The discussion question that we focused on in our small group in class dealt mainly with the contrasting cultural expectations that Liyana's father explained to her. It wasn't okay for her to wear shorts but things like marrying her uncle were to "archaic." We discussed many reasons why a father might enforce these expectations with his daughter: protection and acceptance would probably play a big role. The character of Liyana never lingered on the different expectations for men and women, but making a text-to-text connection to the first poem we read discussed the narrator's feeling of extreme inequality when compared to her brother.
It was not my week to write a paper; however, while reading I felt that the Jewish people weren't portrayed very fairly. I'm not Jewish myself and, shamefully, know very little about what is going on in Israel, but I still felt like the story was one-sided. Dr. Waltzer (I think that was his name) did a very good job of informing me of some of the history behind this "hundred year war," as he put it. I think that Naomi Shihab Nye wrote a wonderful book that depicts a young, independent girl trying to make sense of her world, finding belonging in a family and location that makes up her history, and trying to bridge a gap that is somewhat hard to define. These qualities make this book worth reading and discussing with young adults. I also think that there were more sides to this story that should have been told to make this book an honest, well-rounded representation of Israel.
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3 comments:
It is a difficult thing - whose side is more important in this discussion? What do the Palestinians feel about the portrayal of this book? It is good to have a balanced perspective - keep thinking about this!
I think it is interesting that your group discussed the contrasting expectations of Liyana's father, because that was actually much of what my question for the Habibi paper was centered around. On one hand he tells her how conservative the country is and how she needs to moderate some of her behavior, and on the other hand he disregards old traditions, such as buying every female relative a dress. I just wanted to comment on your post because I am glad to see that someone else noticed that too! :)
I could not agree more with your comment about Jewish people not being represented fairly in the book Habibi. I felt the whole book portrayed Jews in a bad light as well as Liyana's family. I might have been more offended because I am Jewish but I feel all of the other books we have read throughout the semester shine a positive light on their own cultures and ethnicity. No book other than Habibi seems to cast a shadow on any other religion or group. Being from West Bloomfield I completely understand all the controversy the book caused. West Bloomfield has an extremely large Jewish community and if teachers and going to make this book a requirement one that casts a more positive outlook on the religion should be brought into the curriculum as well. I wouldn’t have minded this book at all if both viewpoints were addressed.
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