Analysis of Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh - Essay Example

Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh Wars can be referred to as being cruel, brutal, and vicious. Sahar Khalifeh’s Wild Thorns illustrates how absurd war is. The book describes wars among the Palestinian people and the conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian communities. In the novel, the West Bank’s society is being assaulted, both externally and internally, and despite these attacks the community keeps on going. Though being fictional, the novel provides an extraordinary insight into what was going on in the West Bank in 1972. The novel has two main characters: Usama and Adil. It starts with the return of Usama, who finds Palestine to be much more different than when he left. His troubles start at the border where he experiences isolation despite the fact that he is surrounded by people. His efforts to return home seem futile because the officers at the border and the interrogation by them make Usama feel as if were a criminal in his own country. A prisoner is what he felt when the officers finally left him leave (Khalifeh 19). Usama goes to the West Bank and the way he talks shows how he is alienating himself from his home town; the outside influences after he left home have made Usama forget who he really is, a fact that is confirmed when he visits his childhood farm and cannot recall who he is as a person. Usama has a feeling of confusion and loneliness, and no one around him seemed to care about his state of mind. His isolation is aggravated by the fact that none of his friends or family members shares his views of the liberation of Palestine. There was no way he could get through Adil his cousin was only concerned with providing for his family and the kidney machine for his father (86). Usama tries hard to relate with Adil because he is oblivious to the struggles that Adil is going through on a daily basis. “Adil takes the responsibility of providing for the entire family after his father becomes unable to support them due to health issues (31). Though not complaining out loud, Adil is having conflict within himself; he feels as a prisoner to his family, but he fears that if he stops providing for the family, the entire clan will die out. Adil lets outs his frustrations by indulging in drinking in efforts to escape his problems. The reader understands why Osama’s ideas of liberation were the last thing on Adil’s mind. One of Adil’s friends, Zuhdi, shared in Usama’s ideologies. The pressure from his family finally gets to him, and he lets out his frustrations on an Israeli worker while working in a factory. Adil ends up in prison, and this is when separation and loneliness overcome him. Comparing the lives lived by Usama and Adil, only the relatively well-off could effectively take part in the revolutionary process. The two represent a fundamental difference in how the Palestinian people survive the occupation. Usama come home from a foreign place after being away from home for a long time, he is an idealist. He ties his survival to political independence; one cannot exist without the other. Usama pushes for the idea of resistance because that is the only way he is able to maintain his sanity within the chaos. On the other hand, Adil it the opposite of Usama; to Adil survival is to be able to provide for his family. The idea of resisting occupation is the last thing on his mind because he is the sole bread winner of his family and he does not have time to engage in matters of the resistance. The ideological differences between Usama and Adil can be seen at a higher more complex level. Usama is a former emigrant and comes home politically active and this makes him lack a real connection with the people of Palestine. His lack of understanding of the situation of the people leads to him despising most of the people he meets. Usama disassociates him with the daily in-and-outs of life in Palestine and him only major concern is the revolution. He owns cousin’s life is an acceptable loss when it comes to fighting for his cause. This shows that those fighting in the revolution did not necessarily pay the price when there were retaliation attacks from Israel. The people who tried to lead normal lives ended up paying the ultimate price for the actions of a few ideologists. The life Zuhdi lives while behind bars is one of loneliness and isolation. His first night in the cells has Zuhdi profoundly regret the actions he took at the factory. “Zuhdi felt terribly alienated a sensation worse than the loneliness he would felt during his five days of solitary confinement”; the other prisoners are aware of the fact that Zuhdi worked in Israel and therefore, they make him an outcast (127). As time goes by, some of the inmates begin to make friends with him, and Zuhdi soon learns that he is not the only one that feels alone. There are people within the prison that have been in an even worse state of loneliness than him, e.g., the Syrian who has not seen his wife, whom he left pregnant, for over five years and he is hopeful that they will visit him soon). The Syrian’s plight resembles how Palestine is isolated from its neighbors in the Arab world. The characters in the novel in a broader sense represent how Palestine is struggling to remain relevant despite being cut off from its neighbors. The book consistently shows how isolation from the external world can lead to one feeling lonely and left out and begin to do what would be perceived as negative. Usama finds in isolating that no one shares in his revolution ideologies, and he begins to hate his home country. Adil did not have anyone to share his frustrations with and ends up being a drunkard, which would ultimately compromise his ability to provide for his family. The Syrian wants to fight for liberation, and the price is not being able to see his wife and kids. Finally, Zuhdi cannot share his frustrations with his family, and so he lets them out on an Israeli ending up alone in prison and no one is to provide for his family. Wild Thorns shows that solving internal and external conflicts needs a delicate balance. These conflicts could be within an individual and, in a broader sense, a community or even an entire country. The West Bank continues to survive despite being occupied. Sahar Khalifeh uses this to show that no matter how awful things get, resolution of any situation is inevitably practicable through determination. Works Cited Khalifah, Sahar. Wild Thorns. Northampton, MA: Interlink Books, 2000. Print. Read More