Plague in Literature and Syria - Research Paper Example

Name of student Name of the institution Date of submission Plague in Literature and Syria The most immediate and notable effects of the shock of war in Syria has well been captured in the book "A Journal Of The Plague Year” by Daniel Defoe. What Defoe capture are the psychological challenges and complexities people are facing as a result of difficult life they are forced to undergo. This according to the author is manifested through chronic phobias. The conceptualization of Daniel Defoe’s book is the current life in Syria. The shock among women, children and youth as caused by human actions, are more complicated and severe than those they might be exposed to as a result of natural disasters. The author opined that, “and that this terrible experiment cured him of the plague, that is to say, that the violent motion of his arms and legs stretched the parts where the swellings he had upon him were, that is to say, under his arms and his groin, and caused them to ripen and break; and that the cold of the water abated the fever in his blood” (161-162). This statement manifests what is happening in Syria, as a matter of fact, the direct connectedness with what the writer observed and the current situation in Syria is that the extreme trauma faced by women and children in Syria is now amounting to a whole host of behavioral and psychological disorders. According to research by Weinberger (156), about 48% of women who were interviewed after the 1994 siege of Sarajevo had a medical condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This condition is characterized by fear, anxiety, depression, aggression, anger and self-destructive behaviors. This is actually what "A Journal Of The Plague Year” manifested when it referred to the situation as ‘Plague.’ What the author observed are women and children who were already used to dead bodies, losing their loved ones and being sexually or physically molested. There was nothing new to them. Defoe notes, “...for no body put on black, or made a formal dress of mourning for their nearest friends... Men’s hearts were hardened, and death was so always before their eyes, that they did not so much concern themselves for the loss of their friends." (18). The question is whether there is any link between the plague in Defoe’s article and war in Syria. Defoe notes elements such as fear, drug addition, trauma and segregation as Dinstein (21) also writes about plagues in Syria. Defoe adds “…their fears were predominant over all their passions, and they threw away their money in a most distracted manner upon those whimsies. Maid-servants especially, and men-servants, were the chief of their customers, and their question generally was, after the first demand of 'Will there be a plague?” (35-36). What Defoe possess to ask is the same things women, children and men in Syria also ask regarding the situation of war in their country. There are atrocities committed in Syria beyond what can easily be comprehended. Indeed, every number that United Nation has released to have been raped, killed or molested represents the plague Defoe mentioned. Lakoff (30) notes that Defoe was talking about families who were reduced to ashes, rubble, or forcefully separated from their families to an extent that they formed identities of such separations. According to the data released by Cousins (329), over 10,000 families in Syria have been separated with mothers remaining as custodians of the young ones. As a matter of fact, it has been reported that annually, there are about 7,000 children between the ages of 3-10 reaching the borders of Syria in search of refuge without their parents. This is so close to the plague Defoe mentions that Syrian children between the ages of 7-10 have been forced to mature fast so that they can work and take care of their siblings between the ages of 2-5 years. As problems escalated in Defoe’s town, the underpinning of plague took a different twist. He noted that men and women were no longer bothered by the religious breaches that were there before the plague. Instead, they were now focusing their energies to preachers and men of God they liked without fear of criticism. The plague made them to confess their wrongdoing; this was, as the author puts it, the best way to respond to the plague. However, there was disappointment from people in town because their confessions and prayers did not yield much benefit. This is the current situation in Syria. First, the war is believed to be a plague from Allah but there is recognition that there are human components (Aberth 34). First, women and younger children have been exposed to violence for much longer time or since they were born. This has inflicted considerable damage that the only source of hope they have been having is prayers and forgiveness from Allah. However, Dr. Angelina of the Psychological Association noted that families are now giving up on prayers (Lewis 290). She adds, “Some are no longer doing the routine 3 times prayers per day. You look at Syrian children counting on number of mothers killed every day and they tell it is better to hide than spend time praying” (291). With displacement also comes another plague which is disruption of schooling. This has particularly inflicted further psychological and emotional damage. What "A Journal Of The Plague Year” has distinguished as the best mechanisms for responding to the plague are the very same methods Syrians have used to respond to the effects to the war. That is, there have been cries, mourning, suicidal attempts and escape from the country to the refugee camps for safety. In the journal, Defoe describes how people cried, mourned and escaped from the city. As a matter of fact, these reactions have been exemplified by individuals the author met at Pye Tavern. In as much as these men did not indulge in emotions, they reacted to the plague differently with some blaming others while others committing blaspheme and mocking their creator. The point of connection between what Defoe writes and the war in Syria is that the men’s response to the plague as Defoe puts it is similar to the reaction Syrians are having as a result of the war. To the Syrian, the blame and blasphemy has been expressed through despair, sorrow and fear. In as much as women and children’s response to their plague is not through confessions or cries to Allah, their rage is against insurmountable, unknowable tragedy just like it was the case in the city Defoe wrote about. Just like Watenpaugh (32) found, it should be noted that Defoe failed to be graphic in his description of the physical attribute of the plague. However, he succeeds in conveying the overwhelming nature of the plague. This is done through the painful swellings that grew hard and taut making it hard to be broken. Again he shows how people in the city could live with this pain with slim chances of being able to ameliorate this kind of suffering. This is the same case in Syria; we have plague in form of war, hunger, thirst, untreated waters, diseases, fear, and poor medical facilities. As a matter fact, the picture that can be drawn from Syria’s case is a situation where plague is literally afflicting people’s connection to rationality; Syrian going insane, their families murdered cases of suicide, sunk in deep depression and death by grief. Defoe has managed to show how awful the plague was in the city and that has succinctly connected with the case in Syria. It is ghastly story that can only evoke the terror and chaos of hell. Middle East and in particular Syria faces a number of social restrictions that have been instigated by social stratification. Scholars have notably written widely regarding restrictions that are faced by different classes of people. For instance, Cousins (67) noted that in Syria, people from different social classes do not mix freely in streets and in social joints. A recent reflection of the same was widely witnessed by Dinstein (48) when he wrote about “War, aggression and self-defence”. The situation where one cannot be allowed to get a particular job due to his social class or a case where there are imposed restrictions on marriage and social life based on financial supremacy has been rife in the country. Dinstein (49) termed this scenario as national plague aimed at dividing the country along social line. In addition to this case, freedom of expression has widely been criticized in Syria, taking a case of Ras al-Ayn town, it is noted that extremist groups are always quick in making decision especially when one errs. It has to be noted that in as much as Syria has strict religious doctrine that upholds good morals, peoples’ lives are almost controlled by factionists who would want citizens to act in a particular way. Despite these argument, a publication by Alexandre Dumas fils vividly exemplified the plague as it has been witnessed in Middle East and in particular, the life affair he depicts regarding Marguerite and Armand is a true reflection of what has been happening in Syria when it comes to social life and how individuals’ lives are monitored and controlled by these factionist. The Lady of the Camellias is a story of a woman showing her true love hoping that this will be recognized and true love shown to her in return. Armande on the other hand expresses true love but the author has put it to be in terms of social class and specifically, working class. This has been complicated by the confrontations Armande’s father is having with the lady about the chances of marrying his son. Put simply, the decision to marry the lady is not in the man’s hand but his further’s. On the other hand, the decision the lady should have regarding marrying Armande is not in her hand but her social stratification. This is exactly the challenges that have been witnessed in Syria. Giving an example, there have been extremist groups imposing social restrictions as well as discriminatory rules on women and middle aged girls regarding places they should hang out or the types of husbands they should marry. According to Lewis (162) these restrictions have no basis in Syrian and Islamic laws. This is the same plague The Lady of the Camellias explains when it comes to men and women expressing their selfless, compassionate, idealized and romantic affairs. Taking a different case, the book assessed early lives of Armande and Marguerite, the depiction of a young courtesan lady who meets Armande Duval. Out of love, Armande convinces her lover to turn her back on her past life as courtesan and stays with him in the countryside. However, their stay in the countryside generates a number of confrontations when Marguerite is admired by tycoons. Basically, the lady could not control who admires her and who does not. Nonetheless, she is victimized by her lover because of events that are beyond her control. This level of confrontation and victimization is the order of the day in Syria. Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS) and Jabhat al-Nusra have been enforcing their own interpretation of what Islamic or Sharia law means for Syrians. These interpretations have made women to be forced to wear full-length robes (abayas) and headscarves (hijabs) simply because they (extremist groups) feel that without these garments women will be admired. This is has been a plague and a difficult one to control especially when women are asked to take certain initiatives that are clearly beyond their comprehension. Aberth (74) argues that women who have failed to abide by these rules are not allowed to walk freely in the streets, work in their respective stations or attend certain schools. This brings another level of social segregation, if for instance, a women commits something wrong or does something contrary to the falsely interpreted Sharia law (by the extremist groups) then it will take long before it is forgotten. It is like walking with a tag where everybody knows what you did, when and how. Going back to Armande, the author portrays him as becoming depressed, not because he can no longer marry Marguerite Gautier but because his career seemed to have been hit by controversies and external pressures that he has no control over. Armande is facing controversies from French society and this affects him because he is constantly seen in terms of the mistake he did several months ago. The French society is no longer seeing him in terms of productivity or profits he generates. This has been compounded by the fact that the marriage of Armande’s sister is pegged on the relationship he has with Marguerite Gautier. That is, if he goes own and marries Marguerite Gautier then Armande’s sister will not be married by people or men of her class just because Marguerite Gautier is of low class and that will affect the reputation of the family. The father intervenes asking Marguerite Gautier to restrain and this makes the whole affair a circle of life where one has no decision over his or her life. Relating this to cases of discrimination and male chauvinism as practiced in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra have imposed restrictions on men and women on places that they should visit. As a matter of fact, Watenpaugh (38) reported that no men or women should be seen talking with men or women from Sheikh Maksoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo. Recently, there was an incident where men and women from the town of Ras al-Ayn in Hassakeh governorate, towns of Tel Aran and Afrin in Aleppo governorate and Tel Abyad in Raqqa governorate were not allowed to mix freely due to enmity created by extremist groups (Watenpaugh 42). This has forced parents to advice their sons and daughters against having love affairs with men and women from these towns. Interestingly, Syria does not have a codified state-controlled religion and its constitution was ratified to protect freedom of expression, association and religion (Weinberger 281). Additionally, Syrian personal status laws and penal code control matters regarding religion, movement, association, divorce, inheritance and marriage. Nevertheless, these provisions are not fully implemented and if any, there are a number of discriminatory instances that have been witnessed especially among women and girls. Taking a case study, there has been limitation of male dress and marrying or associating with women from the village of Jindires in Afrin and in Ras al Ayn. Relating this situation with what is happening in The Lady of the Camellias the author puts “The enclosed is your rate for a night” (180). This is an indication that love affair the man once had has faded away. The wrong side of the story is that the man thought the lady had left her for another man. The truth of the matter was that an external influence made the lady depart the relationship. The whole story is summed as a case where one has no control over his or her life. These incidences of indecisiveness are seen when Armand has been handed Marguerite's diary from which he still has no decision over her illness. Works Cited Aberth, John. FROM THE BRINK OF THE APOCALYPSE-: Confronting Famine, War, Plague and Death in the Later Middle Ages. Routledge, 2013. Cousins, Sophie. "Treatment via Skype: Creative use of tech in war-torn Syria." Nature Middle East (2013). Defoe, Daniel. "A journal of the plague year." International Journal of Epidemiology 35.4 (2006): 1066-1066. Dinstein, Yoram. War, aggression and self-defence. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Dumas, Alexandre. The Lady with the Camellias. Gebbie, 1889. Lakoff, George. "Metaphor and war: The metaphor system used to justify war in the Gulf." Peace Research (1991): 25-32. Lewis, Bernard. The Impact of the French Revolution on Turkey: Some Notes on the Transmission of Ideas. Librairie de Méridiens, 2012. Watenpaugh, Keith D. "Middle-class modernity and the persistence of the politics of notables in inter-war Syria." International Journal of Middle East Studies 35.02 (2003): 257-286. Weinberger, Sharon. "Military science: The evolving science of war." Nature 505.7482 (2014): 156-157. Read More