piced Chicken Queen Essay In “The Spiced Chicken Queen of Mickaweaquah, Iowa”, by Mohja Kahf, the author places great importance on food (as the title suggests), but more so on the conversations and actions surrounding food and meals. These scenes with food reveal the ulterior motives of the characters in them. One can see this in several scenes: the first of which is when Mzayyan gives Rana some of her titular spiced chicken, the second when Mzayyan serves her spiced chicken to the other refugees in the shelter, and the third when Rana’s husband Emad brings home apricots for his wife.
In the first scene, Mzayyan gives some of her chicken meal to Rana, but what initially seems to be an act of kindness, these actions actually reveal much …show more content…
Kahf tells that “Mzayyan set a platter of spiced chicken, its juices dripping over heaps of steaming rice, on the common table as if setting out for a banquet. She wiped the thick black curls matted to her sweaty forehead in a gesture of triumph.” (Kahf, 144). “Triumph” is not a word typically used to describe a woman serving food for other refugees out of the goodness of her heart. “Triumph” implies pride and self-satisfaction. Therefore, in this scene where Mzayyan serves her spiced chicken, what appears to be a benevolent action on her part is actually a façade to cover her own pride; her “black curls” that are “matted” to her “sweaty forehead” are symbols of her true character, a character with different motives beneath the surface (Kahf, 144). Indeed, Mzayyan’s “sweaty black curls” (Kahf, 138) are often hidden under her “long black veil” (Kahf, 139), the latter of which several other students have also taken to be a symbol of some kind during discussion (do I need to cite this???). In this scene, Kahf mentions Mzayyan’s curls without mentioning her veil. Therefore, in this scene, Mzayyan’s true character shows through for an instant, ironically when the reader is most expected to see her as a kind and selfless …show more content…
In a subtle example on page 141, Rana returns home and her husband tells her that he “’Picked up your apricots at the farmers’ market’”, apricots which are “‘organically ripened to perfection.’” (Kahf, 141). Emad, before giving Rana the fruit “[lifts] the bag up high like the Trees of Tantulus. ‘Give me a kiss first.’ So she gave, and he gave.” Emad first makes his wife give him a kiss before he hands over the food. In this way, one can see that he expects to get something in return for what he did for his wife. The final line of that passage “so she gave, and he gave”, implies that their relationship, although loving, is based on giving with the expectation of getting. The line reads “so she gave, and he gave”, but does not specify what they gave each other. Obviously, the reader is meant to associate it with the kiss Rana gives Emad, and the apricots Emad gives Rana (Kahf, 141). However, that last specific detail is left out to purposefully make the line more ambiguous. The ambiguity of it implies that that line (“she gave and he gave”) is applicable to their relationship in general: one based on giving and then receiving something in return, therefore revealing a less beneficent quality to their
In the first scene, Mzayyan gives some of her chicken meal to Rana, but what initially seems to be an act of kindness, these actions actually reveal much …show more content…
Kahf tells that “Mzayyan set a platter of spiced chicken, its juices dripping over heaps of steaming rice, on the common table as if setting out for a banquet. She wiped the thick black curls matted to her sweaty forehead in a gesture of triumph.” (Kahf, 144). “Triumph” is not a word typically used to describe a woman serving food for other refugees out of the goodness of her heart. “Triumph” implies pride and self-satisfaction. Therefore, in this scene where Mzayyan serves her spiced chicken, what appears to be a benevolent action on her part is actually a façade to cover her own pride; her “black curls” that are “matted” to her “sweaty forehead” are symbols of her true character, a character with different motives beneath the surface (Kahf, 144). Indeed, Mzayyan’s “sweaty black curls” (Kahf, 138) are often hidden under her “long black veil” (Kahf, 139), the latter of which several other students have also taken to be a symbol of some kind during discussion (do I need to cite this???). In this scene, Kahf mentions Mzayyan’s curls without mentioning her veil. Therefore, in this scene, Mzayyan’s true character shows through for an instant, ironically when the reader is most expected to see her as a kind and selfless …show more content…
In a subtle example on page 141, Rana returns home and her husband tells her that he “’Picked up your apricots at the farmers’ market’”, apricots which are “‘organically ripened to perfection.’” (Kahf, 141). Emad, before giving Rana the fruit “[lifts] the bag up high like the Trees of Tantulus. ‘Give me a kiss first.’ So she gave, and he gave.” Emad first makes his wife give him a kiss before he hands over the food. In this way, one can see that he expects to get something in return for what he did for his wife. The final line of that passage “so she gave, and he gave”, implies that their relationship, although loving, is based on giving with the expectation of getting. The line reads “so she gave, and he gave”, but does not specify what they gave each other. Obviously, the reader is meant to associate it with the kiss Rana gives Emad, and the apricots Emad gives Rana (Kahf, 141). However, that last specific detail is left out to purposefully make the line more ambiguous. The ambiguity of it implies that that line (“she gave and he gave”) is applicable to their relationship in general: one based on giving and then receiving something in return, therefore revealing a less beneficent quality to their