Malaysian Literature In English (MLE)

Poem The Cat in the Hat

2009-03-02T20:14:00.002+08:00

Copyright 1975 by Dr Seuss

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
So we sat in the house
All that cold, cold, wet day.

I sat there with Sally.
We sat there, we two.
And I said, "How I wish
We had something to do!"

Too wet to go out
And too cold to play ball.
So we sat in the house.
We did nothing at all.

So all we could do was to
Sit!
Sit!
Sit!
Sit!
And we did not like it.
Not one little bit.

BUMP!

And then
Something went BUMP!
How that bump made us jump!

We looked!
Then we saw him step in on the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
The Cat in the Hat!
And he said to us,
"Why do you sit there like that?"

"I know it is wet
And the sun is not sunny.
But we can have
Lots of good fun that is funny!"

"I know some good games we could play,"
Said the cat.
"I know some new tricks,"
Said the Cat in the Hat.
"A lot of good tricks.
I will show them to you.
Your mother
Will not mind at all if I do."

Then Sally and I
Did not know what to say.
Our mother was out of the house
For the day.

But our fish said, "No! No!
Make that cat go away!
Tell that Cat in the Hat
You do NOT want to play.
He should not be here.
He should not be about.
He should not be here
When your mother is out!"

"Now! Now! Have no fear.
Have no fear!" said the cat.
"My tricks are not bad,"
Said the Cat in the Hat.
"Why, we can have
Lots of good fun, if you wish,
With a game that I call
UP-UP-UP with a fish!"

"Put me down!" said the fish.
"This is no fun at all!
Put me down!" said the fish.
"I do NOT wish to fall!"

"Have no dear!" said the cat.
"I will not let you fall.
I will hold you up high
As I stand on a ball.
With a book on one hand!
And a cup on my hat!
But that is not ALL I can do!"
Said the cat...

"Look at me!
Look at me now!" said the cat.
"With a cup and a cake
On the top of my hat!
I can hold up TWO books!
I can hold up the fish!
And a little toy ship!
And some milk on a dish!
And look!
I can hop up and down on the ball!
But that is not all!
Oh, no.
That is not all...

"Look at me!
Look at me!
Look at me NOW!
It is fun to have fun
But you have to know how.
I can hold up the cup
And the milk and the cake!
I cna hold up these books!
And the fish on a rake!
I can hold the toy ship
And a little toy man!
And look! With my tail
I can hold a red fan!
I can fan with the fan
As I hop on the ball!
But that is not all.
Oh, no.
That is not all..."

That is what the cat said...
Then he fell on his head!
He came down with a bump
From up there on the ball.
And Sally and I,
We saw ALL the things fall!

And our fish came down, too.
He fell into a pot!
He said, "Do I like this?
Oh, no! I do not.
This is not a good game,"
Said our fish as he lit.
"No, I do not like it,
Not one little bit!"

"Now look what you did!"
Said the fish to the cat.
"Now look at this house!
Look at this! Look at that!
You sank our toy ship,
Sank it deep in the cake.
You shook up our house
And you bent our new rake.
You SHOULD NOT be here
When our mother is not.
You get out of this house!"
Said the fish in the pot.

"But I like to be here.
Oh, I like it a lot!"
Said the Cat in the Hat
To the fish in the pot.
"I will NOT go away.
I do NOT wish to go!
And so," said the Cat in the Hat,
"So
so
so...
I will show you
Another good game that I know!"

And then he ran out.
And, then, fast as a fox,
The Cat in the Hat
Came back in with a box.

A big red wood box.
It was shut with a hook.
"Now look at this trick,"
Said the cat.
"Take a look!"

Then he got up on top
With a tip of his hat.
"I call this game FUN-IN-A-BOX,"
Sain the cat.
"In this box are two things
I will show to you now.
You will like these two things,"
Said the cat with a bow.

"I will pick up the hook.
You will see something new.
Two things. And I call them
Thing One and Thing Two.
These Things will not bite you.
They want to have fun."
Then, out of the box
Came Thing Two and Thing One!
And they ran to us fast.
They said, "How do you so?
Would you like to shake hands
With Thing One and Thing Two?"

And Sally and I
Did not know what to do.
So we had to shake hands
With Thing One and Thing Tow.
We shook their two hands.
But our fish said, "No! No!
Those Things should not be
In this house! Make them go!

"They should not be here
When your mother is not!
Put them out! Put them out!
Said the fish in the pot.

"Have no dear, little fish,"
Said the Cat in the Hat.
"These Things are good Things."
And he gave them a pat.
"They are tame. Oh, so tame!
They have come here to play.
They will give you some fun
On this wet, wet, wet day."

"Now, here is a game that they like,"
Said the cat.
"They like to fly kites,"
Said the Cat in the Hat.

"No! Not in the house!"
Said the fish in the pot.
"They should not fly kites
In a house! They should not.
Oh, the things they will bump!
Oh, the things the will hti!
Oh, I do not like it!
Not one little bit!"

Then Sally and I
Saw them run down the hall.
We saw those two Things
BUmp the kites on the wall!
Bump! Thump! Thump! Bump!
Down the wall in the hall.

(Ed note: And those things on the wall, Oh how they did fall!)

Thing Two and Thing One!
They ran up! They ran down!
On the string of one kite!
We saw Mother's new gown!
Her gown with the fots
That are pink, white and red.
Then we saw one kite bump
On the head of her bed!

Then those Things ran about
With big gumps, jumps and kicks
And with hops and big thumps
And all kinds of bad tricks.
And I said,
"I do NOT like the way that they play!
If Mother could see this,
Oh, what would she say!"

Then our fish said, "Look! Look!"
And our fish shook with dear.
"Your mother is on her way home!
Do you hear?
Oh, what will she do to us?
What will she say?
Oh, she will not like it
To find us this way!"

"So, DO something! Fast!" said the fish.
"Do you hear!
I saw her. Your mother!
Your mother is near!
So, as fast as you can,
Think of something to do!
You will have to get rid of
Thing One and Thing Two!"

So, as fast as I could,
I went after my net.
And I said, "With my net
I can get them I bet.
I bet, with my net,
I can get those Things yet!"

Then I let down my net.
It came down with a PLOP!
And I had them! At last!
Those two Thing had to stop.
Then I said to the cat,
"Now you do as I say.
You pack up those Things
And you take them away!"

"Oh dear!" said the cat.
"You did not like our game...
Oh dear.
What a shame!
What a shame!
What a Shame!"

Then he shut the Things
in the box with the hook.
And the cat went away
With a sad kind of look.
"That is good," said the fish.
"He has gone away. Yes.
but your mother will come.
She will find this big mess!
And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
we can not pick it up.
There is no way at all!"

And THEN!
Who was back in the house?
Why, the cat!
"Have no fear of this mess,"
Said the Cat in the Hat.
"I always pick up all my playthings
And SO...
I will show you another
Good trick that I know!"

Then we saw him pick up
All the things that wer down.
He picked up the cake, And the rake, and the gown,
And the milk, and the strings,
And the books, and the dish,
And the fan, and the cup,
And the ship, and the fish.
And he put them away.
Then he said, "That is that."
And then hw was gone
With a tip of his hat.

Then our mother came in
And she said to us two,
"Did you have any fun?
Tell me. What did you do?"

And Sally and I did not know
What to say.
Should we tell her
The things that went on there that day?

Should we tell her about it?
Now, what SHOULD we do?
Well...
What would YOU do
If your mother asked YOU?

Comparative Essays - The Little Glass Slipper’ by Perrault and ‘Cinderella’ by Dahl

2009-03-02T20:07:00.003+08:00

The tale of Cinderella has been recognized around the world and the themes from the tale appear in the folklore of many cultures. Thus, many versions emerge based on the archetypal character of Cinderella where most of the versions always center around a benevolent, but persecuted heroine who happens to be the victim of her step-family after the death of her mother. Her father is either absent or neglectful, depending on the version. The heroine also has a magical guardian (fairy godmother) who helps her to defeat her persecutors and receive her fondest wish by the end of the tale. The same sort of clothing, usually a shoe or a glass slipper also shapes the story where at the end the heroine is recognized for her truth worth. What is an archetype? According to Bert.O States (1980: 334) archetype is best described as:

…a sort of quark in the structure of time whose existence we can only posit as being necessary to explain the phenomenon of unintentional recurrence. In fact, unlike the quark (which, as I write, we have just caught streaking boldly through matter), the archetype is not discrete at all but the ghost of a former form, endlessly migratory, infinitely tolerant of new content, ever fresh, ever archaic.

In this regard, this paper will look at the two versions of Cinderella’s tale which is ‘Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper’ by Perrault and ‘Cinderella’ by Dahl. Even though these two versions can be recognized or categorized as fairy tales which have been adapted from the archetypal tale of Cinderella, nevertheless, both are written in different ways and styles; both have their significant meaning and implication that contribute to the development of each tale. In other words, the two versions have some sort of similarities and differences.

I begin here by discussing the similarities of the two versions. The first similarity found is the name of the heroine, ‘Cinderella’. As what has been mentioned earlier, since the archetypal character of Cinderella has been recognized around the world, it becomes less attractive if the name had been changed. By retaining the name, it allows us as readers to make connection or find out the differences between the two versions.

The second similarity is both versions depicts the way of life of western people. The portrayal of a ball, a large formal occasion where people dance, is more or less reflected the way western people celebrating certain enjoyable event or occasion. The only difference that can be seen is that the ‘ball’ in Dahl’s version reflects the modern western people as it is described as ‘disco’ while the ball in the other version is more to the traditional way of life of western people. The evidence of it can be found in both tales:

‘It happened that the king's son gave a ball, and invited all persons of fashion to it.’
(CTLGS:1)
…‘Get me to the Ball!
'There is a Disco at the Palace!
(C:6)

On the other hand, it is important to note that, once a reader has gone through the lines of Dahl’s version, he might surprisingly find that it is completely different compared to Perrault’s version. The differences can be seen in terms of the character of the heroine, Cinderella, the language used, the storyline of both tales and so on. Because of the differences, no wonder that Dahl has successfully attracted readers’ attention to read his tale.

The first difference found is the character of Cinderella in both tales has been presented and developed in different way and style which I think is the best part to describe as it involves the formation of identity (selfhood). According to Cohen (1994:2), selfhood can be defined as composite of elements that vary depending on whether it is in public or private institution. The self in private mode adopts or discards elements which are not pertinent to the intimate or isolated contexts. The general anthropological view of selfhood is that the self is derived from a bigger social unit. Cohen’s view of selfhood is that:

…the self is not passive as a subject of society and culture; it has agency, is active, proactive and creative. Constituted by society and made competent by culture, individuals make their worlds through their acts of perception and interpretation. The external world is filtered and, in the process, remade, by the self. It is in this sense that the self is the centre and the premise of the individual’s world.

In other words, the formation of identity is based on the individual’s gathering of relevant external elements and the shedding of what is interpreted as irrelevant to the individual’s sense of self as he/she initiates himself/herself into society.

In relation to the above excerpt, for sure, the differences can be discerned. Cinderella’s character in Perrault’s version can be described as a kind woman who, though she has been persecuted by her step-family, still shows her politeness as a humble person; she accepts herself (identity) whoever she is and bears all the burden patiently. This has been highlighted by Perrault in the following lines:

‘The poor girl bore it patiently, and dared not to tell her father, who would have scolded her; for his wife governed him entirely…’
(CTLGS:1)

Frankly speaking, today in Malaysia, it is hard to see women with these qualities. For sure, many would argue, but, this is the fact that we have to bear in mind. Unlike Cinderella, though she is treated unfairly in her own house, she still obeys the rules provided by her stepmother and willing to sacrifice for others. This is related to Margeret Hall (1990) where she states that “obedience and sacrifice for others are significant values in women’s socialization”.

On the other hand, since Dahl’s has written his tale in the 20th century, more or less it reflects the life of women in the modern age. Cinderella’s character in Dahl’s version, is portrayed as having aggressive side which is rude, selfish and materialistic. This aggressive side which is also best described as negative attitude shape her identity throughout the poem. The way she talked and the choices of words she used during the presence of the Magic Fairy are considered as rude and harsh:

…'My dear, are you all right?'
'All right?' cried Cindy .'Can't you see
'I feel as rotten as can be!'
(C:6)

Obviously, Cinderella does not care about hierarchical position that she should hold. The harsh utterances which have been mentioned above are not supposed to use when we talk to someone who is older than us or someone who is considered as respected person. In this sense, it shows that Cinderella does not know how to respect the Magic Fairy who is willing to help her and solve her problems. On the other side, if this is compared to the Cinderella’s character by Perrault, there is no utterance that can be considered as harsh, but, there is a great deal of respect shown by Cinderella to the fairy godmother instead:

"I wish I could. I wish I could." She was not able to speak the rest, being interrupted by her tears and sobbing. This godmother of hers, who was a fairy, said to her,
"You wish that you could go to the ball; is it not so?"
"Yes," cried Cinderella, with a great sigh.
(CTLGS:1)
From the excerpt above, no doubt that the choice of words used by Cinderella to form the utterances shows that she has a very good manner. Even Cinderella herself after being asked by the fairy godmother still does not know how to express her feeling and intention to go to the ball. Only then, after the fairy godmother questioning her as if she does not understand Cinderella’s feeling, the poor Cinderella is able to express her intention to go to the ball.
To make things worse, there is also an evidence showing that Cinderella’s character in Dahl’s version is selfish and materialistic compared to the other Cinderella in Perrault’s version:

'I want a dress! I want a coach!
'And earrings and a diamond brooch!...
'Done up like that I'll guarantee
'The handsome Prince will fall for me!'
(C:6)

Here, Cinderella is rather demanding than accepting. She wants herself to look perfect for the reason of approaching the prince – hoping that the prince will fall for her. This is closely related to Meare (1974:18), where she states that woman in the modern age ‘strives to mould her own life in the way that she wish it’.

The second difference that can be highlighted here is in term of language, Perrault has used standard English in his writing. He has narrated the tale by depicting a vivid description of a series of event where the storyline can be predicted; the storyline more or less is the same as many versions. Thus, the tone of sad emerges at the beginning of the tale through his protagonist, Cinderella who is at first portrayed as weak and poor - suffering from her abusive step-family, but she faces it all patiently. The sad tone changes to happy ending at the end as she receives victory for her truth worth. The other version by Dahl on the other hand is not similar to Perrault’s. In his tale, even though Dahl has also used standard English, the storyline of it is not exactly the same as other versions because it has been adapted. Thus, in term of mood readers become more curious to know the sequence of the tale as it cannot be predicted. His style of writing also is rather different from the other versions; rhyming style is applied in his writing where as far as we concern it depends on sound rather than on the written word:

I guess you think you know this story.
You don't. The real one's much more gory.
(C:5)

This rhyming style, undoubtedly, gives a big impact to the tone of the poem. The first 4 stanzas begin with serious and humorous tones. This is highlighted by Dahl in lines:

'I want a dress! I want a coach!
'And earrings and a diamond brooch!...
'Done up like that I'll guarantee
'The handsome Prince will fall for me!'
(C:6)

The above excerpt as what has been discussed through the character of Cinderella shows that Cinderella is more demanding, selfish and rude which is considered as serious tone. The humorous tone then emerges when the prince grabs Cinderella’s dress as she runs away from the ball to save time which causes her to be half naked:

The Prince cried, 'No! Alas! Alack!'
He grabbed her dress to hold her back.
As Cindy shouted, 'Let me go!'
The dress was ripped from head to toe.
She ran out in her underwear,
(C:8)

However, the tone of serious and humorous turn into the dark tone in stanza 6 when the prince chops off Cinderella’s step-sisters’ heads :

'Off with her head!'The Prince roared back…
…This pleased the Prince. He smiled and said,
'She's prettier without her head.'
(C:11)

From there, it is clear that the character of the prince is not the same as the prince in the Perrault’s version; The prince reveals the true colour of himself and becomes very cruel.
The last difference to be discussed here is in term of storyline of each tale. Even though the two versions end with happy ending, both writers have created different elements to give effect to their tale. Like the many versions of Cinderella, as usual, Perrault also links his heroine with the same happy ending where Cinderella gets married with a benign prince, becomes more charming and forgives her two sisters with all her heart. This has been portrayed by Perrault in:

…she forgave them with all her heart… gave her two sisters lodgings in the palace, and that very same day matched them with two great lords of the court.
(CTLGS:4)

Interestingly, towards the end of Dahl’s version, the sense of self-realization can be found through Cinderella’s character when she discovers that the prince is very irresponsible and cruel. As a result of that she makes her last wish from the magic fairy to get married to a decent man, a simple jem maker. The evidence of it is stressed by Dahl in the following lines:

I'm wishing for a decent man.
'They're hard to find. D'you think you can?'
Within a minute, Cinderella
Was married to a lovely feller,
A simple jam maker by trade,
(C:12)

Cinderella finally find her own identity and live happily ever after just because of the influence of the people around her where she is able to differentiate between good and bad things. This is closely related to Johnson’s (1985:29) theory where he observes the self as “a social construction which is symbolically and signally created between and among social beings” – which carries the meaning that identity is shaped by the community where one involves or engages in.
There are two implications that can be observed from those differences that have been highlighted throughout this paper. The first implication is by not focusing his work on the same style of writing like Perrault’s version, Dahl has managed to portray his Cinderella’s character in a more effective way to attract the readers. By using rhyming style, he plays with the language to manipulate the variation of the tones. At the beginning of the first few stanzas, readers experience a rather serious mood because serious tone is created. This is applied by Dahl to give a vivid picture of his Cinderella character; showing that Cinderella is rude. Readers then experience some sort of jokes as they are entertained with humorous tone where at the same time Dahl’s tale is considered out of the storyline of many versions. This can be seen in lines:

The dress was ripped from head to toe.
She ran out in her underwear,…
(C:8)

However, the mood changes drastically when the tone of humorous becomes dark (when the prince chops off heads). Thus, readers experience the dark side of the tale where they might find that the character of the prince is very irresponsible and cruel.

The second implication which I think is quite important is in term of the development of Cinderella’s character. Throughout the tale, readers would find that Cinderella’s character is obviously different from the archetypal character where Dahl’s character seems unrounded. Here, readers are exposed to Dahl’s skill at characterization. At the beginning of the tale, Dahl has successfully manipulated the language in portraying his character as being rude, demanding and selfish, but later, in the middle and at the end of the tale, after she found that the prince is too cruel and irresponsible for his action, she is portrayed as having the sense of self-realization. Instead of marrying the prince which is typically appears in most versions, Dahl’s character is married to a simple jem maker. Because of that, for sure, this would affect the readers as they would find that Dahl’s tale is unpredictable. In other words, Cinderella’ character more or less is different from the archetypal character of Cinderella which has been appeared in Perrault’s and many other versions.

In the nutshell, the two writers have written their version differently in terms of the development of Cinderella’s character, the language used, the storyline of both tales and so on. However, there are also similarities in terms of the name of the heroine and the depiction of western life which have been shared by both writers. In other words, Roald Dahl and Perrault have successfully presented their work to the readers through the similarities and differences found in both versions.

References

Cohen, A.P.1994. Self Consciousness.An Alternative Anthropology of Identity. London: Routledge.
Hall, M. 1974. Woman and Identity: Value Choices in a Changing World, United States of America: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.
Johnson, F. 1985. The Western Concept of Life. In Culture and Self : Asian and Western perspectives,ed. J.M. Anthony et al. New York: Tavistok Publication.
Meares, A. 1974. The New Woman: Woman at The Crossroads of Social and Psychological Evolution. London: Fontana Books
States, B.O. 1980. The Persistence of the Archetype. Critical Inquiry 7(2): 333-334 (atas talian) http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343131 [19 August 2008]

Comparative Literature - A Comparative Critical Essay

2009-03-02T20:03:00.001+08:00

Comparative literature, the combined study of similar literary works written in different languages, which stresses the points of connection between literary products of two or more cultures, as distinct from the sometimes narrow and exclusive perspective of English Literature or similar approaches based on one national canon. Advocates of comparative literature maintain that there is, despite the obvious disadvantages, much to be gained from studying literary works in translation.

The various scopes of comparative literature are further complicated by its concerns. The French School, as often pointed out, is primarily concerned with “modes of transmission,” “reception, success and influence,” “sources,” “foreign travel,” and “the image of a country in the literature of another country,” etc. The American School, on the other hand, is mostly concerned with “analogies without contact,” or “typological affinities.” The different concerns have then made scholars focus their attention on various literary problems: themes or motifs, movements or schools, genres, stylistics, forms, techniques, traditions, and other literary “relations,” which in fact are part and parcel of literary theory or criticism. Yet all concerns and all focuses are governed by the aims of study.

The aim may tend towards one’s national literature as an “influential” literature or as a genetic headspring of other literatures. The aim may also tend towards an idea of “General Literature” or “World Literature,” though the two terms have raised very much controversy as to what they really mean and are still to be debated for their use. So both, the French and the American Schools of comparative literature, are similarly searching unity in variety, though the latter with its location in a continent of more cosmopolitan culture naturally tends more towards the idea of World Literature.

For better understanding on Comparative Literature, we will look at the first parameter – Influence, on the two versions of Cinderella’s tale which is ‘Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper’ by Perrault and ‘Cinderella’ by Dahl. Even though these two versions can be recognized or categorized as fairy tales which have been adapted from the archetypal tale of Cinderella, nevertheless, both are written in different ways and styles; both have their significant meaning and implication that contribute to the development of each tale. In other words, the two versions have some sort of similarities and differences.

Throughout the tale, readers would find that Cinderella’s character is obviously different from the archetypal character where Dahl’s character seems unrounded. Here, readers are exposed to Dahl’s skill at characterization. At the beginning of the tale, Dahl has successfully manipulated the language in portraying his character as being rude, demanding and selfish, but later, in the middle and at the end of the tale, after she found that the prince is too cruel and irresponsible for his action, she is portrayed as having the sense of self-realization. Instead of marrying the prince which is typically appears in most versions, Dahl’s character is married to a simple jem maker. Because of that, for sure, this would affect the readers as they would find that Dahl’s tale is unpredictable. In other words, Cinderella’ character more or less is different from the archetypal character of Cinderella which has been appeared in Perrault’s and many other versions.

Another interesting things to discuss is about Interdisciplinary in Literature. I would like to take examples from the novel and film “The Colour Purple”. With regards to the basic turns of the plot, the film is pretty faithful to the novel. However, when it comes to the complexities of the characters, the film sells the novel short. The film presents things in a very black and white manner, while the novel is all about the various shades of gray which exist in the relationships between the characters. For the book, the first person narrative related by Celie through a series of letters cuts straight to the heart. We’re brought directly into her thoughts as she experiences incredible hardship and, every once in a while, moments of supreme joy. The characters created by Alice Walker are so rich and deep that even those who do bad things are not simplified to the point where they can be called “villains.” For the film, first and foremost, the film has the absolutely stellar central performance by Whoopi Goldberg. It’s a soulful portrayal completely lacking in vanity; one of the very best ever captured on film. Hers is surrounded by a multitude of other great performances, namely from Margaret Avery and Oprah. Also of note is the film’s beautiful cinematography, particularly during the scene which inspires the title.

On the one hand, it’s refreshing to see a film that not only focuses on the experiences of people of color, but specifically on the experiences of women of color; but on the other hand, it’s also important to look at the framework within which these experiences are portrayed. The women in this film are portrayed in a way that is nothing but sympathetic, but these portrayals come at the expense of the male characters who are shown in one of two ways: bad and cruel, or good and stupid. The relationships between men and women in the film are universally portrayed as bad, in one way or another, and stripped of the intricacy with which they were granted in Walker’s novel. The relationships in the novel are not nearly so simplistic or cut and dried, even the abusive relationship between Celie and her husband, Mister.

The third parameter that i would like to share is about the theme. Theme can be vary from the story and can be same between two stories. We can see that from the two stories “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Death of Ivan Ilych”, both the stories share same theme – death. In the play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare the theme death is portrayed many times by the characters Marcutio, Romeo, and Juliet. The first instance of the theme death was in act 3 when Marcutio challenged Tybalt to a sword fight. "Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find a grave man."(Act three, scene 1, line 104.) Also as Marcutio is dying he says "Help me into some house, Benvolio, Or I shall Faint." (Act 3, scene 1, line 113.) Both these quotes show how Marcutio portrayed the theme death. Second, Romeo is the next to portray the theme death.

We can also see the theme of death in the novel "The Death of Ivan Ilych". Leo Tolstoy examines the life of a man, Ivan, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes what will become the major theme of the story: that the personal relationships we forge are more important in life than who we are or what we own.

This point of the story is indirectly brought out in the very beginning when Ivan's colleagues, and supposedly his friends, learn of his death. The narrator states in paragraph 5:
“So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych's death the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changesand promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances”.

Next, we will look at last parameter on Comparative Literature – Translation. Transalation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language. The text to be translated is called the "source text," and the language that it is to be translated into is called the "target language"; the final product is sometimes called the "target text."
Transferring of culture specific terms from one culture to another and understanding them by the target audience in the target culture is dependent on having familiarity with the source culture and traditions. Although more and more concepts are shared and understood between different cultures, there are still many culture specific terms and expressions which reflect the morals and values of a particular culture and have no true equivalent in the TL.

There are some examples from Khayyam's poem to show about translation in literary;
آنان که زپیش رفته اند ای ساقی
Those who have gone before us, oh saki
این کوزه چو من عاشق زاری بوده است
Like me this jug has been one a forlorn lover
گویند بهشت و حورعین خواهد بود
There will be a Paradise with lovely houris some say,
ازآمدنم نبود گردون را سود
My entrance has been of no benefit to this world,
گر ما می و معشوق گزیدیم چه باک
Why should it matter if we have chosen wine and woman?
ما لعبتکانیم و فلک لعبت باز
We are puppets, and the Heavenly Master is our puppeteer;
ساقي غم فرداي حريفان چه خوري پيش آر پياله را كه شب مي گذرد
And Lo! The phantom Caravan has reach’d The Nothing it set out from Oh, make haste!

(Translated By Edward J. Fitzgerald)

Fitzgerald's translation is interesting because it seems to have lost almost every connection with its Persian source in the process of its appropriation, and one wonders how English readers could appreciate it as non-English, oriental poetry, and what would happen if they were better informed of what Khayyam presented in his quatrains. The eastern literature translated into western languages has somewhat been shaped differently. It might be done intentionally or unintentionally. The equivalences such as woman, Heavenly Master, jug, lovely houris, world, and Lo are not the total and real equivalents for the terms of معشوق, فلک , کوزه, حورعین, گردون, and .ساقیIn fact these are some words that are rooted in culture and religion of eastern life or especially Iranians culture. In other words these are culture specific terms and need strategies for transferring from one language to another having two different cultures in order to be understood by target audiences.

For my conclusion, no matter what scope, concern, focus, or aim we may have, comparative literature, as its name suggests, cannot but take literature as its main object of study and cannot do without the comparative method. We may choose to compare two authors or two works or even only parts of two works, two literary schools or movements, two versions of translation or two pieces of criticism. We may concern ourself with a special genre, style, form, theme, motif, tradition, or any other topic. We may also study literature in connection with another art, with sociology, anthropology, psychoanalysis, linguistics, religion, philology, or with any other branch of human expression. We may cross the frontier of clan, nation, continent, or hemisphere; and we may also cross the boundary of one period, one dynasty, one age, one century or one bigger section of time in comparing literary works.

Poem ‘Talking to Myself’ By Kishwar Naheed (Personal Reviews)

2008-11-05T20:26:00.001+08:00

Kishwar Naheed is one of the best known Urdu feminist poets of Pakistan. She was born in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India in 1940. Her family moved to Lahore in Pakistan during the the sub-continent of 1947. Kishwar had witnessed violence (including rape and abduction of women) associated with partition. She has published six collections of poems between 1969 and 1990. All her texts are about to redefine the man and woman relationship in the context of female sexuality, politics and social issues.

The poem ‘Talking to Myself’ is about a feeling and dream of a woman who wants to be free. She has a desire to go beyond what the man and this world expected from a woman. In the poem, the persona gives pictures to the readers about pain, misery and oppression that she faced from a person called man. But the most important, this poem purposely gives a sarcastic expression of what tortured and oppressed woman’s feel towards a man. It is based on what the man have done to her. It also tells that the persona can do more than the man expects because she can fight against all bad things that happen to her before and this will give bad effect to the man’s pride.

Since we focus on the usage of symbolism in this anthology, we discover this element in the poem through the word ‘Punish’. From our point of view, the word ‘punish’ symbolizes the whole feeling of the persona. It indicates the oppression and misery experienced by the persona. Besides, the word ‘punish’ has been repeated 10 times and for us, this shows that the word is very important to convey her dream and desire within her inner feeling. So each time the word ‘punish’ appear in this poem, it will be followed by the expression of the persona’s feeling, which can be good evidence as the word symbolizes oppression and misery.

After several times analyzing this poem, we have found out that the element of symbolism is useful in creating the theme. From our point of view, this poem’s theme is the expression, hope and dream of a depressed woman to seek for freedom in the patriarchal society. When we relate the symbolism element to this theme, it really does make sense. The word ‘Punish’ symbolizes oppression and misery that definitely related to the theme. This patriarchal culture context clearly explains that the symbolism and the theme is getting along together in order to convey the internal messages. The poet, Kishwar uses the symbolism element to strengthen the theme. From our opinion, the sarcastic style in this poem by using symbolization ‘Punish’ has succeed to show the theme of internal painful feeling of a woman.

Personal Reviews By; Muhamad Hafizul (National University of Malaysia - UKM)

Poem "My Mother" By Mahmoud Darwish (Personal Reviews)

2008-11-05T20:09:00.002+08:00

“My Mother”, another powerful and meaningful poem from Mahmoud Darwish. He was considered to be the most important contemporary Arab poet working today. He was born in 1942 in the village of Barweh in the Galilee, which was razed to the ground by the Israelis in 1948. As a result of his politi-cal activism he faced house arrest and imprisonment. Darwish was the editor of Ittihad Newspaper before leaving in 1971 to study for a year in the USSR. His poems are known throughout the Arab world, and several of them have been put to music. His poetry has gained great sophistication over the years, and has enjoyed international fame for a long time. He has published around 30 poetry and prose collections, which have been translated into 35 languages. He is the editor in chief and founder of the prestigious literary review Al Karmel, which has resumed publication in January 1997 out of the Sakakini Centre offices. He published in 1998 the poetry collection: Sareer el Ghariba (Bed of the Stranger), his first collection of love poems. In 2000 he published Jidariyya (Mural) a book consisting of one poem about his near death experience in 1997.

Mahmoud Darwish, poem “My Mother” shows mother as symbolism in someone’s life. Mothers tend to relate to our emotional concern for both ourselves and for the people around us. As far as yourself is concerned the mother maybe symbolises your wishes for reassurance, your own worries and concerns about the way your life is going. The mother may symbolise your own wish to take a cautious and safe approach and not wanting to make hasty decisions(a wish not to be pressured). The mother can also symbolise our behavior towards others.

I long for my mother's bread
My mother's coffee
Her touch
Childhood memories grow up in me
Day after day
I must be worth my life
At the hour of my death
Worth the tears of my mother.

Obviously mothers play an important role in our lives. They try to influence us and persuade us to do what they want. In many cases the appearance of a mother in a dream is literal and links to there involvement in the dreams issue. But in many other cases mothers play a symbolic role and link to our own need to show concern for others in a motherly way. They also link to our need to have others show concern for us or for us recognising that we are feeling upset.

And if I come back one day
Take me as a veil to your eyelashes
Cover my bones with the grass
Blessed by your footsteps
Bind us together
With a lock of your hair
With a thread that trails from the back of your dress
I might become immortal
Become a God
If I touch the depths of your heart.
Often the mother appears as a symbol of our own need for reassurance or support in some issue within your current life. Life is complex and a mothers appearance is to help us navigate our way through complicated decisions and emotions. Often mothers symbolise our need to take a cautious and safe approach. It symbolises moments when we are taking time over decisions and doing the right thing. For example :
If I come back
Use me as wood to feed your fire
As the clothesline on the roof of your house
Without your blessing
I am too weak to stand.

Mothers can symbolise situations where we feel secure and happy. The dream may relate to feelings that this security is under threat or that you wish for such a security. Mothers can also be symbols for a need for closure. They are saying that enough is enough. They recognize that some direction we are moving in is not right and we need to just accept things. Often we will not accept that a relationship is over and the appearance of a mother maybe shows that we are beginning to accept the need to bring an end to a disastrous relationship. It does not give us any good emotionally. For instance:

I am old
Give me back the star maps of childhood
So that I
Along with the swallows
Can chart the path
Back to your waiting nest.

Most of all, mother’s symbolism in this poem brings the central theme about love between son and his mother.

Personal Reviews By ; Mohd Adi Hafiz Bin Mohd Johari (National University of Malaysia - UKM)

Katherine Mansfield Biography (1888 - 1923)

2008-11-03T18:11:00.002+08:00

New Zealand's most famous writer, who was closely associated with D.H. Lawrence and something of a rival of Virginia Woolf. Mansfield's creative years were burdened with loneliness, illness, jealousy, alienation - all this reflected in her work with the bitter depiction of marital and family relationships of her middle-class characters. Her short stories are also notable for their use of stream of consciousness. Like the Russian writer Anton Chekhov, Mansfield depicted trivial events and subtle changes in human behavior.

"Henry was a great fellow for books. He did not read many nor did he possess above half a dozen. He looked at all in the Charing Cross Road during lunch-time and at any odd time in London; the quantity with which he was on nodding terms was amazing. By his clean neat handling of them and by his nice choice of phrase when discussing them with one or another bookseller you would have thought that he had taken his pap with a tome propped before his nurse's bosom. But you would have been wrong." (from 'Something Childish But Very Natural')

Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington, New Zealand, into a middle-class colonial family. Her father, Harold Beauchamp, was a banker and her mother, Annie Burnell Dyer, was of genteel origins. She lived for six years in the rural village of Karori. Later on Mansfield said "I imagine I was always writing. Twaddle it was, too. But better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all." At the age of nine she had her first text published. As a first step to her rebellion against her background, she withdrew to London in 1903 and studied at Queen's College, where she joined the staff of the College Magazine. Back in New Zealand in 1906, she then took up music, and had affairs with both men and women. Her father denied her the opportunity to become a professional cello player - she was an accomplished violoncellist. In 1908 she studied typing and bookkeeping at Wellington Technical College. Her lifelong friend Ida Baker (L.M., Leslie Moore in her diary and correspondence) persuaded Mansfield's father to allow Katherine to move back to England, with an allowance of £100 a year. There she devoted herself to writing. Mansfield never visited New Zealand again.

After an unhappy marriage in 1909 to George Brown, whom she left a few days after the wedding, Mansfield toured for a while as an extra in opera. Before the marriage she had an affair with Garnett Trowell, a musician, and became pregnant. In Bavaria, where Mansfield spent some time, she suffered a miscarriage. During her stay in Germany she wrote satirical sketches of German characters, which were published in 1911 under the title In a German Pension. Earlier her stories had appeared in The New Age. On her return to London in 1910, Mansfield became ill with an untreated sexually transmitted disease, a condition which contributed to her weak health for the rest of her life. She attended literary parties without much enthusiasm: "Pretty rooms and pretty people, pretty coffee, and cigarettes out of a silver tankard... I was wretched."

In 1911 Mansfield met John Middleton Murray, a Socialist and former literary critic, who was first a tenant in her flat, then her lover. Mansfield co-edited and contributed to a series of journals. Until 1914 she published stories in Rhythm and The Blue Review. During the war she travelled restlessly between England and France. In 1915 she met her brother "Chummie". When he died in World War I, Mansfield focused her writing on New Zealand and her family. 'Prelude' (1916), one of her most famous stories, was written during this period. In 1918 Mansfield divorced her first husband and married John Murray. In the same year she was found to have tuberculosis.

Mansfied and Murray became closely associated with D.H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda. When Murray had an affair with the Princess Bibesco (née Asquith), Mansfield objected not to the affair but to her letters to Murray: "I am afraid you must stop writing these love letters to my husband while he and I live together. It is one of the things which is not done in our world." (from a letter to Princess Bibesco, 1921)

In her last years Mansfield lived much of her time in southern France and in Switzerland, seeking relief from tuberculosis. As a part of her treatment in 1922 at an institute, Mansfield had to spend a few hours every day on a platform suspended over a cow manger. She breathed odors emanating from below but the treatment did no good. Without the company of her literary friends, family, or her husband, she wrote much about her own roots and her childhood. Mansfield died of a pulmonary hemorrhage on January 9, 1923, in Gurdjieff Institute, near Fontainebleau, France. Her last words were: "I love the rain. I want the feeling of it on my face."
Mansfield's family memoirs were collected in Bliss (1920), which secured her reputation as a writer.

In the next two years she did her best work, the peak of her achievement being the Garden Party (1922), which she wrote during the final stages of her illness. Only three volumes of Mansfield's stories were published during her lifetime. 'Miss Brill' was about a woman who enjoys the beginning of the Season. She goes to her "special" seat with her fur. She had taken it out of its box in the afternoon, shaken off the moth-powder, and given it a brush. She feels that she has a part in the play in the park, and somebody will notice if she isn't there. A couple sits near her. The girl laughs at her fur and the man says: "Why does she come here at all - who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly old mug at home?" Miss Brill hurries back home, unclasps the neckpiece quickly, and puts it in the box. "But when she put the lid on she thought she heard something crying." In 'The Garden Party' (1921) an extravagant garden-party is arranged on a beautiful day. Laura, the daughter of the party's hostess, hears of the accidental death of a young local working-class man, Mr. Scott. The man lived in the neighborhood. Laura wants to cancel the party, but her mother refuses to understand. She fills a basket with sandwiches, cakes, pastries and other food, goes to the widow's house, and sees the dead man in the bedroom where he is lying. "He was wonderful, beautiful. While they were laughing and while the band was playing, this marvel had come to the lane." Crying she tells her brother who is looking for her: "'It was simply marvellous. But, Laurie - ' She stopped, she looked at her brother. 'Isn't life,' she stammered, 'isn't life - ' But what life was she couldn't explain. No matter. He quite understood."

Mansfield was greatly influenced by Anton Chekhov, sharing his warm humanity and attention to small details of human behavior. Her influence on the development of the short story as a form of literature was also notable. Among her literary friends were Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf, who considered her overpraised, and D.H. Lawrence, who later turned against Murray and her. Mansfield's journal, letters, and scrapbook were edited by her husband.

For further reading:

The Autobiography of John Middleton Murry by J.M. Murry (1936);

Katherine Mansfield by S. Daly (1965);

The Fiction of Katherine Mansfield by M. Magalanr (1971);

Life of Katherine Mansfield by R.E. Mantz (1974);

Katherine Mansfield: A Biography by Jeffrey Meyers (1978);

The Life of Katherine Mansfield by A. Alpers (1980);

Katherine Mansfield by C. Hanson and A. Gurr (1981);

A Bibliography of Katherine Mansfield by B.J. Kirkpatrick (1990);

Katherine Mansfield by Jane Phillimore (1990);

Katherine Mansfield: A Study of Her Shorter Fiction by J.F. Kobler (1990);

Critical Essays on Katherine Mansfield, ed. by L Rhoda B. Nathan (1993);

Katherine Mansfield's Fiction by Patrick D. Morrow (1993);

Illness, Gender, and Writing by Mary Burgan (1994);

Katherine Mansfield by Saralyn R. Daly (1994);

Radical Mansfield : Double Discourse in Katherine Mansfield's Short Stories by Pamela Dunbar (1997);

The Critical Response to Katherine Mansfield, ed. by Jan Pilditch (1995);

Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf by Angela Smith (1999);

Katherine Mansfield: A Literary Life by Angela Smith (2000) - John Middleton Murry (1889-1957)

Selected bibliography:

• In a German Pension, 1911
• Prelude, 1918 - niminovelli suomennettu valikoimassa Preludi (1953)
• Bliss, and Other Stories, 1920
• Garden Party, and Other Stories, 1922 - includes the stories 'Prelude' and 'Je ne parle pas francais' - niminovelli suomennettu valikoimassa Puutarhakutsut (1963)
• Poems, 1923
• The Dove's Nest, and Other Stories, 1923
• Something Childish, and Other Stories, 1924
• The Journal of Katherine Mansfield, 1927 (ed. by J.M. Murry)
• The Letters of Katherine Mansfield, 2 vols., 1928-1929 (ed. by J.M. Murry)
• The Aloe, 1930
• Stories by Katherine Mansfield, 1930
• Novels and Novelists, 1930
• The Scrapbook of Katherine Mansfield, 1939
• Collected Stories, 1945
• Katherine Mansfield's Letters to J. Middleton Murry, 1951
• Journal of Katherine Mansfield, Definitive Edition, 1954
• The Critical Writings of Katherine Mansfield, 1987
• The Collected Letters of Catherine Mansfield: 1918-1919, 1987
• The Collected Letters of Catherine Mansfield: 1920-1921, 1996 (vol. 4)
• The Garden Party: The Collected Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield (vol. 2), 2000
• The Dove's Nest: The Collected Short Stories of Katherine Mansfield (vol. 3), 2000

Short Story "Miss Brill" By Katherine Mansfield (Personal Review)

2008-11-03T18:02:00.003+08:00

‘Miss Brill’ is a short story written by Katherine Mansfield (1888-1923) - Pseudonym of Kathleen Murry, where by her original name is Kathleen Mansfield Beauchamp. She was born in Wellington, New Zealand, into a middle-class colonial family. Her father, Harold Beauchamp, was a banker and her mother, Annie Burnell Dyer, was of genteel origins. She lived for six years in the rural village of Karori. Later on, Mansfield said "I imagine I was always writing. Twaddle it was, too. But, better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all." At the age of nine, she had her first text published. Later on, she was well-known as the New Zealand's most famous writer and was closely associated with D.H. Lawrence and something of a rival of Virginia Woolf. Mansfield's creative years were burdened with loneliness, illness, jealousy and alienation. Therefore, what comes to my mind that all these have reflected in her work with the bitter depiction of marital and family relationships of her middle-class characters especially in this short story called ‘Miss Brill’.

Why on earth that Katherine Mansfield would like to entitle the story as ‘Miss Brill’? Not as ‘Madam Brill’ or something else? As for us, we got our own thinking on that and our answer is so easy. In our opinion, Mansfield here possibly wanted to tell the readers by using the word ‘Miss’ that the main character in her short story had never been married. This factor likely contributed to the short story ‘Miss Brill’, which is a story of an elderly woman, who is lonely and becomes entangled with observing others lives to amuse herself. The story is so completely the language Miss Brill uses to describe her world, which we would like to consider that it is left difficult to discuss. In fact, the inclination is to just quote the brilliantly written sentences. The protagonist, on the other hand, who is Miss Brill herself, is not brilliant at all. Miss Brill is the audience to a ‘play’ pretending like she is starring in it, when really she is barely one of the most insignificant roles. “No doubt somebody would have noticed if she hadn’t been there”. She views the entire park as a stage and herself an actress. This method of looking at things seems to give Miss Brill a sense of being needed or wanted. She actually looks down on the other people at the park as if they were less than what she is. While looking at the different people in the park, Miss Brill overhears a conversation where a couple is talking about her and how funny she and the fur look. The man in the couple says: “Why does she come here at all, who wants her? Why doesn't she keep her silly mug at home?" "It's her fu-fur which is so funny". At this point in the story, Miss Brill is finally forced to realize who she is and what others think of her. When the girl in the park refers to the fur as a fried whiting it hurts Miss Brill so much because it is almost as if she is referring to her as that. She learns who she is and finally begins to understand how truly isolated she is.

Our reading of this short story gives us a strong feeling that the writer is trying to present the importance of not forgetting in taking care of the elderly. Frankly speaking, we feel that our nation has neglects the elderly. The best example can be seen when the older generation is often left to live in nursing homes or remain in their own homes with no loved ones around. This has the potential to make a person feel that he/she would like to shut out all of reality. For us, this short story is a very good one to further explain in details about that. This is because, this short story is also about an older woman who doesn't have any people around her that love her. And because of this isolation, we can see clearly how she makes things up in her mind to compensate. A person who doesn't have any significant others in his/her life, may create an alternate reality to make up for what they don't have. If Miss Brill realizes that what she believes isn't reality, she can become broken and emotionally devastated. Through the theme of the story that is connected with one of the literary devices such symbolism, Mansfield is able to easily and clearly show how this happens to Miss Brill.

First of all, it is really important to highlight here that the theme of the story is about loneliness. Loneliness is a painful feeling that no one in this world can bear. Some try to overcome that feeling, and others try to find ways to escape from it. There are, for instance, many ways to escape from loneliness, such as escaping it by running away, trying to fit in a big crowd or by the popular method of suicide. In this short story, the writer utilized the theme by explaining about the loneliness that Miss Brill had to go through and how Miss Brill tries to escape from her loneliness by integrating herself into other people’s lives. Her fantasy of being part of a big crowd, her attention towards the physical appearance of others and the symbolic meaning of the fur clearly indicates her attempt to escape loneliness through integrating herself into other people’s lives. Miss Brill fantasizing of being part of a big crowd is definitely the key element to help her integrate into other’s lives.

“Oh, how fascinating it was! How she enjoyed it! How she loved sitting here, watching it all! It was like a play”. During the entire time at the garden, she describes everyone’s physical appearance. It keeps her mind busy thinking about their physical appearance, and consequently, loneliness will not flow in her mind. She is integrating into other’s lives by looking at their physical appearance. She is not wanted at the Garden, and no one cares for her existence. “Even she had a part and came every Sunday. This is shown through her fantasy of fitting in a crowd, her concentration to how others looked and the symbolism of the fur. In other words, living other peoples’ lives can make her happier, forgetting about loneliness. She asks that question to herself because she knows what is going on inside her. When it came out of the box, Miss Brill “rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes,” the fur comes to life when it comes out of the box, just like Miss Brill comes to life when she goes to the Garden. “She even knows what goes on every Sunday at the Garden, like who’s here at the same place last time and who wasn’t, and she can tell a story about nearly all of them. And when she goes home, she thinks she hears the fur crying inside the box. ” She enjoyed it so much from watching all this. Looking at how others looked is a way for her to escape loneliness.

A symbol is simply something that means more than what it is. It has a different, abstract meaning apart from its literal significance. It can be an object, a person, a situation, an action, or any other thing presented in a story. A symbol of how Miss Brill feels about herself. The narrator describes how Miss Brill hasn't taken the fur out of the box in a long time and she had "shaken out the moth powder, given it a good brush, and rubbed the life back into the dim little eyes ". It is actually just like saying that she has been put in a box and the lid has been closed, just like the box that the fur has been placed in. for example, Miss Brill wants her life to be more exciting. So, she imagines that the scene in the garden is really a huge play and that she is an actress. The fur only comes out of its box on Sundays and Miss Brill spends a lot of time making sure that it looks perfect. Therefore, the connection is now drawn between the two as both being old and having been stored away for a long time. She views the fur as a beautiful possession, when actually it has become worn down and is coming apart. Miss Brill is an old lady who doesn't have anyone around her that loves her or thinks anything of her. Miss Brill even goes on to imagine the fur asking: "What has been happening to me?” This action symbolizes how she wonders what has happened to herself. She has become old and broken. The couple that she hears in the park exemplifies this by making fun of her fur which in turn means that they have been mocking her. The fur that she owns is, in a sense, is actually representing her. To avoid this realization, she must keep on believing that the fur is beautiful. But, later on, after her encounter with the couple, she begins to grasp reality and, in despair, hurries home not even stopping at the bakery where she always stops. She gets home and sits there for a while with the fur and as she begins to put it away, she hears a crying. When she puts the fur away it is noted that she doesn't look at it. This definitely contrasts to how she acted towards it at the beginning. She now realizes that she is neither beautiful nor young and by putting the fur away she puts these beliefs behind. The crying that Miss Brill hears comes from her own heart because she has just been crushed by the realization that she has been compelled to make at the park. By using a limited omniscient narrator to tell the story, the reader gets a clear sense of how a person can perceive life differently to help them cope with their age and loneliness.

Another way that the author supports the theme is her description of the woman in the ermine toque. This character is used as a symbol of Miss Brill. The narrator shares the details of the woman by saying: "she was wearing the ermine toque she'd bought when her hair was yellow". Obviously, this is to create a tie between her and Miss Brill as both being old. It can also be deduced that the two are similar by comparing the fact that the woman is wearing an ermine toque which is a fur, similar to Miss Brill wearing her fur. Both these connections lay the groundwork for what the author intends to be the main theme of the woman in the ermine toque. Miss Brill watches an incident happen to the woman where she flirts with a tall distinguished man, who stands there while she talks and then abruptly leaves, showing his disregard for her by blowing a puff of smoke in her face. This is also like telling Miss Brill of how she was rejected by society. The couple that Miss Brill overhears making fun of her is a perfect example of this. All of these points are carefully created to subtly teach the reader about Miss Brill and the effects of rejection. People are sometimes forced to create a distorted view of reality to avoid the pain of rejection. Miss Brill, however, was eventually not able to sustain this image.
To conclude, the value of having moralities is also portrayed throughout this story. The story of Miss Brill shows what can happen if someone is not happy with one's personal reality and instead creates one's own world to counterbalance. In the case of Miss Brill, she has no one to love of to care for her. Therefore, she can just imagines that she is an actress, not allowing herself to see that she is old and alone. This causes her to be devastated when she does realize that she is not a young and beautiful actress. The author might be trying to make a point using Miss Brill as an example. Throughout the story, readers are able to understand the loneliness that Miss Brill feels which makes it easier to understand why she lives her life in denial. Maybe, we as a society may need to revaluate our priorities and start taking better care of our elderly.

Reviewed By ; Nor Rulmaisura Mohamad (National University of Malaysia - UKM)

Arabic Poem "Oblivion" By Ibrahim Naji

2008-10-27T17:08:00.000+08:00

At last the cure, I bid farewell to pain,
and welcome with a smile the days to come.
Oblivion comes to me a kingly guest,
with hands compassionate and blessed steps.

My guest comes strongly on,
folding the distances, the dark unknown.
Proffering a cup that takes away
old pain, and banishes all regrets.
So drain it to the dregs and have no fear-
For long you have suffered, your thirst your only drink.
Oblivion now envelops me, and I
thank God for its overwhelming flood,
Surrendering to the waves which engulf me,
happy to embrace a void without memories.

Arabic Poem "The Burning Flute" By Ibrahim Naji

2008-10-27T17:06:00.000+08:00

How many times my love
as the night covers the earth
I wander alone, and in the dark
no one complains but me.
I make the tears a tune
and I make the potery a flute
And would a wreck responds
that I inflamed in my ardent love.

Fire stirs in it
and the wind blows away the rest.
How miserable is the flute between
destiny and between fates
He sings and sadly sings
returning my complaints.
Sympathetic from our kept secrets
on the love of innermost secrets
Until a shadow appears.
I have known him in my youth
He comes close to me and he comes close
to the lips of my mouth
And suddenly my dream disapears
and my eyes wake up
And though I went listening and listening
I wasn't familiar but with the echo.

Arabic Poem "The Dream of Infatuation" By Ibrahim Naji

2008-10-27T17:05:00.000+08:00

No love but Wherever held a place and I don't see
for me other than that a homeland and a location
My homeland all nights long is his home
As long and as far away he gets,my love is where he stays.
And when inhabited earth embrace us
its moments are populated daily.

No difference between her north and south
as they are bearing greeting to my heart
And they are pressing my knowledge and seldom
time preserves the custody of my heartbloods.
And if I cry, so I cry from the fear
That our infatuation is just a dream
And maybe the significance of our intention.So I cried out
from before we shed the tears from our distance.

Arabic Poem "Farewell" By Ibrahim Naji

2008-10-27T17:04:00.000+08:00

Leave me, my love, it's time to part
this paradise is not my portion.
I had to cross a bridge of flame whenever
I visited this land of bliss.
Yet I've been your life-long companion
since earliest youth and your tender years.
But now I come like a transient guest,
and go away like a bird of passage.

Has anyone drunken with love like us,
seen love like we have seen it ?
We built a thousand castles on our way,
Walked together on a moon-drenched road,
Where joy danced and leapt before us,
we gazed at the stars that fell, and we possessed them.
And we laughed like two children together,
ran and raced with our own shadows.
After this nectar's sweetness we awoke -
how I wished it had never been so !
Night's dreams had vanished, the night was ended
the night that used to be our friend.
The light of morning was an ominous herald ;
dawn loomed up like a wall of fire.

Arabic Poem "A Wild Cat" By Suad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah

2008-10-27T16:59:00.001+08:00

Your love lurks in my veins like a bandit
Commits arson, shatters lanterns
And skulks in the corners of my veins
Like a wild cat with sharp claws
Alert to hunt moths
To pounce on birds
And I lie awake at night waiting for it to come forth
From my blood.

You came with your conquering army, and caused an upheaval
That changed my life
You sequestered all my possessions
Bound me with chains of gold
And put me under house arrest
Within the limits of your eyes
You locked me in the cell of love
And took the keys away with you.

Arabic Poem "You Alone" By Suad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah

2008-10-27T16:57:00.000+08:00

You alone . . . control my history
And write your name on the first page
And on the third, and on the tenth,
And on the last.
You alone are allowed to sport with my days
From the first century of my birth
To the twenty-first century after love.
You alone can add to my days what you wish
And delete what you wish
My whole history flows from the palms of your hands
And pours into your palms.

Arabic Poem "Free Harbor" By Suad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah

2008-10-27T16:56:00.000+08:00

Many ships have asked for sanctuary
In the harbor of my eyes
I refused asylum to all of them
Your ships alone
Have the right to take refuge
In my territorial waters
Your ships alone
Have the right to sail in my blood
Without prior permission.

Arabic Poem "Mad Woman" By Suad Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah

2008-10-27T16:54:00.000+08:00

I am quite mad and you are wholly sane
From the mind's paradise I've sought to flee
You are all wise, yours are the summer months
So leave the winter's changing face for me.

I'm sick with love and I'm past any cure
Oppressed in body, that is woman's plight
My nerves are taut and should you only whisper
Into the empty air I would take flight.

I'm like small fish lost in the great ocean
When will you lift the siege ? You've hidden away
The key to unlock my house in your own pocket
And enter my life's details day by day.

O love, my passion whirls me dizzily
Gather my scattered soul whose fragments fly
For you are standing at the frozen pole
And I beneath an equatorial sky.

O love, I stand against the ten commandments
History behind is only blood and sand
To love I owe allegiance. Lemon trees
Within your breast my only native land.

Arabic Poem "Shade And Noon Sun" By Muhammad Al-Maghut

2008-10-27T16:53:00.000+08:00

All the fields of the world
At odds with two small lips
All the streets of history
At odds with two bare feet.

Love,
They travel and we wait
They have gallows
We have necks
They have pearls
And we have freckles and moles
They own the night, the dawn, the afternoon sun and the day
And we own skin and bones.

We plant under the nooday sun,
And they eat in the shade
Their teeth are white as rice
Our teeth dark as desolate forests,
Their breasts are soft as silk
Our breasts dusty as execution squares
And yet, we are the kings of the world:
Their homes are buried in bills and accounts
Our homes are buried in autumn leaves
In their pockets they carry the addresses
of thieves and traitors
In ours we carry the addresses
of rivers and thunderstorms.
They own windows
We own the winds
They own the ships
We own the waves
They own the medals
We own the mud
They own the walls and balconies
We own the ropes and the daggers.

And now beloved
Come, let us sleep on the pavements.

Arabic Poem "From the Doorstep to Heaven" By Muhammad Al-Maghut

2008-10-27T16:50:00.000+08:00

Now,
With the sad rain
Drenching my sad face,
I dream of a ladder of dust,
Collected from hunched backs
And hands clinging onto knees,
To mount to highest heaven

And discover
What becomes of our prayers and sighs.
O my beloved,
All the prayers and sighs,
All the laments and cries for help,
Springing from
Millions of lips and hearts,
Through thousands of years and centuries,
Must be gathered somewhere in heaven,
Like clouds.
And maybe
These words of mine
Are now close to those of Jesus.
So let us await the tears of heaven,
O beloved.

Arabic Poem "To Two Unknown Eyes" By Muhammad Al-Fayturi

2008-10-27T16:48:00.000+08:00

Mistress...
Should these enamored words chance to meet your eyes
Or pass between your lips
The forgive me; it was your eyes
In whose shade one evening I leaned resting
And snatched brief slumber
In their repose I caressed the stars and moon
I wove a boat of fancy out of petals
And laid down my tired soul
Gave to drink my thirsty lip
Quenched my eye's desire.

Mistress...
When we met by chance as strangers meet
My sorrow too was walking on the road
Bare, unveiled
With heavy tread
You were my sorrow.
Sadness and loss
Silence and regret
Were embracing a poet consumed by struggle.
For poetry, mistress, is a stranger in my land
Killed by emptiness and void
My spirit trembled saw you
I felt suddenly as if a dagger delved into my blood
Cleanse my heart, my mouth
Prostrated me with soiled brow and supplicating hands
In the shade of your sweet eyes.

Mistress...
If suddenly we meet
If my eyes see those your eyes
High-set, green, drowned in mist and rain
If on the road by another chance we meet
And what is chance but fate?
Then would I kiss the road, kiss it twice.

Arabic Poem "Mailman" By Buland Al-Haidari

2008-10-27T16:30:00.000+08:00

O mailman,
What is your desire of me?
I am far removed from the world,
Surely you are mistaken,
For the earth holds nothing new
For this outcast.
What was,
Still is, as it was before.
It dreams,
It buries,
And tries to regain.

People still have their festivals,
And mourning connects one festival with the next.
Their eyes dig in the graveyard of their minds
Looking for some new glory
To quiet some new hunger.
China still has its wall,
A legend once effaced brought back by time.
The earth still has its Sisyphus,
And a rock that does not know
It desires.

O mailman,
surely you are mistaken,
For there is nothing new ...
Return along the path whence you came,
The path that so often brings you.
What is your desire of me?

Arabic Poem "Old Age" By Buland Al-Haidari

2008-10-27T16:26:00.000+08:00

Another winter,
And here am I,
By the side of the stove,
that a woman might dream of me,
That I might bury in her breast
A secret she would not mock;
Dreaming that in my fading years
I might spring forth as light,
And she would say:
This light is mine;
Let no woman draw near it.

Here,
By the side of the stove,
Another winter,
And here Am I,
Spinning my dreams and fearing them,
Afraid her eyes would mock
My bald, idiotic head,
My greying, aged soul,
Afraid her feet would kick
My love,
And here, by the side of the stove,
I would be lightly mocked by a woman.

Alone,
Without love, or dreams, or a woman,
And tomorrow I shall die of the cold within,
Here, by the side of the stove.

Arabic Poem "The Pigeons Fly" By Mahmoud Darwish

2008-10-27T02:07:00.000+08:00

The pigeons fly,

the pigeons come down...

Prepare a place for me to rest.
I love you unto weariness,
your morning is fruit for songs
and this evening is precious gold
the shadows are strong as marble.

When I see myself,
it is hanging upon a neck that embraces only the clouds,
you are the air that undresses in front of me like tears of the grape,
you are the beginning of the family of waves held by the shore.
I love you, you are the beginning of my soul, and you are the end...
the pigeons fly
the pigeons come down...

I am for my lover I am. And my lover is for his wandering star
Sleep my love
on you my hair braids, peace be with you...
the pigeons fly
the pigeons come down...

Oh, my love, where are you taking me away from my parents,
from my trees, small bed and from my weariness,
from my visions, from my light, from my memories and pleasant evenings,
from my dress and my shyness,
where are you taking me my love, where?
You take me, set me on fire, and then leave me
in the vain path of the air
that is a sin ... that is a sin...
the pigeons fly
the pigeons come down...

My love, I fear the silence of your hands.
Scratch my blood so the horse can sleep.
My love, female birds fly to you
take me as a wife and breathe.
My love I will stay and breasts will grow for you
The guards take me out of your way
my love, I will cry upon you, upon you, upon you.
because you are die surface of my sky.
My body is the land,
the place for you...
the pigeons fly
the pigeons come down...

Arabic Poem "Pride and Fury" By Mahmoud Darwish

2008-10-27T02:05:00.000+08:00

O Homeland! O Eagle,
Plunging, through the bars of my cell,
Your fiery beak in my eyes!
All I possess in the presence of death
Is pride and fury.
I have willed that my heart be planted as a tree,
That my forehead become an abode for skylarks.

O eagle,
I am unworthy of your lofty wing,
I prefer a crown of flame.
O homeland!
We were born and raised in your wound,
And ate the fruit of your trees,
To witness the birth of your daybreak.
O eagle unjustly languishing in chains,
O legendary death which once was sought,
Your fiery beak is still plunged in my eye.

Arabic Poem "Passport" By Mahmoud Darwish

2008-10-27T02:04:00.000+08:00

They did not recognize me in the shadows
That suck away my color in this Passport
And to them my wound was an exhibit
For a tourist Who loves to collect photographs
They did not recognize me,
Ah . . . Don't leave
The palm of my hand without the sun
Because the trees recognize me
All the songs of the rain recognize me
Dont' leave me pale like the moon!

All the birds that followed my palm
To the door of the distant airport
All the wheatfields
All the prisons
All the white tombstones
All the barbed boundaries
All the waving handkerchiefs
All the eyes
were with me,
But they dropped them from my passport

Stripped of my name and identity?
On a soil I nourished with my own hands?
Today Job cried out
Filling the sky:
Don't make an example of me again!
Oh, gentlemen, Prophets,
Don't ask the trees for their names
Don't ask the valleys who their mother is
From my forehead bursts the sword of light
And from my hand springs the water of the river
All the hearts of the people are my identity
So take away my passport!

Arabic Poem "Psalm 9" By Mahmoud Darwish

2008-10-27T02:01:00.000+08:00

O rose beyond the reach of time and of the senses
O kiss enveloped in the scarves of all the winds
surprise me with one dream
that my madness will recoil from you.

Recoiling from you
In order to approach you
I discovered time.

Approaching you
in order to recoil from you
I discovered my senses.

Between approach and recoil
there is a stone the size of a dream
It does not approach
It does not recoil.

You are my country
A stone is not what I am
therefore I do not like to face the sky
nor do I die level with the ground
but I am a stranger, always a stranger.

Arabic Poem "Diary of a Palestinian Wound" By Mahmoud Darwish

2008-10-27T02:00:00.000+08:00

We do not need to be reminded:
Mount Carmel is in us
and on our eyelashes the grass of Galilee.
Do not say: If we could run to her like a river.
Do not say it:
We and our country are one flesh and bone.

Before June we were not fledgeling doves
so our love did not wither in bondage.
Sister, these twenty years
our work was not to write poems
but to be fighting.

The shadow that descends over your eyes
-demon of a God
who came out of the month of June
to wrap around our heads the sun-
his color is martyrdom
the taste of prayer.
How well he kills, how well he resurrects!

The night that began in your eyes-
in my soul it was a long night's end:
Here and now we keep company
on the road of our return
from the age of drought.

And we came to know what makes the voice of the nightingale
a dagger shining in the face of the invaders.
We came to know what makes the silence of the graveyard
a festival...orchards of life.

You sang your poems, I saw the balconies
desert their walls
the city square extending to the midriff of the mountain:
It was not music we heard.
It was not the color of words we saw:
A million heroes were in the room.

This land absorbs the skins of martyrs.
This land promises wheat and stars.
Worship it!
We are its salt and its water.
We are its wound, but a wound that fights.

Sister, there are tears in my throat
and there is fire in my eyes:
I am free.
No more shall I protest at the Sultan's Gate.
All who have died, all who shall die at the Gate of Day
have embraced me, have made of me a weapon.

Ah my intractable wound!
My country is not a suitcase
I am not a traveler
I am the lover and the land is the beloved.

The archaeologist is busy analyzing stones.
In the rubble of legends he searches for his own eyes
to show
that I am a sightless vagrant on the road
with not one letter in civilization's alphabet.
Meanwhile in my own time I plant my trees.
I sing of my love.

It is time for me to exchange the word for the deed
Time to prove my love for the land and for the nightingale:
For in this age the weapon devours the guitar
And in the mirror I have been fading more and more
Since at my back a tree began to grow.