Wife

If I had to come up with two words to describe this short story, "A Wife for My Son", they would be: depressing and confusing. The entire story is a description of the hours before and the past of Fatiha's "imprisonment" of being married. Ghalem tells of how Fatiha is trapped: "Myriem wanted to bring her friend into the dance, but Fatiha remained still, her hands and feet bound in cloth, a prisoner of tradition." (p. 56) Fatiha also has two flashbacks. One is a conversation with her friend Myriem, who asks her why she is so unhappy. The conversation ultimately leads up to the two talking about how Myriem's brother's wife is silently pushed around, caring for the house and the children, which upsets Fatiha, as she doesn't want her future to be like that one. The second flashback is the sad, sad day on which Fatiha's engagement was announced. This day is also the day Madame Suissi tried to convince Fatiha's father to allow the girl to pursue a career as a teacher. Mr. Kaddour, obsessed with tradition, turned her down immediately, insisting that women are only allowed careers or schooling in "European" culture, which he despises.

I think the title "A Wife for My Son" does have a legitimate reason behind it. I guess it's a sort of cruel humor type of joke. It's about how the parents, unknown to their children, can so easily think, "Hey--that girl's pretty good-looking, and she seems nice. I'll go ask her mother if the girl can marry my son!" (As shown near the end of the short story when Yamina's future is being discussed between her mother and a cousin.) They nonchalantly go looking for... a wife for her son.

-Peyton

P.S. I said I thought the short story was confusing. This is why: There were so many characters brought into the plot so quickly, and I never had a clear picture of who was talking to whom, so the entire short story was muddy, at least for me.

P.P.S. Where does this story take place? I thought India, because of the henna, but that's not in the Middle East, so...