Finishing Aunt Safiyya and the Monastery

Last night, I finished the final chapter of Aunt Safiyya. It far surpassed my expectations in its rich detail and emotionally moving scenes, but I have to say that it left me feeling a little confused in a number of ways. This was mostly because I had trouble putting any sort of theme to this book. Was it about family and the bonds they share? Was it about betrayal? Revenge?

Let me share my initial thoughts upon finishing the book. I found the story to be very well written, giving a clear, sometimes frightening and oftentimes beautiful of life in Egypt. The main character was one that I could appreciate as I watched him grow and learn and, eventually, become a man. And as I believe any good novel should have, there were eccentric background characters whose lives we got a glimpse of. The story kept me going through a cycle of happiness, shock, horror, resolution and wonderment, in short it was great stuff. My favorite scene? The main character driving the cart toward the monastery in the early morning, careening out of control and wondering what punishment his father would administer to him. I found this scene insanely funny among the other more tense scenes, and I believe I scared a few of my co-workers by laughing at this while reading in the break room. Another part of this novel that I enjoyed immensely was the character of Aunt Safiyya. Her sudden transition from beautiful woman with a happy family, to bitter old woman with a vendetta against Harbi is one that both shocked and amazed me. As horrific as she could sometimes be, I found her ability to cut even the most powerful of men down to her level an astounding one in a culture where that is not usually excepted.

Ah, culture. This is where I get lost. I suppose I still do not understand a lot about Middle Eastern culture and lifestyle, but what I had hoped this novel might accomplish was to break down some of the stereotypes and misconceptions I have about the area. However... I'm not sure that happened. In this novel we were introduced to some very good people, people much like ourselves in their family structures and social and religious interactions. The good guys were never portrayed as the stupid Arab with the big mean looking face as we so often see in Hollywood movies. But I honestly never expected them to be portrayed that way. Aunt Safiyya seemed to take a sort of woman's version of that role, and I would not disagree if someone said that she was a cruel woman in her later years, but who am I to say that the death of her husband was not a good enough instigator for her actions? I am no one, because I know so little about the societal and ethical norms of these people. Is what I am seeing such a horrible thing? The little voice in my head says "of course it is you idiot. She wants her own son to be a murderer!" But my reason interjects and tells me "wait, what do you know about the culture and societal norms of these people? Maybe to them this mindset, this need for revenge, is the norm." It makes it so difficult to understand.

And there are other stereotypical actions that occur in this book and get my head spinning. The mother being physically violent toward her girls when they make mistakes. The girls worrying that they would not find a husband because they are educated. I am trying to break down these stereotypes that have taken root in my head, but many portions of this novel seem to support them. I think in this case I need to step back and take a look from Taher's point of view. He wrote his novel for those familiar with the culture, to have specific meaning to them. We look at it from the perspective of another culture, and see it differently. It makes it difficult to pick a theme when we are so caught up in the culture shock.

And so we have come full circle, back to the theme of the book. Earlier I mentioned the themes family, betrayal and revenge. Honestly, I believe Taher intended for all of these to become small messages as part of a bigger theme. His message: The bonds of family and love are strong, and when betrayed, there are horrific consequences. This encompasses Middle Eastern belief and culture and I believe would send a powerful message to Middle Eastern people. Aunt Safiyya, Harbi, everyone in this novel are simply playing a role that represents the reality of the Middle East, and by reading this we have also caught a small glimpse of what it is like to live there.