Desert Flower by Waris Dirie - Essay Example

Essay, Journalism, mass media and communication Topic: Text Analysis of Desert Flower by Waris Dirie; Feminism Perspective, Narrative I. Introduction 1. Autobiography The life of Waris Dirie begins as the “child labor” within the family, tending goats and looking after other domestic duties. She runs away from the house to escape an arranged marriage to a 60 year old man. Her mother assists her in that adventurous act. She reaches Mogadishu and moves to London with the kindness shown to her by her uncle, the Somalian Ambassador. She learns English and emerges as a model. She is later appointed as the Special Ambassador to the United Nations to head the department of FGM. 2. Desert Flower “Desert Flower” is the memoir of Waris Dirie. It is the story of how a nomadic girl from a backward country, Somalia, rises to become an internationally known super-model and then takes the top assignment as the UN Ambassador for the cause of women. She is a remarkable beauty with extraordinary courage. Her march from the village mud roads to the fashion runways of Milan, Paris and London reads like fiction. The name of the book is “Desert Flower”, but actually the author deserves that name. Cathleen Miller is the ghost writer of the book but the facts and the emotions of the content belong to Waris. The sum and substance of the book according to her own understanding is: Everything decided for her by God and she is just doing the work allotted to her by Him. Birth and death are in the hands of God and none has say on that issue. She will continue to take chances and she does the same throughout her life. During her run, she is nearly eaten by a lion, but the lion somehow spares her. About that encounter she writes, when I realized the lion was not going to kill me, I knew that God had something else planned, some reason to keep me alive. "What is it?" I asked as I struggled to my feet. "Direct me.” 3. Thesis How Waris Dirie, the nomadic girl from a remote desert of Somalia, through trials and tribulations, challenged her destiny to emerge successful as an international model first and next as the Ambassador for the cause of eradicating the age-old traditional system of Female Genital Mutilation.? II. Plot Summary Waris Dirie was born into a nomadic tribe in Africa and deserts of Somalia were her playgrounds in childhood. Life there was a tough option but with no other alternatives she continued to live there, working and tending cows and she grew into a tough individual. She was a victim to the superstitious traditions of genital mutilation, but she had no knowledge about its true significance at that young age of 5. She was given to understand that it was an inevitable procedure to become a woman. Her mother was a party to that cruel exercise on her body and a professional killer woman knifed the outer portion of her genitals and then sewed it up. That was known as the procedure of circumcision, she survived it but some of her close ones, like sister Halemo and two other cousins had died. At the age of thirteen she ran away from the house to stall the efforts of her scheming father who wanted to give her in marriage to an aged individual. She reached Mogadishu to join her sister Aman who had also escaped from the house. She stayed with her sister and aunt and then reached London with her uncle who was an Ambassador, as a maid to his family. She took education and soon came to realize her inner potentialities. She wanted to transcend from her status as a nomadic woman and achieve something tangible in life. She was in London for 4 years and when it was time for her uncle and family to return to Somalia, she insisted on staying back. She led a solitary life with none to support her. She got acquainted with Malcolm Fairchild, a photographer and then succeeded in getting some jobs in London. She married her friend Marylyn’s brother and got a passport. Opportunities fell to her lot to travel to different countries for modelling and soon she became a renowned model. She quit her modelling career in 1977 to take up the cause of females and was selected as an ambassador for the Elimination of Female Genital Mutilation. A girl from the nomadic tribe was an international figure now. Her bitter childhood experiences notwithstanding, she fought against the social evils with courage and conviction and the prime issue of her fight was against female genital mutilation. III. Context. Somali Female circumcision is not universal in the African continent; most of the people in African countries do not even know that such an evil practice exists. It is concentrated in some of the East and West African countries. 1. FGM The system of female genital mutilation was extensively prevalent in the Somalian society. Initially Waris believed that circumcision was an adventurous procedure that would assist the process of her growth and she would be known as the grownup child. She was a novice and did not know its real significance. With the procedure, the inner and outer labia and the clitoris of the girl child would be removed and the “surgery” was performed by a raw and uneducated woman, and she used crude methods that caused great pain to the patient. The author states that the woman used a rusty, bloody broken blade and she spat on and then wiped it dry before cutting the genital parts. With the operation Waris was infibulated and what remained of her private part was a small opening which made menstruation and urination awfully painful. She converted her suffering in to a cause dear to her heart and established the Foundation. “In 2002 she founded her own foundation, named Waris Dirie Foundation, based in Vienna/Austria, to support her work as a campaigner against FGM. In 2010, the Foundation was re-named “Desert Flower Foundation” to reflect the broader approach to addressing Female Genital Mutilation though economic projects in Africa” (About). Thus the desert flower bloomed and its fragrance spread all over the world. The Foundation has raised world-wide awareness. 2. Nomadic Lifestyle Waris Dirie was born in a nomadic family in the tough desert environment of Somalia. She was one of the twelve children and the family lived a pastoral life wandering from one place to another with their herd of cattle, sheep, goat and camels. They generally stayed in one place for 3 to 4 weeks, searching for water and food. Their main diet was camel milk and they lived in temporary grass huts, some parts of which were portable. Thus, the instinct to survive was the ingrained quality of the tribe, and Waris imbibed that trait well to improve and progress in life. They were children of Nature and without owning anything they lived a happy life and enjoyed the bounties of the county surroundings. 3. Forced marriage Forced marriage in nomadic tribes in Somalia was common. Their lifestyles remain almost unchanged for the last about 1000 years. The people practice female circumcision, subsist on camel milk, sleep outdoors, and the girls are given in marriage at the young age of 12-13 to old men. The method of upbringing the children are as per the same ancient traditions. The procedure for circumcision is inhuman, cruel, painful and life-threatening. 4. Child Labor Child labor in Somalia was common, and the families generally had large number of children. Waris herself actively assisted her parents in taking care of sheep, besides performing the domestic duties. The nomadic families were constantly on the move and did not stay in a particular place for a month or two and the children bore the brunt of those movements, in the hot desert areas covered with sand dunes. 5. Diplomatic relations Her employment as the domestic help with the Ambassador who was posted in London ushered a new chapter in her life. She was exposed to the ways of the western world, learnt the English language, excelled as an international model, and soon she was appointed as the Ambassador by the United Nations Organization for an assignment and she was in charge of FGM. 6. Feminism From the nomadic life to a world-renowned super model was a big leap which she utilized for the cause of feminism. The road was tough and dangerous and she had to challenge the social traditions, the unsupportive father, running away from home at the young age, and when she ultimately reached England from a remote backward country, her knowledge of English language was zero. Her next destination was America. She mastered spoken English married, divorced, and again married. She gave up modelling to become the Ambassador for the United Nations against FGM. The story reads like the journey through the wonderland. It is the story of the incredible achievements of a nomadic girl and one is inclined to believe that miracles do happen in life. She successfully negotiated the different stations in life. A girl born in a poor nomadic family, worked as a domestic help in London, achieved the status as the international super-model, became the Ambassador for the cause of abolition of FGM, toured most of the important countries firstly as the super model and next as the Ambassador. Initially she was isolated from the world, and the author articulates, when emplaning to London she saw for the first time white people, about whose existence she was not aware of. Throughout her life she adapted well to the radical adjustments that fell to her lot and her life was full of suffering, fascination, frustration and excitement and achievements. 7. Religion Female circumcision popularly known as FGM is not prevalent in European countries and America and as such the gravity of this problem is not known to them. The contents of this book provide valid material for the sociologists, and anthropologists, and throw light on the gender problems. Majority of the people of Somalia practice Islam and yet it is strange that this problem is prevalent there, though it is not ordained in Koran, the sacred scripture (revelation), on which the religion of Islam is founded. Her father wanted to give her in marriage to an old man just to acquire 5 camels! IV. Analysis – Desert Flower 1. Main characters, their goals and traits Waris was deeply attached to her mother and its highlighting aspect was her obedience and her sincere efforts to please her mother. She was willing to do anything which would delight and satisfy her. Just to please her mother she expressed her willingness to get circumcised and being a novice, she was not aware of its consequences. Even when realization dawned on her that the operation was an awful process, she confessed, “"I didn't move an inch, because I remembered Aman and knew there was no escape. And I wanted Mama to be proud of me" (42). The operation was the demand of the tradition and as such her mother had to get it done; that apart she intensely and sincerely loved her daughter. When she was thirteen years of age, her father wanted to give her in marriage to a man more than five times of her age. Waris ran away from home, not without the knowledge of her mother, but with her blessings, to escape the marriage. Her mother helped her in the escape attempt. She advised her not to worry much; exercise caution and everything will be perfect in her life. Submitting to the procedure of circumcision they had lost her sister and brother and unable to bear the shock she too planned to commit suicide by slashing her wrists. She had to check herself thinking about the plight of her mother. She was her inspiration and she infused courage in her that enabled her to remain tough and self-determining. If there was no support from her mother, she would not have been able to escape from home to challenge the the evil designs of her father. Waris’s relationship with her father who constantly exploited her and was the source of psychological torture was bad and he was the root cause of all her problems. He was an autocratic decision maker. She was not willing to trust men, as she was exploited by one or the other right from her childhood. At the young age of 4 years, her father’s acquaintance misbehaved with her. Once in the market as she was in search of her uncle, a man volunteered to help her. Innocently she accompanied him to his abode and he misbehaved and almost raped her. Recalling that unfortunate and disgusting incident in her life Waris writes "I had no intention of lying down with this strange man. I knew at this point that something was very, very wrong." (62). Most of the menfolk forcibly availed undue benefit of her plight and she suffered traumatic experiences. Later in London, she trusted two photographers and on that occasion her decision was right and they were not dishonest in their interactions with her. 2. Plot and subplot The main plot of the book relates to the initial suffering as the nomadic girl, Waris and life-time achievements in the latter part of her life. The sub-plots relate to the procedure for circumcision of the genital organs of the girls, story of running away of the girls from their parental home to stall their marriage to old persons, the life of Somalia Ambassador in London, her interactions with the people in the modelling business, the encounters she had to face in early life and how she was sexually exploited by men etc. 3. Main points and goals of the author Waris desired to be an obedient child of the family, but independence was thrust upon her, and from the moment she chose to run away from home, to escape being married to an old haggard who was four times of her age, she began to assert herself. She wanted to outgrow from her being identified as a nomadic girl and be independent and achieve something tangible in life. She had great regard for her mother and strongly felt that she should be proud of her daughter. When it was time for her uncle to return to Somalia from London, she was not inclined to return and the question that she put to herself revealed the strength of her inner world. She introspected thus: "Now here I was about to return home after four years abroad- with nothing. What was I going to say I accomplished when I went back?" (107).She took to modelling and that profession boosted her morale. She desperately wanted to become famous and the profession, the international tours involved in it, was much to her liking. Being exposed to varied cultures she wished to do something tangible for the welfare of people of the world, especially womenfolk of Somalia. She no more wanted to be a poor Somali national. Success was not her final goal but another stepping stone to her real goal when she was appointed as the Ambassador to tackle the issue of FGM. She desperately wanted to get that practice abolished. 4 Meaning of the name of the book Her mother named her after a miracle of nature: Waris means desert flower. The desert flower blooms in a barren environment where few living things can survive. In Somalia sometimes, it doesn’t rain for months. In those conditions, few living things will survive. Finally the miracle of nature happens. When rains finally lash the desert, the brilliant yellow orange blooms of the desert flower appear! V. Evaluation The memoir of Waris Dirie, ipso facto, is an extensive case study regarding the plight of the girl child in some part of Africa, particularly in Somalia. She fought for the cause and continued with her mission to repel the heinous act of female genital mutilation. She highlighted the FGM issue to bring it before the people of the world through this book. She has succeeded in her efforts to a great extent as the book has turned out to be one of the bestsellers. She utilized her position as the Ambassador for the Elimination of FGM, to eliminate the barbaric system. The survivors of this cruel procedure of FGM must be seeing their own life experiences documented in this book as if! Many suffered silently, were not in a position to raise the voice against the societal traditions but Waris Dirie challenged the so-called custodians of the society and achieved great success in getting this system eliminated. The author met a number of families whose girl-children died in the process of being circumcision, including her close ones. Her running away from her home was the challenge to the custom of young girls being given in marriage to old persons. Demonic rape experiences were part of her life and those bitter events impacted her personality and she emerged as a strong individual with fighting qualities. Only by going through the contents of this book I came to know much about the female genital mutilation. This book is a must for girls, especially those from the African countries where this practice is intensively practiced. They will draw inspiration to fight against this evil practice. If you believe that knowledge is power, here is a book containing powerful ideas that can bring about the emancipation of women. As such, the contribution of Waris to the cause of feminism is great. 1. Tolerance for other values The life of Waris is an example how it is possible to imbibe the noble values from any culture and succeed in life. The culture of this nomadic girl born in Somalia was entirely different from the ones she adopted in London and America. She not only tolerated but accepted those values and has been relentlessly carrying on the negative values of her own culture. 2. Show society as place working well To a question “What three things would you want the world to always remember you for?” Waris replies, “ I would like the world to remember me for my fight against FGM and for the women of Africa, and then I would like to be remembered as survivor who never gave up…as I wish the people in this world would never give up on their dreams, their hopes and their life happiness.”(Ehidiamen) This is her concept of society and the type of fond dreams she entertains. There are many imperfections in the society and it is duty of the right-thinking people to unite and fight against them. Mary Wollstonecraft writes “Consequently the perfection of our nature and capability of happiness must be estimated by the degree of reason, virtue, and knowledge that distinguish the individual, and direct the laws which bind society.”(11) An individual is like the brick of the society. Each brick in the entire superstructure is important; similarly the disposition of each individual is important for harmony and societal peace. 3. Sense of self agent “The sense of agency is defined as the sense of oneself as the agent of one's own actions. This also allows oneself to feel distinct from others, and contributes to the subjective phenomenon of self-consciousness” (Sense of…).Waris was the agent of her own actions. At every stage of her life she took her own decisions and this indicates her confidence and convictions. She was aware of her distinct identity and had the confidence that she would be achieving something tangible in life. Initially her physical impairment (circumcision of genital organs that she was compelled to undergo as per the societal traditions in Somalia) affected her psyche, but she overcame that impediment, showed boldness in getting married, divorced and remarried. She fought for the cause of women once she was appointed as the Ambassador by the United Nations Agency, to head the project of FMG. She challenged the superstitious traditions that damaged the life of the girl-child in Somalia and in other African countries. She applied the principles of the sense of agency and became the self-agent of the achievements that are part of her life. Conclusion: Some individuals are the victims of destiny; some are the creators of their destiny. Waris belongs to the latter category and with her fighting qualities, grit and determination she turned every situation to her advantage. Right from the beginning she knew that she was cut out for a great life. This is an incredible story of courage of nomadic girl who established herself as one of the supermodels of the world. The journey of her life was tough and her father was her enemy number one who played an important role to destroy her life. But his evil bodings proved to be blessings in disguise for her. If she did not run away from her house, she would not have reached great heights as a super model and the one who worked wonder in the cause of female circumcision. Thus, she converted her temporary defeats in life into a permanent victory for the cause of suffering women. Works Cited Dirie, Waris (Author) Miller Cathleen (Author).Desert Flower: The Extraordinary Journey of a Desert Nomad; 2011; Print Wollstonecraft, Mary. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Dover Publications; 1996; Print About Waris Dirie | Waris Dirie Biography | Desert Flower Foundation Accessed on December 19, 2013 Ehidiamen, Jennifer. Ventures Africa | Interview with former Super Model- Waris Dirie, May 29, 2012 Accessed on December, 19, 2013 Sense of agency: Examining awareness of the acting self - Frontiers Accessed on December 19, 2013? Read More