While reading the book, A House in Fez by Suzanna Clarke, the mystified veil that western culture places on the Fez Medina is lifted and a detailed look into this historical city is exposed. The story follows Suzanna Clarke and her husband as they transition from a comfortable life in Australia, to a life that focuses on restoring one of the Medina’s worn and weathered riads. A riad, or as a courtyard house, is very common in the Medina; due to the costly nature of restoring these ancient houses, many of the properties have fallen into despaired. Suzanna and her husband, Sandy, face many struggles as they work to overcome language barriers and cultural differences when trying to restore the house. We hear of their money troubles and the difficulties …show more content…
Movement is constant yet the outlook on life is different than bustling cities in western culture. The people of the Medina view life as something worth living. If God wills them to have great fortunes or hardships then the decision is simply so. Time is spent with family and the prospect of getting ahead of the competitor isn’t like that of European or American individuals. Moreover, the culture of the Medina is vastly different than that of the United States. For instance, Suzanna describes her relationship with Khadija, her neighbor, as being difficult to adjust to. In Fez, particularly in the Medina, the culture of being involved in everyone else’s private life is common practice. Due to the way the houses are built, privacy is virtually impossible and not deemed necessary. Suzanna is a writer and states that she enjoys her time alone, yet that is not easily conveyed to Khadija and her family. In fact, following Khadija and Suzanna’s first interaction, Khadija immediately invites Suzanne to her parent’s home and is overcome with the intense closeness that families exhibit here. They ask her many questions, eventually all visit her house to look around, and continue to all show great concern for Suzanna as if she was not a mere stranger and instead one of their own family …show more content…
For instance, the circumcision ceremony, which occurs with boys age 3 to 7, is incredibly common. The ceremony begins with a room being specifically cleaned to perform the circumcision. The young men spend their day being attended to and honored as they ride through town wearing a white and green outfit. Once they return home they are met by the local barber, who will perform the cutting, and taken to the cleaned room. When it is time for the act to commence the women begin singing throughout the house; once the cutting is performed they increase their volume to cover the screams of the child. The young boy’s wound is cared for and the celebration continues throughout the day. To end the day, an additional cutting is performed on an animal due to one cutting being bad luck. Hearing stories of this ceremony gives us a glimpse into the traditional way of the
Reading is similar to looking into a mirror: audiences recognize themselves in the experiences and characters on the pages. They see the good, the bad, and are brought back to experiences they had overlooked to learn something more about themselves. Some characters touch readers so intimately that they inspire readers to be better than they already are. House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, follows a young girl named Esperanza and her experiences while living on Mango Street. She is introduced with her desperate wish to escape her poor mostly-Latino neighborhood and live in a house of her own. Esperanza compares herself to her family, innocently knowing what she wants from a young ages. She is observant and holds insights into the lives of others, learning lessons from each person she encounters. While
In Althaus’ article, she provides in-depth information about female circumcision; a highly controversial cultural ritual that is practiced in at least 28 countries
Christianity itself might have been the main oppressor during the colonization of the Americas and not necessarily the greed or hunger for expansion. Bartolomé de las Casas, was a Spanish Bishop, who was sent to the Americas to teach the “Indians” about Christianity, but through his own eyewitness accounts saw the inhumane treatment of the Natives and criticized the Spanish monarchs and colonizers for being driven by greed and not their Christian beliefs. Although, de las Casas greatly criticized the Spanish, he himself, through his Christian teachings, was still indirectly oppressing the natives. In the excerpts titled, “Hispaniola” and “The Coast of Pearls, Paria, and the Island of Trinidad” from The Very Brief Relation
The author of The House on Mango Street and the producer of The Color Purple are able to integrate numerous important thematic ideas. Many of these ideas still apply to our current world, teaching various important lessons to many adolescents and adults. The House on Mango Street is a collection of vignettes written by Sandra Cisneros, a Mexican-American writer. The novel depicts many aspects of Sandra Cisneros’ life including racism, and sexism that she and the main character face. The novel revolves around Esperanza Cordero, a young Latina girl, who is growing up in Chicago as she faces the various struggles of living in America. The various vignettes reveal many experiences Esperanza has with reality and her navie responses to such harsh
There are a number of activities that take place during the ceremony and each part has its own purpose and significance. As a whole, the procession takes place over a course of four days and within a decent amount of time of the first menstruation. However, in the event of the child being away at boarding school they will go home immediately or if this is not an option then the ceremony must be postponed. The ordering of events take place over the course of the four days directly relate to the myth of the origins of Kinaalda. For instance, in Marie Shirley’s Kinaalda the order and the events that take place resemble closely the events that took place during the mythical origin story. For Shirley’s own ceremony the events that take place include: hair-combing, dressing, molding, race one and race two, nighttime activities, and several others. To prepare for the events that will take place, the people involved do things such as shelling corn and cleaning the hogan. On the first day of the ceremony the girls involved have their hair combed to make the girl resemble Changing Woman and are dressed in their ceremonial clothing, which include adornments of silver and turquoise. When wearing the jewelry some feel that this is a testament of her future. If she wears large amounts of jewels then this will mean she will have a rich life full of success. Usually after the dressing is the lifting of the people. This is something that Changing Woman did during her own ceremony, as a way to thank the people for their gifts (Wheelwright, 1942). They are then to lay on their stomach to begin the process of the molding; this relates to the first girl’s kinaalda myth in which “she was molded and pressed so she would have a good figure” (T...
This cultural event also had a religious meaning and ceremony that went along with it. Like traditional ways, the birthday girl has to attend a special Mass that includes her close friends a...
Afterwards, the parents sign a surgical consent giving the provider the approval to perform the procedure. The purpose of the circumcision is to remove the foreskin from the head of the penis, and allow the head of the penis to be exposed. The provider will use various supplies during the procedure such as an topical or injection anesthetic, a scapula to cut the foreskin, and one of three different clamps to hold the foreskin. According to Bcheraoui et al. (2014), studies have revealed that male circumcisions have an overall side effects rate of 0.5% if performed during the child’s first year of life, but increase up to 20 times that if performed after
“Home is where the heart is.” In The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros develops this famous statement to depict what a “home” really represents. What is a home? Is it a house with four walls and a roof, the neighborhood of kids while growing up, or a unique Cleaver household where everything is perfect and no problems arise? According to Cisneros, we all have our own home with which we identify; however, we cannot always go back to the environment we once considered our dwelling place. The home, which is characterized by who we are, and determined by how we view ourselves, is what makes every individual unique. A home is a personality, a depiction of who we are inside and how we grow through our life experiences. In her personal, Cisneros depicts Esperanza Cordero’s coming-of-age through a series of vignettes about her family, neighborhood, and personalized dreams. Although the novel does not follow a traditional chronological pattern, a story emerges, nevertheless, of Esperanza’s search to discover the meaning of her life and her personal identity. The novel begins when the Cordero family moves into a new house, the first they have ever owned, on Mango Street in the Latino section of Chicago. Esperanza is disappointed by the “small and red” house “with tight steps in front and bricks crumbling in places” (5). It is not at all the dream-house her parents had always talked about, nor is it the house on a hill that Esperanza vows to one day own for herself. Despite its location in a rough neighborhood and difficult lifestyle, Mango Street is the place with which she identifies at this time in her life.
A small tribe in Ethiopia, the Hamar tribe, has a rite of passage ritual called “Cow Jumping” or Ukulai Bula. Unlike other cultures’ rituals, the Hamar perform theirs at two milestone ages: eight and twenty. At the age of eight, boys begin to help the family to raise livestock. The age of twenty is when they are considered to become an adult. The ritual requires a boy to jump naked over a line of castrated cows four times to prove himself a man. The absence of clothing symbolizes the childhood that the boys are leaving behind. The coming of age tradition in Vanatau, land diving, is one of the most dangerous and fatal rituals in the world. Young boys prove their manhood by jumping off of a 98-foot-tall tower with a bungee-like vine tied to their ankles, which barely prevents them from hitting the ground. In contrast to other traditions, the Vanatau people perform this custom frequently. Starting at the age of seven or eight, boys begin jumping (from a smaller tower, of course). During their first dives, their mothers will hold an item from their childhood. After the boy has completed the jump, the object will be thrown away, symbolizing the end of childhood. To prove their manliness to the crowds, boys will jump from taller towers as they grow
In the United States, this procedure is also done but without a religious purpose. The boys in this case are commonly newborn. This practice became popular after medical groups claimed that there were many health benefits that came with circumcision. Though it has been proven otherwise, it is still a common practice in the U.S. fueled by ignorance. Circumcision is an unnecessary surgery that leads to psychological problems, issues with sexual activities and lasting physical damage.
The author starts the narrative with the memories of her family house built in a traditional Arab style, where the nature is replaced by “geometric
Unlike male circumcisions which were practice for religious purposes, female circumcision is done for social convention and is practiced as a way to prepare girls for marriage, as well as conform to societal norms of femininity. Female circumcisions are often motivated by what would be considered proper female behavior and as a way to promote virginity as well as cause pain during intercourse to uphold these beliefs. Much like male circumcision these societal beliefs about sex and purity, have affected these cultures in their convictions that circumcision must be performed to be pure and free of
To begin with, Marjane has encountered with internal conflict caused by external conflict—since a child. For instance, Marjane claims, “ My faith was not unshakable.” (10) This example conveys Marjane’s easy influence to discard any of her beliefs due to the Islamic Revolution. In fact, the Islamic Revolution was a reason for a lot of Marjane’s internal conflict. For example, Marjane reveals, “I really didn't know what to think about the veil. Deep down I was very religious but as a family, we were very modern and avant-garde.”(6) This illustration represents Marjane’s confusion on her spirituality. Also, this demonstrates Marjane deciding if her modern lifestyle is appropriate even though it's different from her religion. To
Rites of passage, specifically circumcision, are the focus of study for multiple theorists. Circumcision as a ritual of passage encompasses various theories on the function of these ritualistic passages. Arnold Van Gennep, Vincent Crapanzano, and Victor Turner each approach the ritual of circumcisions’ function differently, specifically they question whether the ritual can be considered in stages.
At the time Medina’s population consisted of half Jews, a quarter Aws (Arab tribe) and a quarter Kharajites (another Arab tribe). The city was in disagreement as the two Arabic tribes were fighting so they all agreed that they needed someone to lead them. The Jews did not want a polytheistic leader and had heard of Muhammad’s teachings, they were all in agreement to invite Muhammad to their city. Muhammad accepts their offer as if He had stayed in Mecca him and His followers would have been tortured and killed for their beliefs and Muhammad needed to stay alive to spread the word of God. “The transition from Mecca to Medina marked a change in the role of Muhammad from Prophet to Ruler and from Warner to Warrior” (Cragg). This journey is called ‘The Hijrah’ which literally means ‘The Flight’ “the emigration marked a turning point in history”.