How does the text relate to the theme of a journey?The novel encircled mainly around Waris Dirie’s journey and her transformation from a nomadic Somali girl into a world class supermodel. At the beginning, she was quite satisfied with her life in nature, besides enjoying living together with her close-knit family. Later, at the age of 5, she was circumcised. It was a painful and unforgettable experience for her, but she didn’t dwell on it, as she thought that was a must for a Somali girl in order to be a real woman. However, she started to think differently when her father arranged her to marry a 60-year-old stranger. She, who was still 13 at that time, escaped and ran away to Mogadishu – this struck the start of her journey all the way to be a model. During her journey, she was nearly raped and violated, but all these, from another point of view, had taught her to be more cautious. Later, she travelled to Galcaio, Mogadishu, and then to London. Finally, she became a top model – her gorgeous photos were included in Pirelli calendar, she became one of the Bond girls, her face shot occupied the whole cover of The Sunday Times of London….is this the final destination for her? Apparently not. After some time she moved to New York, where modelling business flourished and mushroomed. She even invited by BBC to filmed a documentary about her tragic life and her 180 degree transformation. But eventually she successfully realised where her final destination was – she wanted to fight for women’s right, including protesting FGM (Female genital mutilation). Through her effort, she became the Special Ambassador of UN in fighting against FGM.
What is the main issue in the text?
Obviously, the main discussion in this novel is the low status of women, especially in African countries like Somalia. According to Somali culture, a woman earns respect when she becomes a mother. But before this, she has to be circumcised, marking that she has transformed into a woman. If they do not practice this tradition, they are considered as dirty, oversexed as well as insanitary, and it is very hard for them to get a husband. Genital circumcision is indeed horrible. Nevertheless, millions of women still suffer from this ritual. Some of them, like Waris, survive, but some of them, for instance, Waris’ sister Halemo, are not so lucky and they bleed to death. In fact, even if they survive, they are still haunted by several problems and difficulties. A well example would be the author, who suffered from an unbearable extreme menstrual pain and eventually she fainted in Uncle Mohammed’s house. Furthermore, she was unable to urinate quickly in a heavy stream, but slowly, drop by drop due to the small opening left by the gypsy woman. In fact, she could not experience the joy of sex as her clitoris was removed. When she found out that not every woman needs to be circumcised like her, she felt ashamed, angry yet sad. She realised that this practice is unfair and idiotic, for it will just encourage the men to be more arrogant, ignorant and selfish. That is the reason why she has fought against FGM till now after her career was stable.
What quality do you admire or dislike in a character?
From my point of view, the mother of Waris Dirie, Mama, is the most perfect woman as well as mother in the world. At the age of 16, she ran away with Papa and married, in spite of the disagreement from Waris’ grandmother. From an affluent family in Mogadishu, she moved into the desert along with her husband and led a nomadic life, which was considerably tough and harsh for her. But she never regret. She tried to adapt herself to the new life, while at the same time she was treated badly by the family of Papa. I am much impressed by her determination and her patience of Job, as she did not complain about her hardship and continued to play her crucial role as a traditional Somali woman. Later she had 12 children. She was so strong and independent for she could go off into the forest and gave birth alone. As a matter of fact, she also cracked jokes with her children to make them happy. Being aware of her responsibility, she took care of her children while the father was away. She even helped the little wife, who had already run away, to take care of the little ones. She was so noble! On the other hand, rationality had persuaded her to let her daughter run away so that Waris would not be married to a stranger old enough to be her grandfather. To sum up, Mama was simple silent but hard as iron, and this had given a strong influence on Waris, that she would consider herself to be successful in her life when she becomes as strong as her mother.
How does the text develop your understanding of the world?
Frankly speaking, I did hear the word “women circumcision” before, but I was wondering how it is carried out. Through this bestseller, only I knew that there are still so many women who are being tied and confined to this inhuman activity. When I read these lines: “…and fished out broken razor blade…dried blood on the jagged edge…”, “…it’s like somebody is slicing through the meat of your thigh…”, “a stack of thorns from an acacia tree…to puncture holes in my skin, then poked a strong white thread through the holes and sew me up…”, “…my legs had been tied together…”, “…my skin were being eaten by acid…”, “…my genitals became infected…”….I was so shocked and terrified. It is extremely cruel! Now, I finally know how this traditional ritual is and found out that women discrimination is still a major problem haunting this world.
On the other hand, I am glad that the author has realised the inequality between men and women, besides being aware that females are being discriminated throughout the whole world. Furthermore, it is also good to see that some organizations, for example, UN, World Vision and Equality Now are trying and struggling hard to protest against FGM. To me, women circumcision is arguably one of the most important issues which must be overcome urgently.
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