he stood for, after being led astray by the deals he and Ihsan began to do. Jalal later owned casinos and other affluent hotels in places like Cairo and Greece. One therefore has to wonder what Jalal’s ideology was founded on initially, for him to have fallen away from it so quickly. He cites differences within the camp itself and infighting as explanations for wanting to put it all behind him, which is a valid reason. However, would he have been so keen on doing so had he owned several properties of prime real estate, and had millions waiting for him in the bank? I highly doubt that. : Women play an integral role in the armed struggle, from nursing the wounds of the injured, to opening up their homes like Abu Mahmoud (“Yamma”), in ‘A Balcony over the Fakihani’. Whether it be financial, psychological, or otherwise, support of any kind for a cause will undoubtedly fuel its efforts, and fan the flames of its fire in the people’s hearts. The Arab women in these novels did just that. They supported their husbands, and availed themselves for them. In addition, they assured them that their efforts to free their people were indeed appreciated, even though they may have seemed miniscule in comparison to the forces they were fighting against. Maha is a classic example of the ‘pillar’ she was to her husband. : “I pressed his head to my chest. I felt helpless. The village wouldn’t allow me to join Harb on the battleground. Harb needed my support. How could I fight the English? I must do anything to get pregnant.…Hands outstretched toward the forgetful sky, I ran behind Harb’s galloping stallion, invoking Allah, His angels, His books, and His prophets to protect my man, bring him back safe and wealthy and lengthen his life to see his children crawling around him” (Faqir, p.83, 84). : From this passage, it could also be interpreted that Maha viewed bearing children, among other things, as her way of fighting against the English. She urges herself to do whatever it takes to bear Harb some children. By giving birth to children, this would serve in a way to replace the ones lost from the hands of the English. She could then bring them up in to always remember how their father had died fighting for their freedom and their land. Therefore, the children’s legacy in some sense would be the battles fought by their forefathers who had them as well as their entire people in mind. In this case, the children would thus bear the burden of picking up where their forefathers left off. : By keeping a diary, Ahmed seeks to ensure that his words and thoughts continue to live on long after he’s gone. In his diary, under a small map of Palestine that he had drawn for himself, he wrote the phrase, ‘Remember. This must be turned into a reality’ (Badr, p.25). He very well wrote those words for himself, but any Palestinian reading it would undoubtedly have been inspired by the dedication and courage of those who chose to fight. : However, the other side of this interpretation could be that a vicious cycle could be perpetuated, where people will always seek to avenge their loved ones who were killed. In ‘A Balcony over the Fakihani’, as Yusra and her family fled war and persecution, people were killed off left right and center, like animals. : “I saw a woman dressed in deepest black, more than forty years old. She was hitting a man over the head with a piece of wood with a nail on the end of it, and a young man, perhaps a relative of hers, came up and helped her. She was taking revenge on us. I heard another woman, who was carrying a pistol, say: “I want to pick out the handsomest young men and kill them” (Badr, p.17). : Wherein, in most of the book, we saw women actively participating in helping those who were suffering, nursing them back to health, or providing food and shelter to those without. In this case, at the museum where Yusra went to look for her mother and siblings, women become the source of the ills of society. This Israeli-Palestinian vendetta feeds itself, because those who see their kith and kin being murdered to avenge the blood of people they know nothing of will most likely seek to do the same. Even Lalla Thor and Lalla Mani are pitted against the rest of the women in the two harems, as they support the subjugation of women as well as the propagation of patriarchy and hierarchical structures within society. : As aptly pointed out Tolstoy in War and Peace, ‘the factor establishing an army’s morale is hard to quantify scientifically, because it isn’t related either to the number of soldiers or to any other obvious cause’ (Badr, p.21). Therefore, it is suffice to say that soldier’s wives have a direct role to play in encouraging and strengthening their spirits. : Other women seen supporting their warring husbands, are Deena, in ‘In the Eye of the Sun’, by Ahdaf Soueif. She travels to England and takes on a waitress job in order to earn money to buy him books and humanitarian reports. In addition, she also wrote to her sister, and urged her to write to newspapers informing them of the torture and suffering going on. : Oftentimes, the wives were separated from their husbands, since they had to go away and either fight, raid, or be stationed where their organizations needed them. Umar and Suad made often had a regular schedule for when they would return home, since they were officially employed in the army. However, Harb was part of a band of raiders, and such could be gone for spells of time on end. For these women, this was something they had to become used to, and quickly. It must have been an immense emotional and psychological burden on them as they spent weeks and sometimes months without knowing whether or not their husbands were safe, alive, or dead. Whenever news came of enemy forces’ attacks, the uncertainty of it all caused them untold anxiety. : ‘She shuddered, then began to weep helplessly, “I asked about him everywhere,” she cried, “and that’s what they all said!” : Where was he then? Where was he? I didn’t have the courage to believe her fears. He might come in at any moment, I thought, and he’d tell us what had happened and laugh at what he’d call our groundless fears. As she wept, I told her to try and be patient. “How much longer do I have to be patient?” she said… : We stayed up all night, and at three in the morning there was still no news – just the monotonous din of bulldozers and the searchlights; the hospitals and the injured; martyrs we couldn’t yet believe had become martyrs; families looking for lost relatives. …I couldn’t bring myself to believe he was injured, or …’ (Badr, p.74, 75). : We see Yusra lamenting that ‘death had become so familiar: there was nobody in al-Zaatar who didn’t anticipate their own’ (p.11). However, no matter how accustomed people might grow to being surrounded by the loss of human life, it is more difficult for people to become numb to the sting of death. Even though these women lived with the knowledge that their husbands could be killed at any moment, they were able to go through each day separated from them, as a result of hope. I think that one way wives of army personnel get by, when their men are away at war, is to not think about the possibility of them dying, as Yusra puts it. : ‘[O]ne Thursday, two days before he was due home on the Saturday, he was killed in an Israeli air raid, from a wound to the head. I’d heard about the raid on Damour and Sidon that same day, but I’d thrust the possibility aside, banished the nightmare from my mind. I didn’t think he’d die, that he could possibly die; it never occurred to me even once’ (p.24). : However, death will happen to us all at some point. Yes, it might never have occurred to Yusra that Ahmed might die, or maybe it did she firmly brushed the thoughts aside, or changed her thought pattern with regards to that. Whatever, the case, the deaths of these valiant, passionate, and loving men shows the frailty of human life. In A Balcony over the Fakihani, Jinan wondered how Umar could have possibly died, when she went to the mortuary to see his dead body for herself. She grieves silently, ‘How did it happen, Umar? How could a few wounds and bruises bring you to this?’ (p. 83). : The solidarity as a theme is also evidenced by the comforting role they play. Maha and Suad were informed of their husband’s deaths by their friends. These women grieved for one another, and thus are shown as empathetic and caring. Women have the ability to bear burdens. Using the Art History perspective that a woman’s womb represents a vessel, and thus women can and often carry a significant weight within themselves for the troubles of others. News of death is never pleasant, and thus Maha and Yusra would need as much moral strength in order to take it in. However, their friends go about telling them the bad news somewhat differently. : Nasra is seen rushing to tell Maha the news of her husband’s death. She is equally shocked, but somewhat blunt and tactless in how she tells Maha what she saw. I also think that she should have spared Maha detail such as, ‘Slaughtered like sheep,’ and ‘Shreds of cloth and oozing flesh, our men.’ Nasra’s approach seems callous almost, however, it also represents an aspect of her character that is both impetuous and unassuming. Maha’s reaction to word of Harb’s death is portrays part of the death ritual in the Middle East. : ‘I uncovered my head, undid my plaits, and shrieked, “Harb.” I yanked my hair and threw myself on the ground shouting at the top of my voice, “Harb.” I tore the front of my dress, filled my palms with soil, and threw it over my head. My outstretched hands and the dust-covered head begged to be buried. “Harb, the twin of my soul,” I howled, and the echo of my wounded voice broke over the ridges and the tops of mountains, then slid down the deaf sea’ (p.112). : In the above paragraph, we are confronted with the pain of death, as well as the sting of both physical and emotional loss. Harb was Maha’s soul mate, they were compatible on so many different levels and for him to die out in the open, while his body was pecked by vultures is a horrifying thought for Maha. The author’s choice of words, such as ‘yanked’, and ‘howled’ reveal the depth of the anguish felt by Maha. : : In A Land of Rock and Thyme, the author does not mention how Yusra came about knowing that Ahmed was dead. However, she also has an army of women to support her though the difficult time she’s in. She is seen thrashing from side to side on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably, while the women urge her to eat something since she’s is three months pregnant. It is also interesting that Maha was also pregnant at the time of Harb’s death, but did not know it. : In Suad’s case the women gathered around her as well, and broke the news to her gently, and embraced her one by one as she cried. The new life these women carry symbolizes the perpetuation of hope and spirit through life. : ‘It was Fakihani, and everyone was gathered round her. The tears rolled down her cheeks. One by one, in a long line, everyone came forward to embrace her. There was no sound, except for the noise of the piles of concrete collapsing as the bulldozer pushed them about; three was nothing around us but rubble and hurrying feet and the pain of the ordeal that everyone was trying to keep under control’ (p. 78). : What makes Maha, Yusra, and Suad strong? Is it because they are married to fighting men, and therefore, have grown to become strong and independent in their thinking since they are left on their own for extended periods? Is it because they were already strong in their own right, and this now simply compliments their husbands’ purpose? : We are first introduced to Yusra as a young girl dodging bullets, all in an effort to fetch water for her family. That seemed to be her part to play in the unfolding war with the Palestinians pitted against the Israelis. Before she became married to Ahmed, her actions reveal her to be a dedicated and brave young woman, who strived to be strong in the face of danger. Maha is also introduced to us as passionate, and no easily influenced. She has a mind of her own and is not afraid to use it, even if this goes against the norms of society. : Therefore, this shows that these women were not made strong because they became married to men of valor. Both the men and women became stronger individually in their marriages, because they were able to harness certain qualities from each other, as well as give back to each other. Their relationships were fulfilling, and nurturing, as opposed to stifling, such as the one between Nadia and Ihsan. : Pillars of Salt is the only novel that chronicles the life of a martyr’s widow. Maha did not have the same freedoms as before when she was married, therefore, especially now that she was a mother, and had to return to her father’s house and take care of him, since he was ill. : Without Harb to defend her, and protect her against the society, Maha was eventually separated from her son, Mubarak, as well her farm, which her father had left for her. She was uprooted from everything familiar to her, as a result of Daffash’s greed and was thrown into a mental hospital, all because she had stood her ground where her child and property were concerned. : The loss experienced and endured by these Arab women, adds immensely to the strength of their characters. They are the epitome of strength, dedication, and determination. Through their courage, the readers develop an appreciation to the struggles endured by Arab women, all for the sake of love, family, honor, and life. : Conclusion : ‘A human life is so negligible in the desert, where only sand dunes and stars can survive. A little girl’s pain there is an utter trifle. But it was in crossing the sand that I discovered another little girl inside me. A girl who was strong, and intent on surviving. I became a different Mina then. I realized that all the world was against me and the only good that I could expect had to come from inside myself.” : ‘I cry now,’ she would say, ‘because I am still so angry that they did not give me a chance to be afraid’ (Mernissi, p. 167). : All the women presented in the five novels written by Arab women, show admirable strength of character, despite surmounting overwhelming odds. As women, and human beings, they reveal their fallible nature, and steely determination to right their wrongs. Through their life stories, we share in their joys, their struggles, their losses, and in the victories of their spirits. A well-known adage states that ‘those who stand for nothing, will fall for anything’, and that is what they have shown. Maha stood for her freedom, her son, her land, her future, and for that, she was struck down, but not destroyed. Yusra and Suad stood behind their fighting men, their belief in the revolution, their hope for freedom, their hope for their land, and for that they became hard pressed on every side through the loss of their husbands, yet they were not crushed. Nadia stood for the cause, and for the honor and dignity of her family, and for that she was perplexed by her husband’s betrayal and folly in not recognizing the trap that had been set out for him; yet she was never in despair over it. If at all anything, she learned to possess herself and express her true self. Asya stood for romantic idealism, for sexual passion, and independence amidst the turmoil of cultural collisions, and she was persecuted for it by Saif, as a result of her adultery. However, though Saif left her, she was not abandoned by her family and friends. : We learn through their defeats and triumphs, the resilience of the spirit of a woman, and the pillars of comfort and encouragement women can, and often do, glean from one another. Throughout history, Arab women have been subjugated and led to believe that they are inferior to men. However, through the examples of the women in the five novels, it is possible for all women to begin ‘possessing themselves’ no matter what measures to thwart their awakening have been put in place. : : Bibliography: : Al-Atrash, Leila, A Woman of Five Seasons, (Northampton: Interlink Books, 2002) : Badr, Liyana, A Balcony over the Fakihani, (New York: Interlink Books, 1993) : Faqir, Fadia, Pillars of Salt, (Northampton: Interlink Books, 2004) : Mernissi, Fatima, Dreams of Trespass, (New York: Perseus Books, 1994) : Soueif, Ahdaf, In the Eye of the Sun, (New York: Anchor Books, 1992)

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