My Travels through Eng 307

I want to take this time to reflect on my journey through English Travelers in the Middle East. I came into this class with my mind wide open, or so I thought. The first or second day of class I realized how ignorant and naïve I really was. With the help of our travel writers, our wonderful professor, and equally wonderful classmates, I was able to better understand Middle Eastern culture, and release my preconceived notions of the Islamic religion.

Veiling is the issue that I am most happy to have studied, because it was the issue that I had the most trouble understanding. I thought of the hijab as political and religious oppression that left women with no room for self-expression. I always thought that most of the governments in the Middle East were forcing women to cover themselves, but to my surprise, many establishments are pushing for the removal of the hija because of its primitive association. These women are fighting for the right to express their religious devotion, which should be every person’s human right. I learned that for Muslim women it is a constant struggle to have to choose between their government and their religion and live fear of either decision.

I was glad to have learned more about Hareems, since I felt that having more than one wife is degrading and completely selfish. However, I learned that men take multiple wives to care for the widows of their friends and family, which is a great and noble act. Multiple wives does not always equate to a sex-crazed and controlling husband. Because the Arabic culture is very family-oriented, they are almost expected to take on such a responsibility.

Orientalism is probably my favorite topic that we have studied. I have been able to see how the Western governments have helped to spread the Orientalist epidemic, especially since September 11. However, I have also learned that Orientalist prejudices are not limited to Western minds. The East/West divide has always existed and is extremely prevalent today. Studying the topic of Orientalism has helped me in my everyday life. I am better at trying to understand different cultures and to not judge them on the things that may be different from my lifestyle.

The War on Terror was one issue on which I never thought that I would budge, but after reading Stewart, I was momentarily swayed. I am still against the war and everything that it entailed, except now I know that it was beneficial to end Sadaam Hussein’s evil regime, even if that was not what our government said was our goal of the invasion. I believe that we should pull out of the war as soon as possible because I believe that it is the most beneficial option for all parties involved.

Overall, I believe that his class has helped me to become a better person. I now have a greater appreciation of not only Middle Eastern culture, but the history of all cultures throughout the world. I am now excited to explore other cultures throughout the world in great depth. I want to know about all the different kinds of people that are living in all the different places on this globe. Because when you think about it, we are all common citizens of this beautiful plant that we call Earth. Maybe we should erase the lines from these maps and see where it goes from there.

Thank you for a wonderful semester. I will miss you all.

Snow in the Desert

Perhaps it is all the beautiful flakes floating through the crisp winter air that makes it so easy to get entranced by the story of Snow. I easily relate to Ka, the main character, possibly because of the uncertainty surrounding his life and his being. His lack of faith in the unknown and his frustration in his lack of faith is a tiring cycle from which he sought relief. Ka worked his whole life to disassociate himself the poor and primitive image of the East, but found himself coming back in search of the things that he knew deep down inside were missing from his life. There was something preventing him from being happy and slowly he starts to toy with the idea of religion. The curiosity of a higher power manifested itself when a poem "came to him" from a source outside himself. The poem came after flashbacks of innocent childhood days in Kars which were brought about by the diversity of the individual flakes of snow.

The silence of the snow seems to enhance his own fear and desperation, yet allowed him to channel the energy that was to be his poetry. I think that he was confused by the sudden inspiration and like many other fools, accredited it to physical human love, giving but a small thought to the possibility of Divine intervention. I believe that it was the blatant struggle of everyday life in a poor economy like Kars that brought such emotion pouring from our hero. He became the object through which beauty could be produced; whether the poems were a gift from God, or a the passion of a man, I know not, nor am I sure I will ever be able to answer such questions.

WAR (Formal - Nov. 14th)

"The Prince of the Marshes" by Rory Stewart has offered a alternate view of the United States and Britain's invasion of Iraq. Stewart eloquently illustrates the complexities involved in transforming a nation from an evil dictatorship to a working democracy. Although Stewart's cause was nobel, according to the Bush Administration, the invasion of Iraq was never supposed to be about the eradication of Sadam Hussein and his regime. The United States of America declared war on Iraq, without the United Nation's approval, might I add, with the intention of ridding the country of weapons of mass destruction. Some how along the way, the United States and their British allies managed to obliterate Iraq's government. Even though the war has stopped one evil, it have caused massive chaos and political unrest within the country of Iraq and much criticism of the President within the United States.



Billions of U.S. tax dollars are being spent each and every month to undo what we never were going to do in the first place. Unknown funds are being poured into such projects as rebuilding Mosques, when I feel that the main goal should be to get Iraq to a self sufficient state and then let their new government work on community development. Stewart stated that if the coalition left Iraq too soon, then the entire country would fall into an anarcial state. However many America's express their views of the war with bumper stickers that state, "Take Care of America First." So the United States, now has a choice to either cut our loses and leave an entire nation to perish from an inevitable civil war, or we can keep sinking money into the construction of a goverment that is ironically modeled after our own, yet labeled a "democracy." It is interesting how democracy is Greek for "rule by the people," yet when it comes down to a national election, the average person's vote does not even count because of the establishment of the Electoral Colleges. Therefore, we are trying to build up a democratic government without any real knowlegde of a true democracy. Stewart even stated himself that he could not define what a democracy entailed.



The invasion of Iraq reminds me of the controversial issue of hunting. No one can deny that it is better and more humane for a deer to die quickly by a bow or gun shot rather than being hit by a car or starving, however no one stops to think about the reasons that we have had to resort to hunting. We say that deer are overpopulated to justify our actions, but it was humans that invaded their environment and built sub-divisions on top of their home. Humans killed off their natural predators, almost to extinction and are now left to clean up the mess that we have made for ourselves.

"Prince of the Marshes" has helped me to look at the war more objectively. This narrative has enabled me to abandon the thought of Iraq as a faceless country. I still do not support the war, however, I do feel a strong duty as a humanist to ensure that the people of Iraq live in a peaceful and prosperous society. I do not agree with the reasons for the invasion, the killing of innocent lives, the way that our tax dollars are being spent there, or even the fact that America has a problem with wanting to police the world, however I feel that we have an obligation to the people of Iraq to leave their country better than how we found it. Hopefully we can do this with the least amount of lives and money wasted.

Male v. Female (Formal Oct. 31)

Each travel narrative that we have read thus far has offered a unique perspective of the religion and customs of the Middle East. Although each author has their own personal views and experiences, there are certain aspects of their writing that you can come to expect from each gender. While the male authors tend to simplify cultural differences and present their information in black and white, the females are more likely to recognize the gray areas and are more likely to point out the similarities of the two cultures.

Men tend to be more rational than women, but lack the kind of empathy needed to relate to a foreign culture or religion without fully adopting it as their own. The male authors also seemed to hold stronger orientalist views. Most of the male authors had a hard time being surrounded by the religion of Islam without questioning their own beliefs. Joseph Pitts, for instance, converted to Islam during his captivity, but then converted back to Christianity upon his return to England. I believe that men may be more easily swayed when it comes to faith and have a hard time accepting the possibility of the fact that there could be more than one “correct” religion. Most of the men were also more susceptible to orientalism. Within their narratives, writers such as William Biddulph, Henry Blount, Joseph Pitts and Richard Burton all included many common stereotypes of the people of the Middle East. These male authors spoke of a more violent civilization than what was reported by the female writers and seemed confused by the role of women, especially regarding harems, in Middle Eastern society. This is easy to understand, considering the fact that speaking to a woman in public in the Middle East could possibly mean death for our male authors.

Women are natural nurtures and innately more compassionate than their male counterpart. Because our female writers were able to converse with Middle Eastern women, I believe they have a better grasp of the culture as a whole, making them less vulnerable to orientalism. Speaking with the native women enabled the female authors to learn and understand such trivial customs as veiling, harems and the women’s place in society. Many of our female writers engrossed themselves with Middle Eastern culture. Lady Mary Wortley- Montagu and Lucie Duff Gordon even went as far as to wear “local costume” while living in the Middle East. Montagu had so much faith in the Turkish custom of enaculation for smallpox, that she took the practice back to England. Gertrude Bell traveled through the desert on horseback and slept in tents with the tribesmen to experience the nomadic way of life. Montagu, Gordon, and Bell all studied Arabic and Islam as a way of better understanding the culture. Although these women studied the Koran and other religious texts, they never felt the need to make a full conversion to Islam. They were able to recognize the differences and similarities between Christianity and Islam and appreciate the diversity. The female travel writers all seem to have had a deep affection for the native people, which I believe helped to portray a more accurate image of the Middle Eastern way of life.

I believe that the women were better equipped to empathize with the native people and had a tighter grasp on the culture. The men, unfortunately, witnessed more violence and were not able to fully understand key factors of Middle Eastern society, which in turn made them more apt to hold orientalist views. Both the male and female travel writers greatly contributed to our learning and understanding of the Middle Eastern culture, whether it was through their accurate portrayals or misconceptions.

A little thought on Brooks

I really like Geraldine Brooks. Even though she may be a "Gonzo journalist," has a feminist agenda, and may be slightly guilty of Orientalism, I find her book to be interesting and easy to read. I feel like the overall opinion of the class towards her is negative, but we can't expect every author to be completely unbiased when discussing such controversial and sensitive issues. The class needs to realize that regardless of whether or not she is a religious Jew, she may still be prone to the prejudice belief system of the Jews against the Muslims ( especially if her husband and his family feel that way). But I felt like she genuinely cared for the Muslim women. I mean this whole book is to try to raise awareness to the mistreatment of the women (whether they feel they are being mistreated or not), so obviously she is concerned.

"Be Our Guest"

People of the Middle East maintain superior moral fiber. They are hospitable, honest, charitable and loyal to a fault. They may even put the people of the Southern United States to shame.

Eastern hospitality is second to none. Guests are treated like Kings and offered all but the kitchen sink. They are welcomed into the homes of strangers and given food, shelter, protection, and excellent company. And if a guest is really hard on their luck, they are given provisions to accommodate their travels, such as goat’s hair cloth, a coffeepot, camels, and sheep until they are able to provide for their families. Gertrude Bell helped to paint a picture of the normality of such generosity in the Eastern nations. She wrote of tale in which a man did not show the proper gratitude that was shown to him in a desperate time. She told of how this tale had survived the times because of its rarity in the culture. Charity is considered to be the norm because, according to Lucie Duff-Gordon, “money and rank are looked on as mere accidents.” Even William Biddulph, our most renowned Orientalist, spoke of the eastern hospitality. In fact, Bell told of how they would live on bread and water unless entertaining a guest; in that case a sheep would be slaughtered and then they would feast.

Middle Easterners are not only great hosts, but honest and extremely loyal. It is said that a Muslim cannot tell a lie, and though they may have mastered the art of diversion, this claim seems to hold true. A man’s word is his law and becomes an unbreakable bond. The severity of the ties between families or tribes is beyond measure. A simple quarrel between two men may result in a blood feud between the two families, in which all members must participate. And if the unthinkable happens where someone kills a member of his own family he is, according to Bell, exiled without any provisions. Betrayal is not looked upon kindly in the Middle Eastern culture, but I doubt that it happened very often because of this reason.

In my experience, this holds true for all people of the Middle East, not just Muslims, but Christians and Jews as well. I have walked into a room of people from the Middle East that I had yet to meet, and so eloquently they welcomed me to their home. In a moments time I was being whisked away to the dinner table and presented with platters of hommous, tabbouli, shish kafta, shish tawook, ghallaba, and of course, baklava for dessert. And when I was ready to loosen my belt, they insisted I eat more! I was taken in and treated as if I was a member of their family, and the beauty of it all was that none of them were related to each other, and yet made up a unit stronger than most families I have acquainted myself with. Every one of them radiated warmth and kindness and kept true to the Middle Eastern “code of hospitality.”

Joan of Arc.. Watch out!

Gertrude Bell. What an amazing woman! Her life accomplishments are impressive for a man, let alone for a woman prior to the women’s suffrage movement. She was a traveler, an athlete, a photographer, a writer, a poet, a Red Cross volunteer, an Oxford graduate, a politician, an archeologist, and behold! Never married. She broke the mold of what a woman of that time should be, and became an inspiration of what women could be. Bell journeyed across the barren deserts of the Middle East without the company of her own countrymen. She was directly involved with the creation of the state of Iraq when Ottoman control was removed from Baghdad, Basra and Mosul by the British in World War I. Gertrude Bell was an amazingly intelligent and independent woman and a great role model for women everywhere.

Of all of the travel accounts, I find hers to be the most entertaining and influential. The flow of her phrasing and description are poetic and her stories are absolutely engaging. When she writes of the desert, I can almost feel the sandy wind whipping past me. When describing those intimate moments around the fire, I can nearly taste the coffee and hear the guttural desert gossip. Bell’s travel narrative is beautifully written and educational. Her accounts are not only filled with adventure, but with history as well. Her dedication and passion for the productivity and economic survival of the east is immeasurable.

It is a shame that such a prominent woman had so many misfortunes throughout her life. I suppose that is the universe’s system of checks and balances. Even the most privileged and intelligent people face trials and tribulations (You can’t have everything, I guess). Of course, how boring would have been the conclusion to the life of Gertrude Bell had she died in her sleep. No, no, Suicide is much more interesting. Oh the tragedy!