Sunday, November 20, 2011

Woman Objectification and copmarison confusion


I am aware female did not gain respect and rights at the same time in all locations, I still found myself shocked while reading some of the sections in Season of Migration to the North.  The author does a fantastic job showing the reader what it’s like for the European woman vs. the Sudanese woman of the 1960’s.   This gives even more sympathy to the woman of the novel like Hosna.  She is forced to be married away, begs to be saved from this fate, and announces what will happen if the marriage occurs.  “If it wasn’t for the sake of decency she wouldn’t have been worth burying- wed have thrown her into the river or left her body out for the hawks (p110).”  After viewing the bloody bitten state, close to no one felt sadness or pain for Hosna.  She was an object that did not work correctly for her master.  Yet we see characters like Jean Morris who have full participation in their life.  These women live in the same time period but have completely opposite control.  Yet both die in the end by their own hand.  I know this is done by the author purposely but is not sure what is being played at.