The Things I did not Expect
The most unexpected thing we covered in class was reading Hayy Ibn Yaqzan. I found the story to be unique compared to the other readings we did and quite interesting. Most of the readings we covered in class had topics like racism, sexism, or other types of discrimination/colonization as a pretty big theme, such as in Home Fire discrimination against Muslims, The Secret River discrimination against the Aboriginals, or in There There the impacts of colonization on Native Americans. Hayy Ibn Yaqzan could not have these themes as he is a boy who grew up outside of society. He could not be impacted by societal issues such as racism. I did not expect to read a novel like this, when I joined the course.
Something that was unexpected to me specifically in a novel, rather than the plot of a novel in general, was in Pachinko, Noa. I know I talked about Noa a lot in my blog posts and that is because I find him so interesting. Noa’s identity crisis was completely unexpected to me. I never knew a reaction to being bullied and hated was to join in on the bullying and hatred and just accepted. Most stories I have read/watched always had the main character fight back against bullying or discrimination, but I have never seen someone accept it so deeply that it leads to them killing themselves. Noa was someone I had never seen before, as a character, and it was shocking for me to see that his reaction is a reaction that can be seen in the real world.
Hey Paulos! That is a very interesting observation. I didn't put two and two together that Hay Ibn Yaqzan, through a theoretical framework, would not really have grow up around the different societal problems because of being raised in seclusion from humanity. You make a great point of just the complete way in which Noa tried to become apart of the Japanese culture. Sometime, people like to become part of the oppressors group so that they no longer fear oppression, and I wonder if was just Noa's unique character that pushed him to do it or rather whether part of it was because he comes from a background where family and community is really important? Since he felt like he couldn't be with his own family anymore from his discoveries, was the push to integrate and try to become Japanese stronger because he was missing this familiarity/community relationship? Overall, great post!
ReplyDeleteI also thought Hay ibn Yaqzan was an interesting read! It is a story that is entirely different from the literature that we are used to seeing in schools. It was a struggle, but I think that is what made it so valuable in learning world literature. I think the philosophy was really interesting. While he did not experience racism or discrimination like our other novel's protagonists experienced (or partook in), it did explore human nature and how we can be unfortunately inclined to that sort of thinking.
ReplyDeleteHey Paulos, I've never read a book like Hay Ibn Yaqzan before. In every other book I've read before, there has been some amount of social commentary or social interaction. I was not expecting to be handed a book on philosophy that had little to do with interaction between human beings. While I struggled to understand the rich philosophical language at times, I appreciated the diversity of reading material.
ReplyDeleteHey Paulos! I agree - Hay Ibn Yaqzan was a completely new text to me. Not only had I never heard of it, but the text itself was written in a way that was so so different from other books I read. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite. But, I'm glad I was able to have the experience of reading it!
ReplyDeleteHi Paulos! I agree that Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was a complete shock to me and challenged me greatly intellectually. I find your point about Noa really interesting. Min Jin Lee clearly wasn't one for a cheesy happy story, as many of my favorite characters in her novel passed away. Noa's story was also one that was extremely sad. In most stories, characters that are bullied are usually depicted as conquering it and working through it, but Noa's was one that I think is more realistic and is a reality that many of us refuse to accept. I hope her novel helped raise awareness towards this problem as well.
ReplyDeleteHey Paulos! Hayy Ibn Yaqzan was definitely surprising to me as well. I am proud of us for getting through it and being able to dissect it! I never thought I would read a philosophic-awakening story from Islamic Spain, and be able to research so much from it. I ended up doing my first quarter final project on Hayy Ibn Yaqzan, so it was certainly a work that I got a lot more out of than I was anticipating.
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