Friday, December 4, 2009
The Effect of Family
In The Crooked Line, by Ismat Chughtai, I think it is odd that Shaman is surrounded by plenty of family members as she grows up, but she still experiences a childhood where she is emotionally deprived. How could she never find emotional support in a house full of so many people? I thought that the fact that three or more generations of family lived in one household would be good for family relationships. I think she grew up this way because of the Islamic tradition to focus on the group and not the individual. No one ever noticed what was going on with her because of this. However, she ends up growing up to be a defiant woman in a male dominated society, especially concerning gender roles, so I guess it ended up to be a good thing.
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I'm addressing this in some way in my paper; I liken Shaman's narrative to Bertha Mason's--she's alienated because she's unlike anything the family has ever seen, for one, but she, somewhat subconsciously, contributes to this alienation in order to preserve herself. As you pointed out, she grows up to be autonomous in a world where she is encouraged to be subservient, and I think if she's yielded to her family's wants, she would have lost a greater sense of herself in conforming with their wishes.
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