Zanuba Character Analysis

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Following times of turmoil within a nation there is always an underlying mood of hope that lives within the population which despite its presence, may not always be visible or on display for the world to see. The hope that exists is generally born out of the dreams that people have which take them away from the troubles of their lives at that time. This pattern can be seen many times in the history of the world via the art and novels that are produced by peoples of nations going through transitory or tumultuous times. In the early 20th century the entire world was in a period of change, old imperial powers were beginning to lose their global supremacy and new nations were rising to center stage. This not only effected nations strong …show more content…
She grew up in the rural areas of Egypt, and then immigrated to the city of Cairo with her brothers. The effects on her were mainly superficial. Even though she assimilated herself into the city to be relatable to her friends in Cairo by dressing and speaking in a particular way, she never understood why she was doing the things she did. She was acting a part and mimicking, she had not adopted these new customs. This mirrored the experiences of Egypt as a nation under the rule of the British. They had adopted and endorsed the new western ways of doing things but they had never actually fully indoctrinated themselves into doing things that way. They were acting to fit in the same way that Zanuba was acting to fit in. Tawfiq Al-Hakim in Return of the Spirit is proposing that they shed these false personas and return to the Egyptian way of doing things. These changes to the Egyptian population were psychological and could be easily fixed because the original model for Egyptian life still existed within the lives they were living now. Al-Hakim creates this idea when he describes Zanuba and her trip into the ancient parts of Cairo. Having to pass through “ancient alleys” and “old quarters” of the city in order to arrive at their destination, Zanuba gets off the omnibus at Sayyiduna al-Husayn, which in itself is significant because of al-Husayn’s connection with the Islamic faith as well as the prophet Muhammad-and

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