Paper 2

Discuss the portrayal of insanity in Wide Sargasso Sea. 

Wide Sargasso Sea is a post-colonial novel published by Jean Rhys in 1966. Publishing this book is a prequel to Jane Eyre that allows the reader to view Bertha’s experiences prior to her life in the attic. Jane Eyre is a gothic fiction tends to focus more on social criticism and draws away from Bertha’s character who has been locked up in Rochester’s attic and been viewed as an animalistic creature with little to now information into her background or what led to her madness. Hence, Rhys closely explores the life of bertha, known as Antoinette in Wide Sargasso Sea. Rhys criticizes the divisions inherent in European social structures and addresses this issue by means of depicting all those typical characters and stereotype which even after the end of slavery and colonialism decide people’s identities and values on the basis of their skin color. The relationship between men and women portrayed within society is often unequal and reflects a particular patriarchal ideology. This is a direct link to the historical context during which the book is set in. Rhys sheds light on the mental stability of Antoinette which is factored by various things in her life. Also, allowing the readers to read different narrations as well as experience Antoinette’s life from a young age, one has the ability to see the development of her mental state deteriorating throughout the novel. Therefore, providing a strong sense of time and historical context as well as a power structure, Rhys is able to depict the various factor that justifies the decline of Antoinette’s mental stability. Antoinette is worried and anxious about her identity or even the absence of identity thus affecting her mental and spiritual health.

From the start of the novel, we are introduced to Antoinette as a young white girl, daughter of an ex-slave owner living in Jamaica with her mother and brother. After her father’s death, they were left financially unstable and at the time during the Emancipation Act which freed all the black slaves leading to a stronger barrier between both races. Rhys focuses on part one of the novel primarily through Antoinette’s narration where we gain a deeper insight into her life. One sees an evident absence in an emotion relationship between Antoinette and her mother who is the only other person who could relate to her regarding their situation. She drives her to complete to complete isolation, resulting in her having to seek comfort in her garden, her escape from reality, as well as seek comfort in Christophine, the house maid. This leads to her becoming more of an outsider which is more visible with the racial dynamic present at that time which is presented through her relationship with Tia and her longing desire to fit in with the black community. Yet they disregard her and refer to her as “white cockroach” and a “white nigger” devaluing her and making her feel even more like she doesn’t belong. Antoinette is trying to find her true self and origin and people of her kind which she seeks to find within the black community but is rejected. This identity crisis along with her lack of motherly care and consolidation leads to a serious identity crisis for Antoinette which in turn leads to her slowly becoming unstable. After the fire in the Coulibri Estate, Antoinette is left in the convent and is met by other kids who call her mad and tell her that her mother is mad too and nearly killed her husband (Mr. Mason) and even her own daughter. Yet Antoinette experiences this when she meets her mother and she shouts to get her away but Antoinette doesn’t revisit this moment again which is obvious from the beginning of the book: “I thought if I told no one it might not be true” Rhys portrays her of having a tendency of denying the events and situations that occur in her life. Almost as if she stores all her emotion and anxiousness leading her to slowly shutting off and leading to a loss of her sanity. Due to the fact that Antoinette is a response to Bertha’s character, part one of the story allows the readers to see what has led to the madness of Antoinette and her identity crisis and Rhys characterizing her as an outsider contributes to her portrayal as an insane person.

Part 2 of the novel is a vital contribution to the overall story and the insanity. It moves away from the idea that insanity is influenced by only identity but also by the oppressive colonization that is presented in the patriarchal system that is evident. This oppression is visible between Antoinette and Rochester’s relationship where Rochester is the colonizer and Antoinette is the colonized. Rochester's marriage contract with Antoinette becomes  a type of colonialism in itself. Antoinette is economically powerless and emotionally enslaved all due to Rochester actions. He is conflicted between his desire for Antoinette and his power status that he wants to maintain. When he first arrives in Jamaica, he views everyone as primitive and the place being exotic. Antoinette is seen going through all odds to make him happy. Rochester receives a letter from Daniel Cosway informing him that Annette and her daughter Antoinette is a mad family, he tells him Antoinette “is worthless and spoilt, she can’t lift a hand for herself and soon the madness that is in her, and in all these white Creoles, come out” then this is further portrayed when Antoinette seeks help from Christophine who gives her a love poison in order to deceive him with it and make him love her more. When he finds it out he begins to question her insanity.

Part 3 is the final section of the novel presented through Antoinette’s narration where we see not only her transition from Jamaica to England, but rather the transition of her mental health. In this part of the book, Rhys evidently creates moments that portray Antoinette as a madwomen locked up in Rochester’s attic. Antoinette is seen continuously hallucinating and at some point seeing her own mother. Antoinette's narrative in Part three works to humanize the perception portrayed of the Creole madwoman. Given the emptiness of Antoinette's days and her isolation from the outside world, she loses track of time and place and starts to mentions a woman that haunts the place but not realizing it is her. Throughout part 2 of the novel one sees how Rochester takes over a dominate role, he rejects Antoinette, leaving him with the satisfaction of having greater power as he wishes, therefore, part 3 of the novel emphasises the power he gains as he drives Antoinette to complete insanity. There is a significant contrast between the third part of the story and the beginning of the second part, where Antoinette being in her home and comfortable setting shows a healthier mental stability whereas being locked up in an attic in England contributes to drive her to insanity.

Conclusively, Jean Rhys has a purpose of writing back to the empire, follows the postcolonial trend of writing back to the powerful empire. In postcolonial discourse, this is the deconstructive approach to retell a narrative from a different perspective and thus look for the earlier erasure and deliberate gaps in the original narrative. Through portraying Antoinette as insane she establishes the cause and effect of a colonized empire and in a sense, Antoinette also represents the suffering of a marginalized community during colonization. Rhys focuses to disallow the specific traits of the literature of the empire as well as its principles is the hallmark of postcolonial literature. Rhys wants to disrupt, disassemble or deconstruct the kind of logic, ideologies of the West. This is Jean Rhys approach and her use of the language shows her unusual power to challenge the colonial canonical text, Jane Eyre, therefore challenging the hegemonic tendency of the imperial powers. 

Outline

Prompt B

How is prejudice in its various forms evident in Wide Sargasso Sea? How does it contribute to the novel’s tragic outcomes?

Introduction:

·         Discuss the concept of prejudice and integrate it with the time this novel takes place as well as the characters

§  Including historical context

§  Antoinette as an outsider doesn’t really understand or fit in with the other communities

·         Thesis: As an aim of voicing the identities of marginalized cultures, Jean Rhys depicts the struggle and effects of prejudice throughout the novel in forms of race, culture and gender seen by the interactions of the characters.  Providing a strong sense of time and historical context, Rhys is able to justify the prejudice used criticizes the divisions inherent in European social structures and addresses this issue by means of depicting all those typical characters and stereotype which even after the end of slavery and colonialism, decide people’s identities and values on the basis of their skin colour.

Body paragraph 1 –

v  Topic Sentence: Race plays a major role within the story as Rhys establishes that people decide other people’s identities and their values due to their skin colour which is also easily visible through their interactions.  

• ·   Antoinette maintains the racial prejudice against black and mixed race people that are characteristics of her class and culture 
• ·   Antoinette demonstrates their prejudices. She names only her black servants, the other blacks all look alike to her
• ·         At dinner, Mr. Mason speaks of importing workers from the East Indies and is warned by Aunt Cora not to speak about this in front of the black employees whom he’d be replacing. Mr. Mason again expresses his belief that black people are too childlike to be a real threat.
  §  Mr. Mason’s insulting and prejudiced remarks as potentially quite damaging to their safety
•   Rochester’s prejudice and racial superiority
  §  When he sees Antoinette’s eyes and states that she can’t be of pure white descent hence he voices his racist suspicion that her ancestry might

Body paragraph 2-

v  Topic sentence: Throughout the novel, gender is a prevalent dynamic which causes a lot of discrimination between the characters, specifically Rochester who comes from a different societal norm

·         The relationship between Rochester and Antoinette can be seen as a relationship between a colonizer and a colonized

·         Antoinette is economically enslaved and all the money left her, for now, becomes Rochester’s fortune

·         Rochester deceives his wife and commits adultery – portrays his eager desire to be in control and take the actions he wishes to

·         Doesn’t appreciate Christophine being such a highly ranked and essential life of Antoinette and his life

·         The letter from Daniel and Rochester’s suspicion of Antoinette’s madness

Body Paragraph 3

v  Topic sentence: In relation to the historical context of the novel, Rhys draws a lot of focus on the identity/culture of the characters along with the social dynamic represented by the characters.

·         Rochester marries Antoinette due to his financial state and seeking approval from his family not because he loved her

·         He views himself as higher and educated as the other he surrounds himself with

·         There is an obvious cultural difference between them and this also stems from Antoinette’s limited understanding of the world  

·         Christophine’s character is more dominant than usual female characters, she likes to be

·         “All women, all colors, nothing but fool.”…”no husband I thank my god. I keep my money. I don’t give it to no worthless man”

·         Her relationship with Rochester isn’t good because she doesn’t conform to the idea of a servant

·         He doesn’t like the broken English used by the people 

• 
  

In what ways does Jean Rhys characterize Antoinette as an outsider in Part One of the novel and to what effect? 

Part one of the novel begins with Antoinette’s narration and introducing us readers to her childhood with some background on the historical context. We start to grasp knowledge on the complication of the racial dynamic at that time. Antoinette and her family become socially isolated from the community they live in. Antoinette fails to identify with a particular identity as the Jamaican and black society refuse to acknowledge them as one of them due to her skin colour and they are financially too poor to be considered of the higher white society. She has a deep desire to fit in with a society and feel as though she is a part of it as her mom, the only other person which such identity crisis, ignores her daughter and doesn’t pay much attention to her daughter. In part one of the novel, Jean Rhys introduces Tia, a young black girl who befriends Antoinette. Yet her character is greatly significant as she helps further shed light on Antoinette being an outsider. This is seen as their growing friendship comes to a halt. As they argue one day, Tia tells Antoinette: “Plenty white people in Jamaica. Real white people they got gold money…Old time white people nothin but white nigger now, and black nigger better than white nigger.” There is a clear racial tension visible between the two girls which causes a feud between them. This feud reflects the social and financial discrepancy between the whites and the blacks which drives a growing resentment between the races. Another particular moment in the book takes place when the servants set the Coulibri estate on fire and Antoinette sees Tia and runs towards, in hopes of staying with her as she viewed herself equal to Tia. But in that moment Tia throws a rock at Antoinette, hitting her head. At that moment, Antoinette comes to the realization that she isn’t the same as Tia and won’t ever be, she describes it as looking in glass- her reference to a mirror image is essential as a mirror is both the same and opposite, familiar yet inaccessible. This further characterizes her as an outsider.

Throughout the first part of the book, we are provided with a deeper insight into the complex identity crisis Antoinette faces, leaving her to become an outsider. This is heavily influenced by Jean Rhys’s own life and childhood. She is continuously referred to as a “white cockroach” regarding her as something that doesn’t belong, which leads Antoinette to feel the racial hatred and seek refuge in her garden- her place of escape and freedom. Jean Rhys also effectively uses secondary characters to portray Antoinette’s eager desire to fit in and shows how they influence her identity. Yet her struggle with alienation and absence of an identity is critical in leading to her emotional breakdown and later her mental state.

·         The novel is an account of the identities of the previously marginalized communities, Creole individuality, race relations, displacement and the group’s different relationships with home

·         The novelist highlights the fact that the individual identity of the people is constructed by the society itself and Rhys uses Anoinette to represent this. Jean Rhyscriticizes the divisions inherent in European social structures and addresses this issue by means of depicting all those typical characters and stereotype which even after the end of slavery and colonialism, decide people’s identities and values on the basis of their skin colour.

Sheikh Junaydi

What does Sheikh al Junaydi represent in The Thief and the Dogs? How is he significant to the characterization of Said Mahran? How does he contribute to the themes of the text?

Although Sheikh Junaydi doesn’t show up a lot in the book he is a vital character throughout the book and we still learn many things from his character and view a different perspective that he sheds light upon. A Sheikh is basically like an Islamic leader- directly translated a Sheikh is a man of great, high power and nobility. The character of Sheikh Junaydi is a Sufi Muslim- he represents a protector or a helper who has a particular way of order and spiritual teachings in order to reach ultimate truth. With Sufism, a Sheikh takes on quietism and self-reflection in aims of approaching Allah and has no interest in materialistic items or in wealth yet stays intact with their meditative and peaceful nature. This can be clearly seen when evaluating Sheikh Junaydi’s character in The Thief and the Dogs.

Sheikh Junaydi therefore represents the morality in the book. He seeks to help Said Mahran find the right path but in the first encounter between him and Said, we already see that Said doesn’t want that. After Sana rejects Said, he seeks the Sheikh, but before he has even started to interact with him we travel into Said’s mind and explore his thoughts: “ Said found himself bending over his hand to kiss it, suppressing tears of nostalgia for his father, his boyish hopes, the innocent purity of the distant past. "Peace and God's compassion be upon you," said the Sheikh in a voice like Time. What had his father's voice been like? He could see his father's face and his lips moving, and tried to make his eyes do the service of ears, but the voice had gone.”  We learn that Said feels more connected to the Sheikh only due to his father and how he sees the Sheikh as a fatherly figure because his own father used to be good friends and practice Islam in the same mosque leading him to feel nostalgic for his father. We see how Said describes the Sheikh’s voice as Time, already representing his high and greatly power. But as they continue to converse, we see the Sheikh is telling Said to start praying but Said finds many reasons and tries to justify not praying by saying things such as: “"She committed adultery with one of my men, a lay about, a mere pupil of mine, utterly servile. She applied for divorce on grounds of my imprisonment and went and married him." The Sheikh would keep repeating for him to go “wash and read” as Said continued to justify not praying. The Sheikh then tells him to repeat the verse: “Say to them: if you love God, then follow me and God will love you" which reminds him of his father, knowing that it’s the right act to do but he knows that he is truly only there in order to seek a roof over his head.

We observe how the Sheikh tries to lead Said into a better path, take his mind off his hard time and instead put faith in Allah but Said fails to accept that guidance. The Sheikh contributed to the idea of morality and justice which helps us see how he and Said serve as foils to one another which is more visible in Chapter 8 where Said goes back to the Sheikh after having killed the wrong man. At this point, Said is justifying his actions while the Sheikh is telling him riddles that are words of wisdom in order to advise him. The Sheikh believes that Said should not be too obsessed with the world around him but rather focus on his own wellbeing and follow his own free will which in turn contributed to his own downfall. 

PASSAGE ANALYSIS

CHAPTER 15

"I did not kill the servant of Rauf Ilwan. How could I kill a man I did not know and who didn't know me? Rauf Ilwan's servant was killed because, quite simply, he was the servant of Rauf Ilwan. Yesterday his spirit visited me and I jumped to hide in shame, but he pointed out to me that millions of people are killed by mistake and without due cause."

Yes, these words will glitter; they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict. You are sure of what you say. And apart from that, they will believe, deep down, that your profession is lawful, a profession of gentlemen at all times and everywhere, that the truly false values--yes!--are those that value your life in pennies and your death at a thousand pounds. The judge over on the left is winking at you; cheer up!

"I will always seek the head of Rauf Ilwan, even as a last request from the hangman, even before seeing my daughter. I am forced not to count my life in days. A hunted man only feeds on new excitements, which pour down upon him in the span of

his solitude like rain."

The verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness towards you. She killed you before the hangman could. And even the sympathy of the millions for you is voiceless, impotent, like the longings of the dead. Will they not forgive the gun its error, when it is their most elevated master?

"Whoever kills me will be killing the millions. I am the hope and the dream, the redemption of cowards; I am good principles, consolation, the tears that recall the weeper to humility. And the declaration that I'm mad must encompass all who are loving. Examine the causes of this insane occasion, then reach your judgement however you wish!"

His dizziness increased. Then the verdict came down: that he was a great man, truly great in every sense of the word. His greatness might be momentarily shrouded in black, from a community of sympathy with all those graves out there, but the glory of his greatness would live on, even after death. Its fury was blessed by the force that flowed through the roots of plants, the cells of animals and the hearts of men.

Analysis

This passage is an extract from chapter 15 and at this point it’s reaching towards the end of the book where the readers are almost fully exposed to Said true identity. This passage focuses significantly on Said’s interior monologues which are leading the readers to believe that Said is mentally ill. The passage takes place at the cemetery where he offers his own defense in his imaginary hypothetical scenario of his murder trial. The interior monologue occurring gradually shifts to a second person narration, seeming as though Said is talking to another person even though he is conversing with himself hence this further leads the readers to expect him to be mentally unstable. Through the interior monologue, one is able to see how Said doesn’t consider himself guilty but rather sees himself as a great man: “Then the verdict came down: that he was a great man, truly great in every sense of the word” and he views himself as “not like the others who have stood on this stand before.”

Mahfouz creatively implements this section onto the chapter in order to portray the development of Said’s character after having committed two failed crimes- it’s an opportunity to dig deeper into Said’s mind and to explore his inner thoughts to these incidents. At this point, having killed two innocent people, one would assume Said would suffer from agony and regret but is rather surprised to see that he dismisses these accidents and continuous to plot.  In the section “Whoever kills me will be killing the millions. I am the hope and the dream, the redemption of cowards; I am good principles, consolation, the tears that recall the weeper to humility” and especially the personification of the tears constructs the impression that Said sees himself as the savior of the country and everyone else is a coward and ignores his crimes as he seeks to justify them. He does this repeatedly as he says: “Rauf Ilwan's servant was killed because, quite simply, he was the servant of Rauf Ilwan” and he continues to be hungry for revenge stating: “A hunted man only feeds on new excitements, which pour down upon him in the span of his solitude like rain." The use of this metaphor closely examines how Said has truly become obsessed with seeking revenge and sees it as something exciting and thrilling. He goes on to mention his daughter, Sana who had previously coldly rejected him as he says: “The verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness towards you. She killed you before the hangman could. And even the sympathy of the millions for you is voiceless, impotent, like the longings of the dead” Said equates her rejection to be more cruel than himself and having caused him endless pain as he exaggerates by saying “she killed you before the hangman could” using past tense in order to discuss their first encounter after his jail release. 

The Thief and the Dogs: Stream of Consciousness

In the book The Thief and the Dogs, Mahfouz draws a lot of focus onto the main character’s stream of consciousness. Stream of consciousness is a technique that depicts the numerous feelings and thoughts within the minds characters. This is seen through Said’s characters, as we the readers travel through his mind as he develops within the story and we explore how the hatred and his need for revenge grow throughout the book. Being able to do this, Mahfouz allows the readers to not only follow the characters mind like in first person narration but rather to be one with the mind. This, in turn, creates a complex dynamic throughout the story, making it more intriguing and an exhilarating read. To signify the importance that stream of consciousness plays, the sections where we see inside Said’s mind are represented by italics which is important as it differentiates the different types of stream of consciousness that are presented- mainly between an indirect and a direct interior dialogue, this helps to create a sense of awareness and clear switch. At this point, the readers feel as though they’re a part of the situation and the book itself, hence it constructs a sort of connection between Said and the readers.

Within the Arab world, Naguib Mahfouz is very well known for his creative writing style which led to his win of the Nobel Prize for Literature. His book The Thief and the Dogs differs from his other works when it comes to the focus of stream of consciousness. Yet Mahfouz manages to portray the book from many different perspectives as he switches from third person narration to either direct or indirect interior monologue or even a soliloquy and he does so exactly according to the situation that is presented such has when Said is expressing his love for this daughter, Sana and we see his true feelings when he realizes his daughter no longer wants him. The indirect format is also seen when Said first emerges from the jail and describes the place and his feelings at that moment but it is rather expressed through the narrator. This helps create a very powerful connection as well as interesting touch to the book making the readers explore different perspectives.

Mahfouz creates an important sense of appreciation for the language that is being used throughout the book. Although in the Arabic writing certain words and phrases have a deeper and a different connotation that aren’t always properly communicated through translation, the English version nevertheless uses a high degree of language and style to portray the themes within the book as well as the stream of consciousness throughout. In general, the language is significant to the cultural context as well as the historical setting of the book which in turn creates more of an appreciation of the language used. In relation to the stream of consciousness, language is also used as a powerful tool. In chapter 2, when Said visits the Sheikh, one sees how the Sheikh speaks in the language of old times where he has a double meaning to his words/sentences in order to emphasize and bring attention through repetition, the importance of his message which causes confusion to Said and through his stream of consciousness we see how he feels about this and how he feels alone : “I am alone with my freedom, or rather I'm in the company of the Sheikh, who is lost in heaven, repeating words that cannot be understood by someone approaching hell. What other refuge have I?"
As well as that, the stream of consciousness is a revolutionary modern technique hence when used my Naguib it introduced new style into the Arab literature world as created an appreciation for the style used.

In a way stream of consciousness is of course very effective and creates a bond in which readers are able to experience and have more significant access to the feelings and thoughts of the characters and hence this makes the experience of the story more genuine and real. Yet at times, it can be too focused within the feelings and thoughts of particular characters that it diverts from other characters and the main storyline. As well as that, using stream of consciousness can disregard the outer realities that are happening within the book -  the author concentrates only on the consciousness of his characters and therefore he shows no interest in events.

Value of Literature in Translation

Literature is an artistic form of expression in which authors present their aesthetic excellence of writing in different forms as well as languages. Literature itself and in translation serve a lot of values and purposes that can teach a variety of things to people. Through literature, we are able to place our mindset into that of someone else’s and sympathises with other people's situations. It helps people develop skills that are applicable outside their range of schema and explore beyond their usual capacity. Hence, when looking into literature in translation, there is so much more that can be taught. It opens doors for developing a new understanding as well as a cultural appreciation for cultures that are being studied and might not be known about. 

It provides perspectives and emotional insights to topics and cultures that might not be familiar to certain people but expands their knowledge.

Yet as beneficial and valuable it is to learn and study texts in translation, one must also be aware of the challenges that occur from it.  

Each writing and writer has their unique was of expressing them self and their ideas in a way that best resembles them and their culture and therefore when translating such a text a lot can be lost through translation and in certain times there is a loss of cultural context that isn't necessarily expressed thoroughly for instance when reading Chinua Achebe's things fall apart, Achebe would sometimes express his sentence or certain words in his native language that cannot be directly translated and  he actually explains it in order to allow the readers to obtain a more in-depth understanding of what is happening. As well as Naguib Mahfouz's Thief and the dogs, having only read a couple pages in Arabic, I can already distinguish the difference. Naguib Mahfouz is known in the Arab world for his amazing  and outstanding writing as well as his creative way of using language and his use of Arab expression that are visible when seen through the Arabic text but are  lost in the translation. The language itself has a great use of flourishing language and expressions that have strong meanings to them but when directly translated seem exaggerated or not right and hence are translated in another form to suit the understanding of the audience and lose their intentional meaning.  

A text read in class of an interview showed the perspective of two different translators and their approach to their technique. One proposed that translating is impossible and it is rather a create way to express yourself though the author to your approximate level, unlike the other translator who thought that the cultural ambience was key when translating texts in order to make people fully understand the approach the author is making. 

Overall studying translated texts is truly an eye opener to another side that people aren't well aware off. This relates back to the learning outcomes of part 3 of this course which requires students to consider the changing cultural and social context as well as understand the attitudes and values expressed by the texts and their impact on readers.  This, in turn, demonstrates the importance of studying a translated text and consider the cultural and social context of it.