Father Figures Arabic Asian Literature

Father Figures Arabian Asian Literature

Father Figures: Arabic / Asian Literature

Father figures all across the world embody a phenomenon which encompasses all attributes of a role model. They are meant to stand for discipline, caution, protection, guidance, and of course, love. The perfect amalgamation of all these can be found in the patriarch of any household, or any culture, for that matter. As such, the perfect patriarchal example is nothing short of a literary archetype. From Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" to Puzo's "The Godfather" we can find numerous examples of father figures establishing the age-old belief in fatherly conduct.

It is true, that the general conception of father figures is more or less the same in all areas of literature. However, one must pay heed to the fact that just like miscellaneous traditions; the perception towards father figures varies from culture to culture. Needless to say, the significance of this role is ever pertinent to any society. As far as Arabic or Asian culture is concerned, one should have the capacity to estimate that the father occupies the role of a character's conscience. The amount of respect allotted to a fatherly person is so great that denying it would be nothing short of sacrilege. A father or guardian is expected to know what is best and to find the best way around it. Such weight is not only amounted due to custom, but also due to religious obligation. The father upholds a strong and undying sense of derivation: forever reminiscent of one's roots. Father figures in Arabic or Asian literature, therefore, display that strong source of staying grounded and holding fast to the rope of one's original belonging. Fathers, as such, are largely meant to embody a moral compass, and hence it is very stimulating to see things through an Arab or Asian eye, whence examining their literature.

For instance, the poem "Self-Portrait" by A.K. Ramanujan is a poem that despite its short size is a goldmine of wisdom. It pays homage to all fathers; in fact it pays tribute to recognizing one's pedigree as a whole. It can be therefore, regarded as the ultimate advice from a staunch functionalist: the sum of parts is greater than the individual fragment. The poem designates great reverence to the writer's father. Ramanujan intelligently explains his feelings towards his father, when saying, "I resemble everyone but myself" (Ramanujan). This line is the true essence of the entire poem, for it describes how the writer perceives himself in connection to his ancestors. He seems to realize that he bears resemblance to everyone around him and before him, in a manner that suggests that he is a lone fragment in the solution of mankind. He lacks any sense of individual identity whatsoever. It is interesting to note that an individual identity is what any man would take pride in, but not Ramanujan. Instead he seems to be of the opinion that to find your place in the realms of one's origin is worth much more than individualism.

Ramanujan then goes on to explain how his sense of rationality is shaken when it comes to who he really represents. He dwells on how he sees "the portrait of a stranger" when looking upon his own reflection. He drives his point home by emphasizing that this belief is directly in contradiction to the "the laws of optics." But he believes it with a conviction which can confront any scientific law. What he really means to convey is that when he reflects upon himself, he finds another person altogether, a person who is far greater than what he imagines his own self to be. And no amount of logic can alter this faith. To look upon you and find traces of a role model is the world's greatest yet rarest pleasure. And that is what the poet articulates in a beautifully succinct manner.

In the last two lines of the poem, the great mystery of the writer's identity is finally unveiled. He reveals that he sees "The portrait of a stranger, date unknown, often signed in a corner, by my father" (Ramanujan). He comes to the ground breaking conclusion that he is but a mere reflection of his father and he will forever portray his father's attributes and mannerisms. His idea transcends that of appearance, for he cannot seem to care less whether he looks like his father in terms of facial features or not, but he knows for a fact that he feels like his father and in doing so he lives like his father. And in a subtle way, that is his greatest triumph, to have found his ultimate identity in that of his ultimate role model.

This poem establishes a strong sense of pride in where one comes from. It is the symbol of a mission statement that helps one look to the skies without losing one's footing. This poem, as such, demonstrates how Asian literature views a father figure, by correlating a patriarchal model to pride and identity. It vehemently expresses the notion that having a strong sense of one's ancestry is what goes on to make one whole.

The role of father figures can best be understood by analyzing a number of similar works of literature. One such work of literature is the haunting tale of a right message learnt the wrong way. "A Hand in the Grave" by Ghassan Kanafani is a short story that takes the reader down the route of quintessential Arab perception. A father is the ultimate source of all things legitimate; a father is the perfect moral compass, continuously directing you to do what is right. "A Hand in the Grave" is a tale of a young man 'Nabil' who makes the questionable decision of robbing a grave, with his apprentice and friend 'Suhail' on account of not being able to afford a skeleton. The sole purpose behind this dubious endeavor is to find a skeleton to study, in order to be accepted in the medical faculty. Although this particular case scenario is very remote, it is still something that each of us can relate to. We try to resolve the conflict between intentions and actions every day. We try to justify our deeds with hefty explanations, and we try to make ends meet in ways that we do not always bother to scrutinize. Life is about making such choices all the time, whether it is robbing a grave or simply working hard at one's job, one must always consider tradeoffs and weigh them as intricately as possible. And sometimes, being human naturally means that we err. And it is times like those when the importance of a father figure shines through, for you expect the father figure to fight your battles for you and to know better.

The story builds momentum when the protagonist Nabil is confronted by his father for looking exceptionally pale one morning. His father, being a rather strict disciplinarian, interrogates him about his activities, only to be completely flabbergasted when Nabil gets vexed enough to reveal his plans. The exchange that he has with his father, before setting out to implement his plans reveals everything about their relationship. Nabil is unthinking about the consequences, and like any young and driven man, he is focused on the purpose of his task. It is safe to say, that he is more concerned about the destination than the journey he undertakes to get there. He is so blinded by his ambition to be a member of the medical faculty, that he is willing to overlook the desecration of a dead man. It is not unlike putting food on your plate with money embezzled from someone else.

His father, on the other hand, represents a strong sense of values. He is all about the journey as opposed to the destination. He is all about the means as opposed to the reward. He is horrified when he learns of Nabil's volition, and reminds him of his duties towards God. He commands his son to hold true to his faith and not be lead astray by a mundane goal. It can be estimated that the role of the father in this story is that of the person who delivers brutally honest admonition. His own sense of character is so sturdy, that he would not yield to even his son's nuance, and pay him the money required to buy a skeleton to study. He is, as such, the epitome of 'tough love.' In trying to teach his son right from wrong, he resorts to an unshakable conscience, which as we see later, never fails him.

The character of the father is perhaps best revealed by Nabil's friend Suhail when he says, "The attempts at begging have failed. Your father would sell his own skeleton for less than seventy-five lire; as for my uncle, he'd sell his for the price of one breakfast. It's no good, we must rob a grave." (Kanafani, 427) We can easily see that despite the circumstances, Nabil's father is a force to be reckoned with. He would never give up his morals, no matter how pressing the issue. Nabil is obviously irked by his father's righteousness, but even he cannot deny the fact that his father, in his irksome ways, is beyond respectable. The reader by now learns that the father plays the role of an adviser, prophesying the looming outcome.

The story progresses when the protagonist and his friend set out to do what they had deemed ever so necessary. They face their fears, or mask their fears at least, and in spite of getting cold feet, carry on. Upon finding the targeted grave, the comrades start the heavy manual work of excavation. This is followed by a momentary clash of interest as to who would be audacious enough to lower their hand into the pit and feel around for the presence of a credible corpse. And the unexpected climax ensues when Suhail, being leaner than Nabil, pries the hole dug out in the grave, and erupts in blood curdling screams upon touching what he believes were the corpse's eyes. The thin ice of Suhail's composure cracks, and despite Nabil's efforts to calm him down, he flees the scene.

Consequently, Suhail resorts to narrating his spooky account to anyone and everyone. This continues until people start believing he is stark raving mad and he is expelled. Nabil on the other hand, drops his idea of becoming a medical practitioner altogether and instead switches to studying law. Once again, the reaction of Nabil's father serves as the moral of the story when Nabil narrates, "My father on the other hand, praised God at length, and observed to my sister that the thieves had received their due reward from the grave and the dead man. Thus he came to believe that the grave which we had desecrated was that of a saint and took to visiting it every dawn to receive blessing from its earth and sand and pray beside it." (Kanafani, 430).

The above account shows that his father was not only a devout man, but a strong believer of the adage 'what goes around comes around.' He was not the least bit sympathetic towards his son's ordeal and genuinely credited fate for realizing his prophesy.

In the end, many years later, the graveyard is revealed to be nothing but a "kind of wasteland belonging to a Turkish peasant who, during the periods of famine, had taken the trouble to construct earthen graves which were actually no more than covers for small storage spaces where he kept wheat and flour to avoid its being stolen or confiscated" (Kanafani, 431). This is not meant to make Nabil or the reader regret not having gone through with the original endeavor. It is instead more a last laugh that Nabil's father gets to have, thereby proving that he really did know best.

In this extremely fascinating story, the father figure is presented as someone who is all knowing. The father is a pious man, who believes in destiny to the extent that he can rebuke his own son to teach him a worthy lesson. He does not let his fatherly concern make him shirk away his duties of being a disciplinarian and a teacher, more so than anything else. We can interpret Kanafani's sense of father figures as strong and unbreakable characters, who ultimately get to deserve saying 'I told you so.' His sense of what his right is admirable in its intention as well as execution.

Of course every person is not the same, and understandably, every father figure is not the same either. Although the intentions of a father may resonate, the execution can be incredibly diverse. This is proven by another case in point of Asian literature, where we meet a peculiar father, Mr. Bhowmick, who tries to juggle his family life, his fatherly duties, his religious convictions and his sense of perpetual culture shock. Bharati Mukherjee's "A Father" is a controversial short story that raises many questions with just a few words. It is the story of a man's perception towards the life he chose for himself. A citizen of Detroit, and a native of Ranchi, he is perplexed when trying to stay true to his religious and cultural roots. His small family bears the brunt of this confusion every single day.

Deeply immersed in superstition, Mr. Bhowmick is unable to balance the abstract world with the concrete. His balancing act invokes both sympathy and exasperation. He inwardly resents his wife for being the practical "Americanized" woman that she is, and for having dragged him out of his hometown into an alien land with alien customs. Similarly, he is secretly disappointed of his daughter Babli, who although successful, is detached and crude. His life is therefore, a constant struggle to match his reality with his expectations. His belief system in fact, can best be explained by his devotion to the Hindu goddess, Kali, who is the bearer of vengeance upon sinners, and in other words the upholder of karma.

The story evolves when Mr. Bhowmick second guesses his decision to go to work one morning, one account of his neighbor sneezing, which he fervently considers a bad omen. He constantly relates this small and seemingly insignificant event to his goddess, anticipating the absolute worst. As Mukherjee narrates, "Mr. Bhowmick was also a prudent enough man to know that some abiding truth lies bunkered within each wanton Hindu superstition…He had choices to make. He could ignore the sneeze and so challenge the world unseen by men…Or he could admit the smallness of mortals, undo the fate of the universe by starting over, and go back inside the apartment, sit for a second on the sofa, then restart his trip" (Mukherjee, 661).

In a peculiar way, which can be regarded as karma at its best, he comes inside to undo the bad omen, to stumble upon a daunting realization when he hears his daughter vomiting. He draws the conclusion that his daughter is pregnant, which at first seems a ludicrous jump, but later his apprehensions make him quite sure of his initial inference. This shakes his entire being, because for him it is the cause of great disgrace to his family and religion. He weighs all his options, trying to come to terms with the horror of an illegitimate grandchild the whole time. He blames his wife for having wriggled out of their conventional belief system, and bringing such ignominy upon them. Once his discomfort subsides, his primary instinct in dealing with this conflict is to accept his daughter's actions. "Compromise, adaptability, call it what you want. A dozen times a day he made these small tradeoffs between new world reasonableness and old-world beliefs" (Mukherjee, 661).