Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Zaabalawi #2

Why does the narrator have such a difficult time finding Zaabalawi?
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11 comments:

  1. GwenNovember 18, 2009 at 12:57 PM

    Finding Zaabalawi is like trying to locate one's future -- it cannot be done. I think that Zaabalawi is supposed to find the person, not vise versa. The narrator desperately asked everyone that came upon his path, but no one knew the exact location of Zaabalawi. The narrator is depending on Zaabalawi to cure him when they haven't even met yet. The narrator is looking to control his future when he should be living in the moment and letting things fall into place. Therefore, he is having a difficult time looking for an answer that can't be provided.

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  2. dtwelve89November 18, 2009 at 4:43 PM

    I agree with Gwen, everyone who was blessed by Zaabalawi awaited for him to come to them, none of them seeked out for Zaabalawi as the narrator did. Perhaps, this is how he goes about with his blessings. Such was true in the bar, when the narrator was unconscious Zaabalawi found him and cared for him if only a brief moment. Therefore we can conclude that as long as the narrator seeks out for Zaabalawi he will never find him.

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  3. raisinsklNovember 18, 2009 at 11:31 PM

    The narrator has such a difficult time finding Zaabalawi because no one exactly knows where to find him, or they might not even know who he is. Zaabalawi is such a myth that spreading out in the community, no one really has met him. He is seemingly coming out when one really needs him, like Dtwelve89 said. I also agree Dtwelve89 that the narrator will never find him, if he does it purposely. The narrator needs to be patient.

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  4. kalNovember 20, 2009 at 1:03 AM

    I think that Zaabalawi is just a hard person to get a hold of especially since he was being pursued by the police. Once again I would have to disagree with you dtwelve89. I just thing we have different understanding of this story. I think it’s just like when we are running very late for class or work and we can’t find our car keys. Whenever, when we are not running late, our keys are always where we left them but if we are in a rush we look for it in all the wrong places and say “where did it go? it is supposed to be right here!” Similarly, if the writer did not desperately need Zaabalawi, he would have most likely found him right away. However, just like we always find our keys at the end I’m sure the writer will eventually find Zaabalawi too.

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  5. Qi LiNovember 20, 2009 at 1:09 AM

    First, the narrator seems like has an incurable disease. The saint he heard from his father becomes his last hope. Therefore, he is not so calm to analyze all the clues.
    second, the narrator just start from his childhood memory and limited words from his father.
    Third, all Zaabalawi's old friend don't know where he is, either. In narrator's interview with these people, obviously, they conceal something. "Qamar said in the tone of one who has made up his mind to terminate the conversation. Zaabalawi just disappear in their lives at one day.

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  6. Ivory LeeNovember 20, 2009 at 1:07 PM

    I agree with Gwen. I think the author want to point out Zaabalaw is not a real person; it just the faith in our mind. We are looking for the Zaabalaw, and putting the hope into this person in order to reduce the pain from the disease. The narrator have such a difficult time to finding Zaabalwa, finally, he can’t find the Zaabalaw because of Zaabalaw is live in our mind.

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  7. Tsegu KahsayNovember 20, 2009 at 2:34 PM

    Now that I have defined Zaalabawi as "hope", it is like we become inpatient for things we want them to be accomplish. Hence, the narrator was desperately in need of that miracle and he seems to hope that miracle would happen as fast as possible. In life there are things, which we cannot control, and where we cannot control we lay ourselves in hope, at the same time we lack to manage the timing of the hope, so suddenly we lose hope, because we miscalculated the accomplishment of the things we hoped to happen. I think the same thing happened with the narrator, he wanted to be cured as fast as possible, he hoped that the miracle would happen as fast as possible. He did know that hope means to give unknown and unlimited time to a miracle to happen.

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  8. AnonymousNovember 20, 2009 at 3:59 PM

    In my mind, Zaabalawi is a hope existing in their memories, and the narrator only knows it from his father and limitied memories. Therefore, actually he doesn't know who or what Zaabalawi is, and where he can find it. This is the first reason. Second, like Qi Li's opinion, Zaabalawi is the last hope to cure for his incurable disease. Because of this, he really desires to search for "this person" to help out extricate his plight. The more you desire, the more you have to obtain. Thus, he will experience a lot suffers and difficult during his searching period. Also, if it is easy for individuals to find Zaabalawi, there will be many people know who it is and where it is.

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  9. Kok YingNovember 20, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    The narrator feels so tough to look everywhere for Zaabalawi all the time, as he doesn't notice Zaabalawi is so close to him. Actually, Zaabalawi has been with him (inside of him) waiting for him to become aware of it. It is just hope and peace. However, he doesn't figure it out. So, he feels hard to seek that.

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  10. Kok YingNovember 20, 2009 at 10:20 PM

    He had a glimpse of the peace and even spoke of his inner self being in harmony, but lost it when he awoke and his doubting self took over.

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  11. prettyleungNovember 30, 2009 at 2:38 AM

    In my own words Zaabalawi is a myth that the community has believes in. As a matter of fact, no one ever seen Zaabalawi before and nobody knows how to find him. There are many things can not be control in the world. Besides all we thinking are hoping that Zaabalawi are truely existing in the reality. As we all know he will only lives in our mind positively.

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