Symbols of Isolation and Hunger in Two Israeli Writers Works - Essay Example

Symbols of Isolation and Hunger in Two Israeli works Introduction The Israel - Palestine region has seen more wars than any other region ofthe earth. To the outer world the people of this region seem violent and uncouth. But, in reality, this is the region of people with immense will power who withstand numerous challenges thrown at them. Even a child born on this soil grows up to be a warrior with several surviving skills. The voice of the people in this region was long unheard. The real plight of this people came to limelight only in this century through the works of great writers like Yehuda Amichai and Ghassan Kanafani. In Ghassan Kanafanis work "The Land of Sad Oranges" we see the cursed maturing of a small child who witnesses his family abandoning their vast orange orchard and buying the fruits from the market. In Yehuda Amichais poem "Sort of an Apocalypse" reciprocates the same feeling of destitution and fear. His other work like the “Jerusalem” depicts the poverty and misery common to both the countries, overshadowing the hatred shared by both the sides. Yehuda Amichai boldly pointed out the people of both Israel and Palestine are cursed alike and neither of them have a better life. Both the works use hunger as a main theme. The first story connects the request for food with life threatening circumstances and the second poem hopes the mad hatred will stop only because of hunger. One work sees hunger as the cause of all violence while the other sees it as a solution for the war, both expressing a very different perspective about the same issue. Refugee Authors Yehuda Amichai was born in Germany. His parents escaped the holocaust and entered Palestine. They moved to Jerusalem from there shortly. As a youngster, Yehuda Amichai served in the British Army during the World War II and The Israeli war of independence. He had strict religious education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Later he became an accomplished writer winning several acclaimed prize and awards including the 1957 Shlonsky Prize, 1982 Israeli Prize and the 1994 Malraux Prize in France. An established poet and novelist he brings out the soul of the Israelis life in most of his work. His writings are mainly based on his personal experiences from fleeing Germany fearing the holocaust to living as a foreigner in the New York City. The fear of death, skepticism about the religion, rebellious ideas and the isolation he experiences in the foreign land which is prosperous but, not as accommodating as his homeland. Ghassan Kanafani was the editor of the prestigious Al Hadaf, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) paper. He expressed various views about the Palestinian - Arab struggle fearlessly making him the target of the 1972 car explosion which ended his life. He became a refugee at the age of 12 and since then travelled to various different countries. He finally settled in Damascus shaping himself as a powerful person through his writings and revolutionary activities. His stories depict the fear of the unknown world, of having to sleep in the open without any assurance about living tomorrow and the desperate hope that the army will come to their aid wiping out all their problems. In one of his writings addressed to his son, he expresses the hardship of every refugee father, trying to explain their origin to the children. Ghassan Kanafani was a revolutionist who took pain to make the world hear the pleas of his comrades, instead of simply stamping them as terrorists. Both the authors shared the same geographic regions, had similar values and travelled in the path life led them. They also made sure their memoirs and actions will serve as a warning to the world to stop the stupidity of war. Symbols of Hunger Ghassan Kanafani’s story “The Land of Sad Oranges” "Everyone was silent, staring at the black road, waiting for Fate to appear round the corner and hand out solutions to our difficulties (139)" writes the author and also mentions his uncle who had little concern for ethics came as that fate. A childs belief about discipline and ethics is first shattered here. He learns the importance of obeying orders when his uncle tries to shoot the children demanding food. "Things had reached the point where the only solution was a bullet in the head of each one of us. So we must take care to behave suitably in all that we did, not asking for something to eat even when we were hungry". The harsh reality of the world drives him crazy at first and then all the anger is channelized against the people who caused this, though he is unaware who exactly is to be blamed. The inability of a family head who once owned a rich orchid, to feed his own children just within an evening makes the author wonder about the perception of God as he concludes it a lie and the God too would have become a refugee now as all his people had moved out. All the violence and the revolution spring from the simple notion of hunger in the author’s life Yehuda Amichai expresses the same feeling of hunger in a different perspective. In his poem, “Sort of an Apocalypse” he writes The man under his fig tree telephoned the man under his vine: "Tonight they will surely come. Armour the leaves, Lock up the tree, Call home the dead and be prepared." (1 – 5) He used the biblical verse in Micah, Chapter 4 written to express peace "They shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid" to express the exact opposite meaning. The holy land plundered by religious furiousness in the name of the God underlines the irony the author wishes to accentuate. The grapes and the fig cannot be eaten by the desperate fighting men as they have to be on high alert about the enemies all the time, forsaking their hunger. The tree and the leaf are just places to hide and armours. Not something to sit in the shade and enjoy. He emphasizes there is no true peace forever as assured by the God. Yehuda Amicahi’s lines "Perhaps from being beaten thinner and thinner, the iron of hatred will vanish, forever." Yehuda Amichai stresses, the only way to end the war forever is hunger. The men will stop their hatred towards each other when they start starving, getting thinner and thinner until they are no longer able to fight due to lack of strength. He uses the metaphor of iron getting rusted till there is no more left to fight to indicate hungers exhausting nature. Themes of Isolation In the poem “Jerusalem”, Yehuda Amichai implies there is a wall between the two countries which prevents him from seeing the child on the other side. The metaphor of laundry hanging on both the sides is an expression that people living on both sides are human and share similar values. He also mentions how they have hoisted different flags to cheat each other into believing the other side was happier than them. This poem sarcastically criticizes the never ending feud between the two countries. He blames this isolation from each other as the sole reason of the never ending war. In his other work “Sort of an Apocalypse” he says the “The white lamb leaned over, said to the wolf:” indicating the Arabs and the other countries which prey upon the rivalry between the Israelis and the Palestinians. The poem bursts the notion of God in the first stanza and the hope of the other world nations coming to help in the next stanza. According to the author there is no self-realization or God interrupted miracle. He feels only the lack of power or strength to kill others will put an end to the ever continuing violence in his land. Continuous fighting leaves men weaker and powerless with hunger growing thinner by day just like the iron getting lighter every day. The theme of isolation is prevalent widely in GhassanKanafani’s work too. The author experiences not only he, but his cousins are also undergoing a similar dilemma and expresses isolation in the lines "Your lips were sealed as though they had never been opened, as though they were the scars left by an old wound not properly healed.” Each person ceased to talk to each other within the family when they became refugees isolating themselves like a preparation for their isolation from the rest of the world and a peaceful living in the future. They sense a doom of unending misfortune, but are scared to express their views to each other. This sense of isolation prevails throughout his life when he marries, become a father and struggles to find solace in the path of the revolution. Most of Ghassan Kanafani’s works reflect this ‘left out’ feeling in a very descriptive way. Conclusion Both the authors Yehuda Amichai and Ghassan Kanafani became refugees overnight before they reached their teens. They simply could not understand what their identity is or where they actually belonged for a very long time. Hunger was the only persisting feeling which accompanied them from the night which started their misfortune. They identified themselves with millions of people suffering a similar fate. They made the world hear their sufferings with a hope of getting a solution and a better life for their children. Their revolutionary activities as well as escapism in writing, all was targeted towards making their next generation feel a bit safe than themselves. The theme of isolation and hunger prevailed in all their works even though one thought it as a solution, as being “beaten thinner and thinner” and getting isolated from the world will put an end to the war. The other one thought hunger is the fountain of all problems as it makes a doting father attempt to kill his children and even the family member’s strangers to each other. References 1. Selected Poems, translation from the Hebrew by Assia Gutmann, Cape Goliard Press, 1968, published as Poems, introduction by Michael Hamburger, Harper (New York, NY), 1969. 2. Holt. “Module 11: Literature of Eastern Europe.” World Literature. 15 April 2013. Web. 15 May 2013. 3. Travels of a Latter-Day Benjamin of Tudela, translation from the Hebrew by Ruth Nevo, House of Exile (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1976. 4. Holt. “Module 12: Literature of the Middle East.” World Literature. 22 April 2013. Web. 15 May 2013 5. Kanafani, Ghassan. "The Land of Sad Oranges." One World of Literature. Lim, Shirley, and Norman A. Spencer. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. 137-141. Print. 6. The Selected Poetry of Yehudah Amichai, translation from the Hebrew by Mitchell and Chana Bloch, Harper (New York, NY), 1986, revised and expanded edition, University of California Press (Berkeley, CA), 1996. 7. Poems of Jerusalem: A Bilingual Edition (also see below), Harper, 1988. 8. Poems of Jerusalem; and, Love Poems: Bilingual Edition, Sheep Meadow Press (Riverdale, NY), 1992. 9. Kazaks, Gundega. “Europe.” One World of Literature. Lim, Shirley, and Norman A. Spencer. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. 478-488. Print. 10.  Yehuda Amichai papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. Library.yale.edu. 11.  Yehuda Amichai, Israel’s national poet, dies at 76. Jewishsf.com. 2000 12.  Koren, Yehuda and Negev, Eilat A lover of Unreason: the Life and Tragic Death of AssiaWevill, Robson Books 13. Religious metaphor and its denial in the poetry of Yehuda Amichai. Findarticles.com. 14. Yehuda Amichai: A Life of Poetry, 1948-1994, translated by Barbara and Benjamin Harshav, HarperCollins, 1994. Read More