Midaq Alley

I just finished reading A Thousand splendid Suns and the book was amazing. Now I'm starting to read Midaq Alley.

The novel centers around the residents of one of the hustiling, teeming back alleys of Cairo. From Zaita the cripple-maker to Kirsha the cafe owner with a taste for young boys and drugs, to Abbas the barber who mistakes greed for love, to Hamida who sells her soul to escape the alley, these characters vivdly evoke the sights, sounds and smells of Cairo. Long after one finishes reading, the smell of fresh bread lingers, as does the image of men gathering at the cafe for their nightly ritual.

I'm going to be paying close attention to the women in this novel and how they are portrayed in Egypt's society. I Have read about how Marocco has portrayed their women, to seeing how the Afgani women are treated. Now I am entering a new world, a new continent, a new country and a new city. With all new characters.

When there's hope

In Chapter 45 we start to see Laila and Mariam become stronger individuals. This all happens after Tariq shows up after many years. The readers learn that Rasheed paid someone to come to Laila and tell her that Tariq was dead, just so he can marry her. Now Laila is starting to see that maybe their lives can change because Tariq is back and can protect them. The only problem is Rasheed. When Rasheed learns about Tariq coming over, Laila starts to fight him back. Once Maraim sees that he is really hurting Laila and means to kill her, she starts to take action as well. she goes and grabs and shovel that ends up killing him at the end of the chapter. This shows us that these two women do have the power to protect themselves. That all this time if they just stood up to him and showed him who's boss, he would never bother them again.

Starting to Open her eyes to the truth

Had she been a deceitful wife? she asked herself. A complacent wife? A dishonorable woman? Discreditable? vulgar? What harmful thing had she willfully done to this man to warrant his malice, his continual assaults, the relish with which he tormented her? Had she not looked after him when he was ill? Fed him, and his friends, cleaned up after him dutifully?
Had she not given this man her youth?
Had she ever justly deserved his meanness? p. 309

Finally we start to see Mariam open her eyes to how her husband treated her all these years. She now knows he has done nothing but made her life even more miserable. This I believe helps her fight him back to defend Laila and herself. This is what helps her murder the man that is about to kill the only person in her life, who understood her and loved for who she was.

Starvation starts to lead to Murder + Suicide

Death from starvation suddenly became a distinct possibility. Some chose not to wait for it. Mariam heard of a neighborhood widow who had ground some dried bread, laced it with rat poison, and fed it all to seven of her children. She had saved the biggest portion for herself. p. 272

What would you do if you were starving to death? Would you commit the sin of killing not only your self but others as well?

God is dead to Laila

"Titanic City" was born.
It's the song, they said.
No, the sea. The luxury. The ship.
It's the sex, they whispered.
Leo, said Aziza sheepishly. It's all about Leo.
"Everybody wants Jack," Laila said to Mariam. "That's what it is. Everybody wants Jack to rescue them from disaster. But there is not Jack. Jack is not coming back. Jack is dead." p. 270

In this passage it seems like Laila is not really refferring to Leonardo DiCaprios character but is referring to God. She's telling Mariam that God has left Afganistan and is never going to help them. She's telling Mariam that God is dead to her and everyone else. The reason for this is becuase it seems like no one is helping her and everyone else in Afganistan. We start to think is Laila losing faith in God?

Titanic

That was also the summer of Titanic, the summer that Mariam and Aziza were a tangle of limbs, rolling and giggling, Aziza insisting she get to be Jack.
"Quiet, Aziza jo."
"Jack! Say my name, Khala Mariam. Say it. Jack!"
"Your father will be angry if you wake him."
"Jack! and you're Rose."
It would end up with Mariam on her back, Surrendering, agreeing again to be Rose. "Fine, you be Jack," she relented. "You die young, and I get to live to a ripe old age."
"Yes, but I die a hero," said Aziza, "while you, Rose, you spend your entire, miserable life longing for me." p. 269-270

The last sentence that is in bold, basically describes who Mariam is. She connects with Rose in a way. She has suffered her entire childhood waiting for her dad, then being forced to marry a man who sh does not love. She is not exactly like Rose who is longing for a man but she is longing for happiness, freedom, and acceptence.

Laila's Dream: tells the future

In Laila's dream, she and Mariam are out behind the toolshed digging again. But, this time, it's Aziza they're lowering into the ground. Aziza's breath fogs the sheet of plastic in which they have wrapped her. Laila sees her panicked eyes, the whiteness of her palms as they slap and push against the sheet. Aziza pleads. Laila can't hear her screams. Only for a while, she calls down, it's only for a while. It's the raids, don't you know, my love? When the raids are over, Mammy and Khala Mariam will dig you out. I promise, my love. Then we can play. We can play all you want. She fills the shovel. Laila woke up, out of breath, with a taste of soil in her mouth, when the first granular lumps of dirt hit the plastic. p. 268

This dreams seems like it's warning Laila of whats going to happen next to her daughter Aziza. The ironic part about it is later on in the chapter she has to send Aziza to an orphange because she can not afford to feed her. She tells Aziza that it's only temporary and that she and Mariam will come and get her soon. When Aziza is sent to the orphange, it seems that Rasheed didn't care if his daughter went but did not even send his son there. So this shows us the favoriatism he has over his son more than his daughter.

I also, made a connection with Laila's dream that used to happen a lot in the pre-Islamic times and in other countries as well. The Taliban are taking over so much. They restrict everyone from doing anything at all. This connects back to burrying the new born baby girls in the past. Back then if a women bore a baby girl they would have to get rid of the child. So it seems like Laila fears this is what's going to happen next to her child. To her and Tariq's child.