ipl-logo

A Woman's Journey: A Literary Analysis

1166 Words5 Pages

Three women writers wrote three different novels, each of the three novels has its theme and characters; but they all share a common theme, which is the quest or the journey, whether this journey is a physical or a spiritual journey. In this essay I will trace the journey motif in Shafak 's The Bastard of Istanbul, Faqir 's Willow Trees Don 't Weep, and Lessing 's The Grass is Singing, and relate this motif to three of the stages of female heroes, that are mentioned in Maureen Murdock book The Heroine 's Journey: Woman 's Quest for wholeness. The three stages that I will examine are: the stage of separation, the stage of the abyss or darkness, and the stage of rebirth, and I will try to connect these stages to the bildungs of women. First …show more content…

We see her on the first day breaking the rules by swearing in the street and swearing at the harasser who tried to harass her; by this she breaks her grandmother 's golden rule: "The Golden Rule of Prudence for an Istanbulite woman: When harassed on street, never respond, since a woman who responds, let alone swears back at her harasser, shall only fire up the enthusiasm of the latter!" (5). She is aware of these rules, but because she is different, she chooses to break these rules. When she hears the Azan while she is preparing herself for the abortion, she starts to think about her own journey. Najwa in Faqir 's Willow Trees Don 't Weep is a secular girl, wears miniskirts, works in the most secular place in Jordan, a hotel in the Dead Sea. She starts to think about her journey when her mother died. Her grandmother asks her to go to find her father who went to Afghanistan to fight against the Soviet Union, and tells her that: "Because I don 't have long to live and you 'll end up alone in this house" (6). Being alone for women in a society like Najwa 's society is not good for them because "Tongues will wag"

Show More
Related

  • Summary Of Eleanor Ayer's 'Parallel Journeys'

    164 Words  | 1 Pages

    The novel Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer is a nonfiction story about two child during World War II. In chapter one Helen Waterford is introduced, she is a young jewish girl who has moved to Amsterdam to hide from the Nazis that are transporting all jewish people to concentration camps. In chapter two, a young boy by the name of Alfons Heck is introduced, he has just in rolled in Hitlers youth program. The story changes back to each of the characters and their families telling the story of how the jews lived and how Germans lived during World War II. When I picked this book out I knew very little about the people the book is about and the author.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: A Long Walk To Water By Linda Sue Parks

    1229 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ethan ReinhartMrs. Murry English 909 February 2017The Deadly walk to Safety Having to survive through animals, Living in America and getting used to the changes, and the hardships of traveling through deserts and to refugee camps. Salva Dut definitely proved that he was a survivor. This Paper is from the book “A long Walk to Water” written by Linda Sue Parks.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Bean Trees By Barbara Kingsolver

    693 Words  | 3 Pages

    The major characters in her novels The Bean Trees, Pigs in Heaven, The Poisonwood Bible and Prodigal Summer are women struggling to make places for themselves. They consider new situations and ideas with courage and humor. The women express a feminist perspective and thrive off of self determination, commitment and compassion. The topic of gender is explored in two general ways in the novel.

    Read More

  • The Bite Of The Mango Sparknotes

    610 Words  | 3 Pages

    She got medical attention and found two of her brothers, but soon discovered she was pregnant because she got raped and later her baby died of malnutrition. “Since finding out I was pregnant, I’d endure serious bouts of depression, followed by moments of extreme happiness in which I forgot all about the war.” (Mariatu, page 97) Her and her brothers and sisters went and begged on the streets for money to buy food, soon news reporters were interviewing her and wanting her story “Indeed, passersby always singled me out when I held Abdul.” (Mariatu, page 102).

    Read More

  • Summary Of Her: A Memoir By Christa Parravani

    736 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the extremely passionate memoir Her: A Memoir, written by Christa Parravani, a young lady facing hard times tragically dies, and her identical twin sister strains to survive. Two identical sisters -- Christa and Cara Parravani, always shared a bond, greater than friendship, and sisterhood itself. Despite their rough childhood including being raised by a single mother, and being raped as a young adult (Clara), the two sisters were able to attend good colleges and get more than satisfactory jobs. The memories of their troubled childhood made Cara depressed, which led her to drugs and finally a tragic death at a young age, which Christa is determined to keep from happening to her. I love the books way of getting people to relate to the characters

    Read More

  • The Reeve's Tale And The Honor Of Men Analysis

    781 Words  | 4 Pages

    The violence experienced by the women, Malyne and Symkyn’s wife, was bluntly addressed by Weisl, “The women are there to be had, to be taken, because they are merely props in a humorous story without any real identity” (120). When looking at Nussbaum’s objectifications, Weisl addresses instrumentality and denial of subjectivity. Moreover, Weisl references Gravdal’s Ravishing Maidens, elaborating more on the former’s discussion of male power (121). It is clear that Weisl is a feminist author, referring directly to Gravdal’s and utilizing Nussbaum’s ideas, shows the impact and progression both women had on future scholars. She continues to explore the ways in which The Reeve’s Tale objectifies women, “In this male game, the women who help the winner are merely chess pieces ready to be captured” (120).

    Read More

  • Summary Of Cathy Freem A Journey Has Begun By Adrian Mcgregor

    504 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Cathy Freeman: A Journey has Begun” is a biography written by Adrian McGregor. Having published five other books in sport previously, the award winning journalist and a Bachelor of Arts graduate from The University of Queensland has contributed an engaging life story of Cathy Freeman, the famous Aboriginal athlete from Australia. This book details significant aspects of the Cathy’s life journey in both her personal and professional running career, paying attention to significant events that occur throughout that changed her life. As the book progresses, it aims to shed prominence on the present issues and controversies in sports.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Book 'An Invisible Thread'

    319 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book An Invisible Thread, the author often provides examples of parents that have a poor quality of parenting. First there is Laura’s father Nunziato Carino, who’s a bartender. After he is done with his shift, he would often come home drunk and yell at his son, Frank who is Five. Frank will quickly hide under his bed sheet as his father dammed his name again and again. This happened frequently and every one would hide in their rooms as unfortunate Frank takes his father’s heavy word beating each night.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Women's Room And The Radiant Way

    1549 Words  | 7 Pages

    The Women’s Room and The Radiant Way are 2 novels that reflect certain ideologies of the time they are written. The Women’s Room is written by American author Marilyn French. The main protagonist of the novel is a woman named Mira who represents her generation and all the young women in her society in the 1950s and 1960s. The novel portrays the unhappy, oppressive and unsatisfying relationship between men and women. The Radiant Way is a novel that is written by British novelist Margaret Drabble.

    Read More

  • To Kill A Mockingbird Essays: Gender Roles In Modern Art

    1044 Words  | 5 Pages

    In a similar manner, they fought arduously for the whole world to hear their voices and to proclaim their significance to humankind’s mission to greatness. With this in mind, various forms of literature have been aiding women ever since in their long-time battle for an environment that is free from gender injustices. Significant to this are the books titled, “Age of Innocence” and “Sultana’s dream” because both of them portrayed women who had defied the

    Read More

  • Perspectives Of Women In The Things They Carried By Tim O Brien

    888 Words  | 4 Pages

    In The Things They Carried, the author, Tim O’Brien creates a view of women from the perspectives of soldiers as a symbol of innocence and pleasure. The symbol/role of women and femininity is often altered through the eyes of the disparate soldiers. O’ Brien depicts women that reminds some soldiers of their families, while some are reminded of their lovers. Through the presence of women, the soldiers are frequently distracted from their current situation, molding the nature of serenity.

    Read More

  • Feminist Criticism In The Chaser

    539 Words  | 3 Pages

    In every relationship there is always an unequal relationship with the significant other. In the short story The Chaser by John Collier, Alan Austen who’s the main character in the short story goes to an old man to buy a love potion so this girl named Diana would fall in love with him. The basic principle states that men and women have a relationship that is unequal or oppressive. In the short story “The Chaser”, it shows feminist criticism by feeling unconfident, buying a love potion, and Diana’s treatment of Mr. Austen. My first main point of the story that touched on feminism was when Mr. Austen feeling unconfident.

    Read More

  • Symbolism In Nawal El Saadawis's Woman At Point Zero

    1144 Words  | 5 Pages

    Woman at Point Zero Through Symbolism The main point of clarification and interpretation in the story Woman at Point Zero is symbolism. More specifically, symbolism in the story represents a reference, emotion or an object that provides a meaning that goes up and beyond the written meaning. From the contemporary feminist perspective, the author Nawal El Saadawis uses the narrative speech and symbolism to express and demonstrate the fight and the struggle of women under marginalization and alienation. Furthermore, the reflection in the defiance and the complexities that override the behavior of the protagonists has found its way in the modern world.

    Read More

  • Role Of Women In Literature

    1495 Words  | 6 Pages

    The role of women in literature crosses many broad spectrums in works of the past and present. Women are often portrayed as weak and feeble individuals that submit to the situations around them, but in many cases women are shown to be strong, independent individuals. This is a common theme that has appeared many times in literature. Across all literature, there is a common element that causes the suffering and pain of women. This catalyst, the thing that initiates the suffering of women, is essentially always in the form of a man.

    Read More

  • Critical Analysis Of A Room Of One's Own By Virginia Woolf

    1248 Words  | 5 Pages

    She finds that women are currently writing nearly as many books as men, on all kinds of subjects, such as economics and philosophy, “which a generation ago no woman could have touched“. So, to explore current novels and to see what kind of changes occurred in

    Read More

More about A Woman's Journey: A Literary Analysis

Open Document