Changing Perspectives in Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree

While reading the first half of Tariq Ali’s novel Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, I found myself repeatedly thinking about the unique narrative voice Ali presents throughout the text. Because Ali uses an omniscient voice within the narration of the text, we as readers are not limited to learning only one character’s thoughts or viewpoint on the Catholic Church’s growing dominance over Al-Andalus. In fact, after reading the Prologue, I thought the majority of the text would follow the character of Ximenes de Cisneros and his bloodthirsty means of converting Muslims into Catholics. Instead, Ali presents a virtual revolving door of protagonists and perspectives. From Ximenes de Cisneros, Ali transitions into the voices of nine-year-old Yazid, twenty-two year old Zuhayr, and their father Umar.

Ali’s third-person omniscient narration of the text allows readers to get so close into the heads and thoughts of his characters that he actually transitions into the first person on occasion. For example, when Umar envisions talking to his Uncle Miguel while in the courtyard of his palace, Ali transitions into the first person to reflect the growing passion and desperation Umar feels when speaking of Islamic persecution. Ali writes: “The fault is also in ourselves, but how can I even think about that now? All I see is that wall of fire and behind it the gloating face of that vulture [Ximenes], celebrating his triumph” (20).  Rather than the usual third-person narrative I am used to reading, which follows the emotions and thoughts of one protagonist while remaining emotionally detached from all other characters, Ali manages to portray the mindsets of each of his characters while still writing in the third person for the majority of the novel.

            One notable absence I discovered while reading the first half of the novel, however, was the lack of female narration. There are plenty of female characters within the book—from the wet-nurse Ama, to sisters Hind and Kulthum, to their mother Zubayda and Great-Aunt Zhara—who certainly don’t lack in adventures or experiences which could add to the overall plot of the novel. Hind is portrayed as a rebellious tomboy from the moment she is introduced in the novel, riding back into town on horseback with her father while her injured brother journeys in a wagon with the women. I can't help but wonder how different the novel could be if the character of Hind was more active in the development of the novel's plot--how does a teenage girl's perspective on growing Christian dominance in a former Islamic stronghold differ from that of her brothers' or father's perspectives? In addition, when the story of Zhara’s tumultuous childhood and failed romances is told, it is by Umar or the old man who lives in the cave. As of yet, Zhara has no voice in telling her own story—instead, the responsibility falls to either her nephew or former lover.

            In reading the second half of the novel I will be interested in seeing if any of Ali’s female characters gain the chance to narrate their own stories, or if we will continue to follow the story of Catholicism’s growing stronghold in Al-Andalus through the perspectives of male characters like Umar, Zuhayr, and Yazid.