Theme Of Religion In Tamer's Breaking Knees

One of the central themes in Tamer’s Breaking Knees is oppression of religion in Syria. Religion in Syria in the modern era is a complicated topic. Some groups, such as terrorist groups al-Qaeda and ISIL portray strict, violent Islamism whereas for many other people in Syria religion is a matter of familial tradition and faith rather than violence. One example of violence associated with religion in Breaking Knees is when, in story 15, it is implied that the sheikh has a man killed due to the man allegedly spreading malicious rumors about the sheikh’s dedication to his faith. The sheikh states to the man that reports this slight, “It is the duty of every Muslim to fight godlessness. Every believer who rids the world of a godless man will enter …show more content…
Women in Syrian society are viewed by a paradoxical combination of the idea that women are inferior to men and therefore should be subjected to rule by a patriarch and by the idea women are symbols for sex and therefore responsible for the sexual transgressions of men. Throughout Breaking Knees, Tamer intentionally focusses on and exaggerates the female sexuality in a criticism of their oppression in society. One example of this is in story 8, where Fatma is sexually assaulted by a man while in a movie theater. In response to his assault, she, “reached for him and started feeling him with her nervous, greedy, and experienced fingers, trying best to hold back the sound of her panting” (Tamer, 11). This response scares the man off, as he leaves the theater distraught. This serves as a representation of how Syrian women were held accountable for men’s sexual transgressions. Even though Fatma was merely sitting in a theater watching a film, she becomes so overtly sexualized due to the assault that she scares the man off with her aggression. Tamer is criticizing the idea that women should be held responsible for assault as they have brought it upon themselves. In story 41, this theme is more explicitly drawn out into a criticism of the government. Abel Hadi becomes so bored that he leaves his decisions up to trivial matters of fate, and because of the meat he was served being tough he decides to, “come close to her [the first woman he sees on the street] and felt her buttocks” (Tamer, 88-89). Hadi then decides that if he is punished by the police officer that the woman complains to he will repent and atone for his assault, but the policeman’s response was saying that, “He’s right. Anyone who sees all this beauty would not be able to control himself” (Tamer, 89). The man is so distraught at the officer’s