Tuesday, November 17, 2009

My World of the Unknown #4

Why do you suppose Rifaat had the djinn come in the shape of a snake? How would the story have been different if the djinn came as a bird, or a cat, or a dog? What does the snake add to the story?
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8 comments:

  1. gabrielasedovaNovember 17, 2009 at 11:57 PM

    Snake is an important character in the Bible. I suppose, everyone knows how this creature attracted Eve in the Garden of Eden.
    Here, the snake's negative plan was successful because Eve came under.Therefore, together with Adam, was banished from the Garden of Eden.

    I think the author uses the snake in the story of "My World of the Unknown", because first of all, he wants to give us the impression of the snake's negativeness.
    His goal is to confuse the reader and make him to look deeper into this matter. Here, the snake poses the character of a bluffer as well, however does not act devilish at all, unlike in the Bible.

    What more, it considers Aneesa to be it's wife. The snake offers what Aneesa lacks in the marriage and what is an important part of a successful relationship, the sexual pleasure.
    Therefore one should not see her behavior as a sin.

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  2. Benson O.oNovember 18, 2009 at 9:54 PM

    Snake, cold blood and poisonous. The author want to put the snake in a negative postion. However, snake is also a evil that induce Eve to get the forbidden fruit. Snake is also attractive. So for the story "My world of the unknown", the author want to make the readers think that the Djinn is evil but attractive, it is a god who is mysterious. Women will fell in love with it even though they already know that's very dangerous. That's why the author use snake.

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  3. MingTaoNovember 19, 2009 at 7:01 PM

    As gabrielasedova mentioned, snake is a embodiment of Satan--who attracted Eva in the Garden of Eden. However, for Arabic world, snake has some other meanings. First, snake is commonly see animal in middle east, so a djinn change her shape into a snake is reasonable. Second, snake also a creature that known as danger and mysterious, and give us a impression of unknown, which is a perfect representation of the confuses, struggles, and the feeling of within Rifaat herself.

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  4. dtwelve89November 19, 2009 at 9:23 PM

    I agree with gabrielasedova, in the bible the snake represents temptation, which relates to the story because temptation was the narrator's main conflict. She was constantly faced with the temptation of pleasure from the djinn in the form of a snake. However, by giving into temptation the narrator sacrificed the important things in her life like her garden and husband. If the djinn had been any other animal than the snake then its symbolism would have gone.

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  5. AllenNovember 20, 2009 at 1:51 AM

    By using a snake as the djinn that can sway the thought of the character, the author insight by doing this create a sense of mystery. Snake are represent as a manipulator of the human mind as the angel of darkness that lies within every person heart.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 20, 2009 at 3:02 PM

    Usually snake gives us a poisonous and venomous but mysterious impression. Because of its poison for people's death, it represents monster and devil, who is harmful and dangerous for us. Thus, we like to draw an analogy between snake and treacherous person， like the phrase, "a snake in the grass". I guess this is the reason as well for author to write Djinn as a snake

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  7. AnonymousDecember 1, 2009 at 12:29 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. AnonymousDecember 1, 2009 at 12:30 PM

    In most situations people are taught to fear snakes. Other than wearing snakes as accessories, it is rare to hear about a woman who does not fear a live, wild snake, let alone become attracted to it. I think the djinn coming in the form of a snake shows just how much uncontrollable passion the woman had for the djinn.

    With other animals you are able to define the genitalia and other body parts, which may make it easier to conceive a sexual act between the two, with the snake there is not much physically to explain. Therefore the author describes more of the mental and emotional feelings of passion and love rather than the physical actions of sex.

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