EngL1401W - Spring 2007: Introduction to "Third World" Literature

I found the epigraphs of both sections quite intriguing. I really like the crooked rib quote. I thought it was clever and really made the point clear. Just the little phrase served as a foreshadowing device for the rest of the book.

Also, I found Elba’s views to be very genuine. This may sound cheesy, but I could really feel what she was saying. She had a unique outlook on things. I like that she said, “Destiny and fate can be worked out. One dies only once, and only when one’s Time comes.” Most of the time, you hear people say, you only live once… so this sort of stuck out in the reading for me.

“Why do they build houses everywhere? ... Growing grass around the area would much more benefit everyone.” -Elba
Her thoughts above (along with many others) make me feel that Elba was not selfish. She empathized not only with nature, but also with the cows and other people around her. To be selfish, you have to want, want, want and only think about yourself… but Elba definitely thought about others. Sure, she kept herself happy as well, but she always thought about how her actions would affect those around her. Just thinking about it shows that she had compassion and was unselfish.

Back to the cows... I think that her compassion for her cousin's animals showed her benevolence.

I would have to say that Ebla is selfish. But I think selfishness is the core of all humans. The reason I say she is selfish is that she does pursue her own happiness, this in and of itself is selfishness. Sure, she thinks of others, and cares about nature, but she desires happiness and makes decisions based on this. Why else would she have left her village?...It was in hopes of a better life...a happier life. Why else would she elope instead of getting married to the broker?...if not for a better life and happiness?

I think Ebla's justification of leaving her grandfather is most clear when she says: "she did not now feel sorry about leaving her grandfather helpless. he was a man-just like any other man." I think she justifies leaving her grandfather by equating him with her bad experiences of men...especially her new forceful husband Awill.

I have mixed views when it comes to Ebla’s selfishness. Part of me agrees with Yashkumarie that Ebla did think of others which makes her unselfish. Ebla didn’t wake her friend when she was sleeping on her robe, she relates to the cows and cares for them, and the reader can sense the inner turmoil inside of Ebla as she has one foot inside of the hut and one foot out. It is clear that she is torn and it makes me think that she is not completely selfish. However, I also find myself agreeing with Jen because Ebla is out to find her own happiness.

As the novel progresses it seems like Ebla gets more and more selfish the longer she stays away from home. Maybe Farah did that on purpose? Did anyone else notice the way Ebla starts to justify her actions? It’s almost as though she does one thing to prove she is independent, while saying (in the back of her mind) that what she does is not her fault because someone suggested it to her or it is just the fact that she is a woman and is therefore weak. I can sense Ebla’s struggle with independence and being a woman, but why does she reach out to do something new and against her cultural norm, but then go back to her traditions to justify herself? It seems as though with every step forward (towards being independent and raising her status to equal men) she takes two steps back. Maybe it is just an easy way out- to blame the bad on being a woman.

Ebla is a girl who is not living her life the way her grandfather wants her to. Her grandfather did take care of her after her parents died, and he is her only family, which is why she is struggling with the decision to run away. She is constantly struggling with her own decisions, let alone be happy with the decisions her grandfather makes for her. She runs away because she is unhappy with the fact that her grandfather sold her to an older man. She ran away convincing herself, that it was the right thing to do, although she never was fully satisfied with her decision. I feel that she knew strongly enough that she wanted to leave the country and leave the life that was given to her by her grandfather. I think she is not selfish the way that we normally see selfish people, but she is selfish in the fact that doesn’t know what she wants, but she knows what she doesn’t want. She is selfish in finding what she wants in her life.

Ebla clearly relates more to animals than she does to people because she see’s herself as an animal, because that is how people treat her. Her grandfather sold her like a cow and her cousin was going to sell her like a cow. When Aowralla was giving birth, Ebla decided to milk the cows and do chores instead of helping her through childbirth. Ebla was no longer “hesitant about attending those with whom she felt more in harmony.” When she was asked to milk the cows even though she was really tired, I don’t think Ebla minded that much, because she felt a connection with the cows, which helped her through her situation.

When I think of the widow, I think of a motherly figure that is looking out for Ebla. I feel more comfortable reading about Ebla when she is with the widow, than when she is at her cousins, even though her cousin gave her a place to live. I feel that Ebla will not be harmed, and that the widow is someone Ebla can confide in, instead of the cows. I don’t know of other works by Farah, but maybe the spider crawling on her chest is a form of foreshadowing. The spider is only crawling on her chest when she talked with Awill, and she decides to marry him. The uncomfortable feeling that Ebla has with the spider, could be a foreshadow to the reader with what will happen with Ebla and Awill.

I do not think that Ebla is being selfish. I think that she has every right to want to run away. She was going to be forced to do something that she did not want to do. I, at first, thought her a bit selfish, but as I continued to read and discovered that Ebla was struggling with her decision to leave, I changed my mind. I realized that she honestly felt bad about leaving her grandfather, but that she had to do what was right for her. Who wants to live in misery? I think that the "widow" character in the book signifies wisdom and knowledge. The widow has lived a full life and has been through many things. She offers Ebla advice and can teach Ebla many things about life and about how to do things. I think that she plays a sort of mentor to Ebla. Because of the fact that Ebla left her only mentor (her grandfather), she found a new one in the widow. The widow can help guide her through situations and through hard times.

This book is written very well, it really draws you in.

I think that I can relate to the characters in this book, Like Yashkumarie said, and I feel like Ebla is progressing through the book like Allison said only that I see it like she is maturing or becoming more aware of the complexities of life, sh egoe over descisions in her mind like many of us do, she fights with herself over right and wrong and justifying things for/to herself. I guess I can relate to that kind of thought process.

I hadn't thought about the cows and animals beyond the fact that it is very good devise for relating her "countryness" it makes her very rural in relation to say Awill'a world at the other end of the spectrum. Though, now that the discussion has been raised it seems that this is actually a brilliant devise because it can serve more purposes. It could be interpereted as a symbol of nurture or life giving sources, cattle are really central to herding societies and on many levels this seems to show that Ebla and therefore women are really central despite their unequal role. maybe.

I think the widow is kind of a mother figure as Andrea pointed out, it seems that she is so intriguing to Ebla because of always being around her grandfather and brother, its like a woman that is older and much more experienced that fascinates the ingenue. Ebla wants to experience something, she doesn't know what that is yet and the widow and others seem to push her along through suggestion.

I think Farrah did a good job with this book, I liked it a lot.

I agree that Ebla grows throughout the book. With every chapter, she questions her actions more and more. Ebla learned a lot from her experiences and it shows in her thought processes.

I think that the widow is Ebel's link to the outside world. The widow speaks more than Ebel does but she does seem to speak only if she needs to or is spoken to. She doesn't offer explanations for things that confuse Ebel. She knows that Ebel is from the country but doesn't explain a lot of the different customs. She is also a pivotal character in Ebel's life. She provides a possible solution when Ebel's cousin wants to sell her. In a way, she is like a mentor when she has a talk with Abel "about the way of men".

Based on part I, I found Ebla to be selfish; simply because she puts herself over the feelings of others – she leaves her grandfather to die all alone, but my opinion of her changed after reading all that she does in part II. I found that her overwhelming kindness and regard for animals brought me to this decision more than her interactions with the people in the story. She cares for the cows that she milks as if they were her children and she also puts effort into helping her cousin and his family, going so far as to think that “She is willing to get entangled in any situation as long as it would help her cousin and his wife.” This thought shows the reader that she cares very much about the people around her and is willing to make sacrifices for them, and that is not a trait of a selfish person. Ebla is not selfish, but she also isn’t a push over, which is made evident by her decision to elope – she is strong willed and makes her own decisions, but she still cares for others. Ebla’s train of thought is what helps me connect with her the most, because it is like my own. It’s not really coherent and somewhat random – she is always second guessing herself and questioning her actions and it is this that made me really understand her situation and how she felt about it. I agree with Yashkumarie in that Elba’s train-of-thought is unique and it is what really makes the book and what makes me sympathize with her.

The epigraph at the beginning of part II describes this section quite well. The meaning that I got from it was that instead of taking responsibility for his actions, a man blames his actions on something else – it’s not his feet, but the shoes. This seems to categorize the men in this section, especially Ebla’s cousin who blames her for getting caught in the smuggling ring when it was most likely his fault. It also seems to categorize the general outlook of men during this time, that it is the woman’s fault if a man finds her attractive and if he acts on those feelings it isn’t his fault, but the woman’s. I thought that the quote was a very realistic representation of the way this society was conducted, and the ways in which men refused to take responsibility for their actions taken against women.

As far as the insect crawling on ebla, the only thing that I can make of it is that it symbolizes something just not being right. Because it is an insect it is "creepy" but it wouldn't do any real harm because he doesn't mention it being a poisonous bug or anything. This may be a way for Farah to use foreshadowing in his books. Insects may symbolize a situation of uneasiness caused by an obstacle. Awill is a cause of uneasiness later in the book for Ebla. When an insect crawls on you you may feel "violated" (that may be a stretch I know) but Awill does just that, he violates her.

I think Ebla is selfish and it is justifiable in every possible way of looking at it. Her grandfather doesn't seem to worry about her thoughts and feelings. I can also agree with her thoughts of selfishness because that is only human but I think she does the right thing.
The significance of the animals in the book seems to be like Ebla has some control or power over them. This is important to Ebla because she seems to be told what to do where every or what every she does. I think the cows reminder of her home and that is why she seems to care for them more than any other animals.
I think the insect is some sort of fore shadowing for the future between Awill and Ebla. Possibly that Awill has a unknow personality about him.

Ebla is not completely selfish. As we discussed in class, she balances out her consequences and contemplates her thought of actions. She still thinks about her grandfather...whether she should have stay and help her grandfather was better or worse. She reasons with herself a lot to why she has went away and tries to forget about her grandfather...

Elba felt more at home when she is near the cows than to her cousin/cousin's wife . She thinks about nature and that humans do not really understand nature...the cows are nature and she understands them because she has been brought up with cows. I thought it was interesting that she feels bad for the cows but she hits one of them when it mooed away from her hand.

The widow is like a guide to Elba. She tells Elba about the world and men from her own experiences. She likes to gossip and judge others.

The insect crawling on Elba in a situation when she is alone with a male stranger is uncomfortable and almost torturing. She hits the insect or "whatever is was" on her chest and a dead piece of it drops to her belly. This is likely forshadowing an event later in the book.

I found that ebla's reltionshiop with animals is a "representation" of her gender role. Ebla is struggling to find her role as a female. When she was living in the country she knew what she had to day on a daily basis to fulfill her role as a woman. however, when she arrives in the city she finds herself confused by her duties as a female. She referes to the animals (especially) cows as her equals and how the cattle, like women are bought and sold. i think that her relationship with the animals is, in a way, a guide to how she acts in society.

i do not feel that Ebla is selfish because she doesn't know who she is yet. She's on a journey to change her life, for the better and a long the way she thinks of others and especially of her society as a whole. before she does anything she will question herself on "is this what i am suppose to be doing?" Despite her somewhat selfish actions at the start of the book, i feel that overall she wants to achieve the greater goods. her actions are thought threw in relation to the collectivistic society that she lives in.

The widow to me represents what Ebla is. I see a little bit of the widow in her and I think it will grow stronger as the book goes on. This is why I think the widow has importance. I also think that since she is another person who gives Ebla the next suggestion in her story gives her character great importance. Lastly, the widow is almost the resemblance of the mother figure that Ebla never had.

I do not think Ebla is selfish since it seems that she has been trying to just discover herself. She had been taking care of others all her life and all of a sudden seemed trapped. In her mind she was stuck in what she should verses what she wanted to do. In the logic of the book, Ebla was supposed to go and in my mind, I agree with her decisions so far.

I thought the epigraph to be symbolic of how men treated women in Somalia. I think the incident with Ebla's cousin blaming Ebla for the fallout of his smuggling scheme is especially telling. The story and Ebla both seem to assume that women are not as needed or as useful as men. I think this plays in with the epigraph because the men are blaming their shoes, which are accessories just like the women.

I think Farah's use of animals is to symbolize that the rural country, in all its simplicity, is where true culture lies. I believe this because Ebla always speaks about the animals as close to her, something that she understands, and the narration shows animals in a positive light. I think that Ebla's preference towards animals is Farah's as well.

I don’t think Ebla is selfish, but just attempting to discover who she wants to be and is refusing to be tied down to a man she feels she will be very unhappy with if she marries. I feel that it is legitimate that she runs away when there is no other way out of the unfortunate situations she is continually forced into.

On page 71 Farah writes, “But that is what we women are—just like cattle, properties of someone or other, either your parents or your husband.” I think that the animals in this book are supposed to represent the significance of women in the society of the location of the setting. In many ways they are treated similarly and with little respect.

The widow seems to be a friend and a guide to Ebla and is the only person patient enough to spend the time to explain things to Ebla.

I think that the insect which is crawling on Ebla’s chest is a sign. She is sitting alone with Awill and the bug is a sign that he is bad news.

I, like most people who blogged, am stuck in the middle of Ebla being selfish. Part of me feels that she was while the other half can relate and understand why she did what she did. Actually I change my mind, I don’t think she was selfish. She was faced with a decision in life, as we all are many times, and she made a decision. This was the only decision she ever really made on her own. If she was truly selfish she would have left a lot sooner. In our society, abandoning a loved one would be a terribly selfish thing to do but maybe it is more socially accepted in her culture. She does say that she does not even know if she truly loves her grandfather or just feels bad for him. I would imagine that although he raised her there was probably very little personal affection between the two of them. I don’t think she was selfish I think she did what she had to do and thought it thru.

I think the widow plays a very important role in Ebla’s life. She basically tells her what to do, when to do it, and how to do it while she is living with her cousin. Ebla bases all of her decisions around the things the widow tells her. I want to call the widow a motherly figure, but also not, because she tries to take care of Ebla, but she is also very keen on her running away again. Why is this? Why does the widow seem to be pushing for Ebla to go with/ marry her nephew Awill? I foresee her running away yet again and encountering numerous more problems.

As far as the cows go, I felt it was a way for Farah to emphasize just how different Ebla is from everyone else in the book. She is not an ordinary female who just goes along with life accepting the fact that she is property of men. It draws attention to her as more of a complex woman than the others mentioned in the book.

I think Ebla is very...conflicted. I think she has some really strong convictions, but because she was so sheltered for the majority of her adolescence, her first attempts to draw the connect between these convictions and their application have been shaky and awkward. I saw her leaving her grandfather as sort of a "grand gesture". Ebla needed to prove to herself that her identity was worth pursuing. Not only was she cutting off her means of dependence, but she was making a commitment she couldn't escape without ease. I think the logic here was that if she didn't try to leave then, she never would, and the side of herself she was after discovering would lay somewhere just outside the view of the tribe.

Oops, I didn't finish.

Maybe Farah could be saying something about protagonist characters with Ebla's uncertainties. Why do we expect for Ebla to be so consistent. Consistency is a rare human quality, especially in young people. I know I'm always changing my mind about my beliefs, so why shouldn't protagonists emulate that? Maybe Ebla is symbolic of Somalia in the sense that she is so little, so unsure, and so vulnerable despite her inner drive. She hasn't quite put her finger on what she's being driven to, just like many idealistic nations might not know how they want their nation to look after independence, but that independence is necessary. Independence is the drive, but what happens when you have only a vague image of where you're going?

I think that Ebla is both selfish and unselfish. She is selfish in that she is leaving her grandfather behind, and therefore also leaving behind some of her responsibility to him. He is getting older and older, and in a way she is responsible to be there for him and for his needs. However she is also unselfish because she is thinking about what she needs in life. She does not want to marry the man she has been set up with, and therefore she feels it is her personal responsibility to herself to leave so that this does not happen. She wants to be content with her life, and she feels this is the only way that will happen. However with her unselfishness come a lot of problems. She allows others to take advantage of her without taking any responsibility on her. This also shows some more of the selfishness of Ebla.

At first I felt that Elba was being selfish when the perspective was coming from the grandfather, but then the story switched to her perspective and it made her more personal. Her reasoning for leaving him became more clear and understandable. She loves her grandfather but she is not sure if it a sincere love or if it is only because out of obligation because he raised her. When she does leave, she goes to town where everything is new and strange to her. She feels like the country and the town is two completely different worlds. She feels that the only thing she recognizes or has anything in common with are the cows. The way women are treated and looked upon are like the cows. There is no difference between the two. She feels more connected to the beasts than to humans.

The widow is someone Elba can go to, to learn and to get advice from. The widow is very experienced and encourages Elba to marry her nephew to flee from another marriage set-up. She flees from one problem to find only another. She is trying to figure out life and who she is as a woman. I find it fascinating to be able to read her thoughts as one going through all she does because growing up completely different makes it hard to understand what it would be like to go through what she does. It makes me angry and emotional for her. The sad thing is that I know that there is so many that are still treated this way. I definitely see more issues about liberating women than about Somalia’s Independence so far.

The beginning of the book initially reminded me of the beginning of "Things Fall Apart." Once I saw the second epigraph, I was reminded again. This book seems to be hinting at some critique of Achebe. Farah making Ebla the center of the story may be critisizing Achebe for the sexism that was prevalent in "Things Fall Apart."
I found the part about the insect interesting. I didn't think much of it when I initially read it, but as the book wore on, it seemed to me like it was a representation of her life and how she views it. She does things and hurts people with seeming to care, much like she did the bug. She does all of this while justifying her selfishness. I agree that selfishness is a somewhat innate human trait, but she goes above and beyond. I felt sympathetic for her character until she said she didn't care who she was married to, just as long as she was married. She treats people like she treated that bug, like a nusance that should be squished.

The widow seems to me to be the most dynamic character so far in the book. She was a woman with freedom bound by no man's regulation and a little freer in society. The widow could also be the forshadowing of what Ebla may have become if she didn't marry soon. However widows were looked upon in Somali society, it was not the desire of Ebla to be like her.

The insect crawling is maybe a symbol, but i think it can simply show the discomfort of Ebla in her current situation and as she approached awill to become married.

I never once viewed Ebla as selfish. It doesn't seem to be the popular standpoint, but if you were to put yourself in Ebla's shoes, I don't really think you would feel any other way. I liked that Ebla felt bad about leaving her grandfather as it made her appear like she knew some of the repercussions of her leaving and it didn't make her seem too headstrong and insensitive. No matter what actually happens to Ebla at the end (its not much different from what she ran from), she didn't want to be forced into doing anything she didn't want to. When she's with Awill at the end, she at least gets to tell herself that she had some part in what became of her, that the marriage and seeking of him was very much a choice of hers (as big as she can manage). The proposed marriage is different because she had absolutely no say in it. By the time she gets to Awill, Ebla has proven to herself she can be self sufficient and by her self. When Awill comes around, I think Ebla just recognizes the role that has already been assigned to her.

Elba sometimes does and doesn't play a selfish character in the novel. In the beginning of the book, I sympathezied with Elba for abandoning her grandfather and escaping from his idea of marriage. But then throughout the novel, Elba's selfishness starts to reveal itself. She doesn't seem to understand the idea of consequences and continues to blame the outside world, or her being a woman, or other people for her misfortune. For me personally, I believe this approach is wrong because you can never realized how much growth a person can learn from their mistakes.

When Elba described the insects crawling on her, I just thought literally that she was having an orgasm or getting flushed. I know it's a bit too much to understand my logic, but I thought Farrah did that intentionally and that there was no meaning behind it... I guess my bad.

I didn't think of Ebla as being selfish at all, her choice to leave her grandfather was justified. I don't blame her for not wanting to marry someone she barely knows, I personally would run away to. The widow played a big part in Ebla's life. She helped her to discover new things that she wasn't used to when living in the country, she also taught her about men, government, etc. The widow was someone to guide Ebla because her couzin or wife failed to do so. Towards the end of the book and the more I began to read about Ebla's character I thought that she became more careless and was willing to hop into something without actually thinking it through, hoping to get good results.

I hadn't really thought about it when I read it, but the significance of the insect crawling on her chest when meeting Awill, is definitely greater than at first glance. Even in literary form insects give that sort of 'icky' feeling, they represent something that's insignificant at first but once your bitten, the effects are long-lasting. We've finished the book and we know this to be true. At first Awill and Ebla's unification is given a sort of romantic twist, Ebla seems vaguely attracted to him. I don't know what this indicates about the choices in her life... whatever she seems to go with, it turns out badly. Bad luck I guess...

I hadn't really thought about it when I read it, but the significance of the insect crawling on her chest when meeting Awill, is definitely greater than at first glance. Even in literary form insects give that sort of 'icky' feeling, they represent something that's insignificant at first but once your bitten, the effects are long-lasting. We've finished the book and we know this to be true. At first Awill and Ebla's unification is given a sort of romantic twist, Ebla seems vaguely attracted to him. I don't know what this indicates about the choices in her life... whatever she seems to go with, it turns out badly. Bad luck I guess...