Dreams serve as an effective way to look deeper into the character of a novel. Dreams allow authors to speak through their characters in a new way and act as a ploy to insert an idea or theme into a narrative, subtly. Dreams can speak to the mind of a character in profound and indirect way (WC) as well. Furthermore, dreams reflect both A Map of Home and Minaret and act as a motif to highlight the main characters as well as add to characterization. The two protagonists, Najwa and Nidali, come from vastly different cultural environment, but each use dreams to help define themselves. Najwa dreams of her family and Khartoum, the city where she was raised. On the other hand, Nidali’s dreams center on the present, her identity, and the near future,
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These dreams help inform the reader of the relationship between Nidali and her parents as well as issues that face the entire family, collectively. In one dream sequence, Nidali conveys one of Baba’s (Nidali’s father) dreams through Nidali. Nidali notes, “In the dream, our family asked him to find us a home...He looked up into the sky and saw a giant planet approaching us. It was a purple planet. He realized we had to move that far away in order to start over again” (Jarrar, 200). In this instance Baba’s dream is both clear and approaching prophesy. The dream begins normally with a question on the family’s mind in reality, but quickly becomes subject to imagination. The purple planet is a sort of impending doom, forcing the family to move. The dream also illustrates Nidali’s interest in her father’s fears. It would not have been in the novel otherwise. This dream enriches and mystifies the ending of the book. Jarrar presents Nidali as a family member, inextricably connected to her family. Nidali receives a glimpse into her father’s thoughts. The scene of her father sharing his dreams with her is a moment of interconnectedness. While the two fighting throughout the novel, they seem to take a similar stance. Her father’s creative/poetic side speaks to hers and constructs a shared connection between the two. Dreams …show more content…
Aboulela is more concerned with the dreams of Najwa alone, but Jarrar broadens the scope and covers both Nidali’s dreams as well as the dreams of her family members. The different presentation of dreams and the characters tied to them is representative of the characterization of the protagonist in each novel. Although dreams are not the fundamental mode of characterization, they help the two authors fine tune the readers interpretation of each of the protagonists. Aboulela delves into the life of Najwa, a woman primarily focused on herself and her insecurities. Contrastingly, Jarrar follows Nidali, a character with an identity that is highly tied to those around her. The relationships in A Map of Home, appear in the Nidali’s dreams as well as that of her father’s. The relational nature of Nidali is starkly different to the insulated, introspective portraiture of Najwa. Why does this matter??? The dreams in both novels reflect these different characterizations with Nidalis sharing her mother and father’s dreams and Najwa’s preoccupied with the disparities in her life, namely being exiled and losing her
These dreams help inform the reader of the relationship between Nidali and her parents as well as issues that face the entire family, collectively. In one dream sequence, Nidali conveys one of Baba’s (Nidali’s father) dreams through Nidali. Nidali notes, “In the dream, our family asked him to find us a home...He looked up into the sky and saw a giant planet approaching us. It was a purple planet. He realized we had to move that far away in order to start over again” (Jarrar, 200). In this instance Baba’s dream is both clear and approaching prophesy. The dream begins normally with a question on the family’s mind in reality, but quickly becomes subject to imagination. The purple planet is a sort of impending doom, forcing the family to move. The dream also illustrates Nidali’s interest in her father’s fears. It would not have been in the novel otherwise. This dream enriches and mystifies the ending of the book. Jarrar presents Nidali as a family member, inextricably connected to her family. Nidali receives a glimpse into her father’s thoughts. The scene of her father sharing his dreams with her is a moment of interconnectedness. While the two fighting throughout the novel, they seem to take a similar stance. Her father’s creative/poetic side speaks to hers and constructs a shared connection between the two. Dreams …show more content…
Aboulela is more concerned with the dreams of Najwa alone, but Jarrar broadens the scope and covers both Nidali’s dreams as well as the dreams of her family members. The different presentation of dreams and the characters tied to them is representative of the characterization of the protagonist in each novel. Although dreams are not the fundamental mode of characterization, they help the two authors fine tune the readers interpretation of each of the protagonists. Aboulela delves into the life of Najwa, a woman primarily focused on herself and her insecurities. Contrastingly, Jarrar follows Nidali, a character with an identity that is highly tied to those around her. The relationships in A Map of Home, appear in the Nidali’s dreams as well as that of her father’s. The relational nature of Nidali is starkly different to the insulated, introspective portraiture of Najwa. Why does this matter??? The dreams in both novels reflect these different characterizations with Nidalis sharing her mother and father’s dreams and Najwa’s preoccupied with the disparities in her life, namely being exiled and losing her