“Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree” Part II: The Destruction of Childhood
Throughout “Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree,” Tariq Ali shows the effect that the Inquisition has on children. Since children are revered in all cultures as innocents who must be loved and protected, the perversion and ruination of childhood in the novel demonstrates the destructive force of presumed cultural superiority. The experiences of Yazid, the youngest of the al-Hudayl family, are the strongest example of the destruction of innocence. The unconditional love of children is established by Yazid’s interaction with his chess set. Even though his chess set represents Christianity as evil and monstrous, Yazid responds by forming a particular attachment to the monstrous figurine of Queen Isabella, confessing his hopes and fears to the Catholic Queen. This shows the purity of children and their inability to judge or hate others. That the officials and soldiers of the inquisition were willing to destroy someone who didn’t even have the malice to hate them at their most monstrous indicates just how horrible they are. Moreover, the utter depravity of the Inquisition’s soldiers is revealed in Yazid’s death scene. The soldiers’ captain kills the boy while he is unarmed and helpless, and so faultless that he invites the soldiers who massacred his family to dinner. No force that is culturally or religiously superior would act with such cruelty. Further, the forced maturation of Zuhayr is brought on by the pressures of the Inquisition. Al-Zindiq points out that Zuhayr is “too easily convinced” of what others say (34) and even Zuhayr admits that his mother was right to call him “readily convinced of anything and incapable of firmness” (238). Under normal circumstances, these traits would be considered to be the natural naivety and uncertainty of youth. However, under the shadow of Inquisition, it is considered foolish for a young man to trust others, and to refrain from imposing his will on others. As a result, Zuhayr must abandon his lingering connections to childhood and lead an army against Cisneros. The abrupt collapse of Zuhayr’s childhood illustrates the devastating force of the Inquisition. Conversely, the depravity of the Inquisition is revealed through the corruption of innocence of Catholic children. The destruction of the peaceful village of al-Hudayl and the massacre of its inhabitants was carried out by a sixteen-year-old captain. Tariq Ali provides the audience with the sickening image of a “voice not yet fully broken” charging into the village shouting “no mercy on the infidels” (231). The demonization of children is perhaps even more disturbing than the massacre of children, and any entity that mutates innocence into depravity is more vile than any other group or culture in existence. By revealing the malevolence of the Spanish Inquisition through the destruction of childhood, Tariq Ali banishes the image of Western superiority.
The second of half of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, by Tariq Ali, moves much faster and is filled with more action and urgency than the first half. The first half of the novel was focused on character building, general exposition, and laying the framework for the philosophical issues of religion, justice, and morality that confront the characters throughout the text. By the second half of the novel, however, this slow build-up of character and background information explodes into action with Zuyhar riding into battle and al-Andalus being attack by the Christian Knights. This intense and sudden shift in narrative is important to consider when thinking about the overall meaning of the book.
The burst of action that occurs after approximately Chapter 8 is twofold. First, it involves a great deal of physical movement by characters from one place to another—Zuyhar sets out for battle in Granada, Hind marries and leaves home, Ama dies, and the Christian Knights storm into al-Anadlus. What does this sudden burst of physical movement to different locations in the novel show? First of all, the sudden use of movement physically embodies the change that has been foreboded since the beginning of the novel. The characters all sense that great change is coming, and that once it does everything they’ve known will completely destroyed. The use of movement in the second half of the novel is used to show definitively that this change has in fact come. Second, and more straightforward, the movement of characters shows, in the microcosmic sense, the greater dispersion of the Islamic culture in the Iberian Peninsula. Through history we know that the Jews and Muslims of Spain were either killed or forcefully driven out during the Reconquest, and the dispersion of the Banu Hydal family shows this.
The intense action also involves a rather violent mixing of the past, present and future. Towards the end of the novel, characters desperately trying to grapple with their imminent destruction describe this moment as a sort of collapsing in of past, present and future into one moment of destruction. Umar, realizing his town and his family is about to be destroyed, thinks “Their homes, their past, their friends, their future, everything has been destroyed,” (230). In this sense it’s like time is collapsing in on itself in this one catastrophic moment. This furthermore now brings attention to Ali’s treatment of time throughout the novel: is this strictly a historical fiction piece? Or is he playing with time more liberally, suggesting that the barriers between the past, present and future are not as solid as they may at first appear?
On p.214-15, Ibn Basit tells the Hudayl family of Zuhayr’s challenge with Don Alonso. In the duel Zuhayr wins fairly but nonetheless a bounty is put out on his head, the Christians outraged at his victory wanting revenge. Zuhayr’s “moral” and chivalrous stance concerning war coincides with his familial beliefs (there is the story of his grandfather inviting defeated foes to dine with him). This chivalrous mentality seems to be ingrained in the culture of the Moorish people. Prior to this exchange, the re-conquest of Spain has been taking place. With this comes the destruction of culture and the Moors way of life. I would think it’s fair and justified that the oppressed Muslims, now pushed into a corner, would fight back or at least not go down quietly. This may have some connection to Abu Zaid and his renegade/guerilla tactics in war, which include ambushing the Christian soldiers from the mountains after Zuhayr’s duel. This less chivalrous practice enrages the Christians who in turn blame Zuhayr, which leads to the destruction of Al-Hudayl. The question of why the Christians feel the need to get revenge is hard to justify. The Christians are not chivalrous themselves, and it is mentioned many times in the novel how they went back on their word of letting the inhabitants of Spain keep their religion and culture. “I wish now that many centuries ago, we had treated you as you have treated us” (p.234). Perhaps they expected the Muslim people to play fair in war, but by eradicating the roots of the culture that promotes chivalrous combat it is not surprising that the oppressed people fighting back use guerilla tactics. At this point, the Christians wanting revenge for the Muslim resistance using underhanded tactics seems unjustified, as their actions caused it. Whether or not the Christians choice to exact revenge on the Hudayl family is justified or not, they go ahead and do it. On p.227 Cortes orders his men to kill all the women and children in the town to which one man refuses, arguing it is wrong to kill the innocent. “If you kill their men, the women and children will become filled with a blind hate of everything Christian…and become a poison under our skin.” Here the Christians are thinking two steps ahead and trying to break the cyclical tendencies of revenge. While it is true that the killing of women and children will prevent them from plotting revenge on the Christians in the future, it is the actions of the Christians in Spain as a whole that started this whole chain of events. In this way the Christians almost validate what they are doing, with the destruction of an entire culture and its people being justified, in part, by getting revenge. It would easier, however, to view the Christians being justified with their revenge if they had not initiated the whole conflict. The Muslims fighting back against the Christian armies is a justifiable “revenge” because their homeland was tarnished without provocation. The Christians killing everyone in Al-Haduyl based on a premise of revenge is wrong, and it doesn’t seem to be any different from genocide.
How important is a book title anyway? I would imagine it would be very vital for an author and publisher in order to grab the attention of a possible reader. And although Tariq Ali’s title, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, is very captivating and inquisitive, one has to read the book to understand the context and value of the shadows of the pomegranate tree. This first stuck out to me when I came across the sections where Ama is speaking with Yazid. “Oh my son,’ sighed Ama. I was talking to the shadows of the pomegranate trees. At least they will be here when we are gone.” (p.9) The shadows of the pomegranate tree openly reflect the circle of life that Ama first describes. It represents the Muslim culture, Islamic community, and specifically the people of the Umar’s household. His family and his workers have lived there for years and his grandfather, Ibn Farid, planted the pomegranate trees and other plants that they are surrounded by himself. The shadows of the pomegranate trees will always be there and signify how even though one’s body can be gone the memory will still live. The shadows of the pomegranate tree also bring about a romance that is filled by the family. It is not only of new memories but old ones too; and it where lives and sensation take off. “The pomegranate grove?’ asked Zahra faintly, trying to control her heartbeats. ‘The clump of trees just before the house is visible when you’re returning from the village? When you lie flat on the ground does it still feel as if one is underneath a tent of pomegranates with a round window at the top? And when you open your eyes and look through it, do the stars still dance in the sky?” (137) Zahra is delighted by Hind’s talk of her and Ibn Daud’s encounter under the pomegranate trees and her memory of love and excitement returns to her. These shadows under the trees are in a sense like a web. They capture the most passionate parts of this family’s life and their secrets are woven into the thickness of the branches. The pomegranate trees bring the books overall theme and genre in a sense into one. It encompasses the Muslim’s life and culture. Although a tree can be lifted by the roots its deep impact on the earth will never be forgotten.
Warfare is a concept deeply embedded in any culture and Tariq Ali portrays various types of warfare throughout the novel. To many Muslim characters the war with Cisneros and the Catholic Church seems to be a new type of warfare altogether; one that is physically brutal and psychologically damaging. The character's face not only death but the destruction of their culture, demonstrated through ideas such as book burning and forced conversion. Both sides of the battle seem to feel the movement away from chivalry and into ravenous war tactics.
When Zuhayr is in the city of Gharnata he meets with his converted uncle Ibn Hisham. At this point in the story Zuhayr has left Banu-Hadyl and become engaged with a developing army in Gharnata. He offers some advice to Zuhayr in regards to warfare; "In this new world which we inhabit there is also a new way of dying. In the old days we killed each other. The enemy killed us and it was over" (Ali, 205). Here Ibn Hisham is highlighting how this specific destruction of the Islamic culture is much more painful and cruel. Instead of coming in a large army and wiping out an entire race of people, this battle is full of empty promises of safety and the slow destruction of culture.
The physical fighting seems to take on an entire new perspective also. Zuhayr meets the Christian army in battle and challenges Don Alonso to one-on-one combat. After winning the combat the Muslim army unexpectedly charged the Christians and slaughtered most of them. Umar, upon hearing this story he states "But that is against the rules," (Ali, 214). This demonstrates the changes in warfare between generations. It is the first time in the novel that a Muslim character sets chivalry and nobility aside for the defense of his culture and religion, which seems surprising since the reader has watched many terrible events happen to the characters throughout the book.
A very important component of the novel’s theme of the devastating nature of imperialism comes in the epigraph. Twenty years after the conquering of al-Hudayl, the young captain has traveled across the Atlantic to part of the New World, where we find out that he is Hernando Cortes, the infamous conquistador responsible for the fall of the Aztec Empire. Ali’s decision to include this epigraph highlights one of the main ideas present throughout the novel: the conquering of a people leads to the destruction of a unique culture. If becoming part of Umar’s family’s life, and then watching it disappear, isn’t enough to make the reader see how conquering a land means taking over a people and their culture, then the epigraph clears it all up. As an American, I was more exposed to the Spanish conquest that devastated cultures in the Americas than I was to anything about Moorish Spain. The novel clearly illustrates the effects of imperialism on a culture, but by drawing the connection from events in Gharnata to those in Central America, Ali demonstrates the span of the conquest and makes it easier to understand its effects. Presented with the very beginning of the conquest in Central America, the readers know what lies in store for the Aztec Empire because we just witnessed this same captain kill Yazid and his family. The epigraph also works to point out the greed that drives imperialism. The easiest driving force for to pick up on in the novel is the religious, but it is more than the Catholics wanting to save the souls of those they consider unfortunate heathens. The end of the epigraph notes the wealth of the city and the richness of the nation, a fact that makes Cortes smile (240). With no mention of religion, it’s clear that motives have changed and expanded; the Catholics are looking for gold and clearly will employ ruthless tactics. The economics of imperialism are mentioned in the novel only in passing, but obtaining wealth is clearly an important goal for the Catholics. After converting to Christianity, a person’s wealth becomes property of the Church, just as people fleeing the country have to leave their possessions behind. Greedy and devastating, the Catholics nearly eliminated entire cultures in their conquests, a fact that Ali makes sure to remind us went well beyond the walls of al-Hudayl and affected countless families like Yazid’s.
In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, Tariq Ali focuses on a fictionalized account of Moorish Spain in the late fifteenth century and the Catholic war on the Islamic religion and culture. However, in the epilogue of the novel Ali introduces a new conflict—the conquest of Mesoamerica. In the epilogue, Ali reveals the identity of the sixteen year-old Castilian Captain who burns Al-Hudayl to the ground and kills Umar, Zubayda, and Yazid as the teenaged version of the infamous conquistador Cortes. Epilogues usually remind me of afterthoughts; written after an author has already finished the main plot and storyline of the book, they usually serve to tie together any loose ends the author did not get to within the main plotline of the book. So why does Ali choose to reveal such a huge character within the epilogue of the book? In the last chapter of the novel, when al-Hudayl is being destroyed, the young Captain’s name is not revealed. Instead, Cortes is referred to as “the red-headed beardless captain” (225). Perhaps this because, within the historical fiction novel, Ali wanted to focus solely on the history—the Catholic domination of Moorish Spain. If Ali had named the Captain as Cortes, readers undoubtedly would have been distracted by extraneous thoughts of the destruction of Aztec culture in Mesoamerica. However, Ali reminds readers within the epilogue that the destruction caused by religious conflict is not limited to Moorish Spain. Having concluded the story of Umar’s family, Ali extends the conflict at the heart of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree beyond the boundaries of the novel’s pages within the epilogue, reminding readers that this “historical” novel is not constricted by one place or time. Violence caused by the lack of tolerance for different religions and groups of people is not just limited to Moorish Spain, but continues as the Spanish conquer Mesoamerica. And, even though Ali’s novel was first publish in 1992, it continues to be relevant today as post-9/11 America continues to struggle with the Christian vs. Muslim mentality central to Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree.
Umar, Zuhayr, and Yazid portray the role of a strong male in the Banu Hudayl, but in very different fashions. Umar acts as the voice of reason. He carefully surveys the situation facing Al Hudayl and openly, and repeatedly, defers the dilemma to fellow Moors to determine the best course of action. Umar responds to Christian threats of brutality with gentle diction, and acknowledges the moral impurity of the Christians manifested by their violent oppression of the Banu Hudayl and the extermination of their way of life. He is only violent when necessary, as he acts in the final battle against The Captain and his soldiers when his village was under attack. At home, he is fair and kind to his wife and children, who share input in family affairs, and he doesn’t discriminate or mistreat the women of the family.
Zuhayr acts as the warrior of the family, as his age appropriately resembles. He is in a stage of life where he is beginning to discover his identity. Zuhayr is determined to prove himself as a man and can become too blinded by vanity to question his decisions; which is the case when he is offended by Abu Zaid al-Ma’ari’s remarks about his religion. Though he is headstrong and impulsive, he’s focused on the protection and safety of his family first and foremost. Although he’s not the head of the household, Zuhayr feels a strong responsibility for the well being of his family and his village, and resolves to risk his life for their safety.
Yazid develops a fantastic amount in his character by the end of the novel. He was attached like a toddler to his parents, spending most of his time harassing the adults or his siblings to play a game or entertain him. As the tone of the novel grew more solemn, and the threat directed at Al-Hudayl gained became more true to reality, Yazid became more reserved. He concealed his emotions and became more reserved, and spent progressively more time in the tower reading. By the end, facing the sword, he was brave enough to maintain his composure and offer his conqueror to stay over as a guest, as his father once told him was the proper course of action. Arguably the most courageous character in the finale of the novel, Yazid accepts his death with a weak, half-smile, and dies morally superior to the Christian army.
In the second half of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree the tension between the Catholics and Muslims in Islamic Spain finally comes to a climatic point, leading to a battle within the city of Gharnata and the eventual massacre of the Banu Hudayl family and the destruction of their estate. Zuhayr’s arrival immediately afterwards is one of the most ironic scenes of the novel; Ali chooses to have the eldest son of the family, who left to fight to the death in hopes of protecting his faith, arrive after his relatives and acquaintances have perished at the hands of Catholic soldiers. Instead of breaking down and crying, Zuhayr instead practices Islamic customs with a calm demeanor as he buries his father and brother in the family graveyard. Despite the dramatic scene he has just encountered, Zuhayr continues to embody the ideal caricature of a young revolutionary. The casualties of battle do not sway him and he continually stresses to Dwarf that he longs to remember the house he left behind by stating, “Let us remember it as it used to be” (238).
Yet, it is during the conversation that Dwarf and Zuhayr have right after discussing the terrible events that have just transpired that readers begin to see behind the façade that Zuhayr has been hoping to hide behind. He subtly reveals his emotional weakness to Dwarf when he stresses that it is the past he “wants” to remember, but instead hints that he cannot and struggles to be the leader he has arisen to (238). Although he continues to act like the powerful soldier and defender of the faith that he has built himself up to be, Ali is finally able to humanize Zuhayr because of this traumatic event. In the last lines of Chapter 13 Zuhayr discloses that he no longer fully believes in his faith. He feels that Allah has failed him (239). Despite leaving behind his family, directly contributing to their slaughter by the hands of the Catholics, and fighting to protect the rights and culture of Islam throughout Spain his God has let him down and destroyed the few parts of his life he held dear. Ali creates Zuhayr into a three-dimensional character who puts on a mask to continue acting like the Muslim rebel he longed to be, despite the fact that he has matured into a young man that has finally discovered that the world is not a fair place.
Ali, in fact, even goes as far to include a revealing letter from Zuhayr to Hind to fully explain and characterize Omar's eldest son. Zuhayr's true characteristics were not fully understood and somewhat revealed until the last few pages of the text, thus the letter allows readers to gain a real insight behind the concept of war figures and leaders who are seemingly stoic and completely dedicated to the cause. This letter to Hind refutes these stereotypes while simultaneously uncovers how Zuhayr has grown up quickly and become a man. Zuhayr notes and understands his previous flaws of being easily manipulated and willing to wholeheartedly commit himself to a cause, yet he also reveals that this time of war against the Catholics has made him recognize that things are much more complicated than that; he has had to lie about who he was and what he believes to keep moving forward (238). Zuhayr sums up his tactics in these trying times quite simply revealing that he has come to wear a mask and has been pretending to be the revolutionary figure he for so long desired to be. He has built himself up to a position of leadership and has had to act rather than simply be the ideal Muslim defender he created. These concept of masks introduced in the final pages of the novel allows Ali to fully reveal the effects that war can have on people and the characters average citizens look to embody; Zuhayr, therefore, is defined as a prime example of a war time hero who soon learns he is not the ideal person he has longed to be.
The ending of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was really unsettling. I assumed that at least some of the family would have to die at the hands of Christian soldiers; I had prepared for it, and being a historical novel it seemed almost essential. However, the death of Yazid was really shocking, and in my opinion very unnecessary. Perhaps that opinion comes from the fondness I found that I had for Yazid by the end, but I don’t see why Tariq Ali didn’t just send him to live with Hind, or Kulthum, or anybody else, and spare him his tragic death. True, he was loyal to his father and his religion until the end, which definitely demonstrates to the reader how devoted the Muslims were to Islam; for me, it also works to dehumanize the Christian soldiers more than any other scene in the book. The fact that Yazid was slain moments after inviting the soldiers to eat dinner at his home makes the soldiers out to be true animals; who else could slaughter a little boy? Although I may understand Ali’s potential intention behind the death, it doesn’t make me feel any better about it. The epilogue of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was unexpected as well. I never would have guessed that the captain who devastated Gharnata would turn out to be Hernan Cortes. He was a very prominent historical figure, one that many readers would be familiar with; but without Ali including the epilogue, I would never have made the connection between the Spanish Inquisition and the fall of the Aztec Empire. This is a perfect example to show the great impact that different historical events have on each other; if the Spanish Inquisition had never happened, then perhaps the Aztecs would have been left alone as well, and the world would be drastically different. The book demonstrates that the cruelty of the Christians ensures we will never know. Something we discussed a little in class is the difference between “Mohametanism” and “Islam.” Mohametanism was a term primarily used by Christians, who wrongfully believed that Muslims worshipped the prophet Mohammed; in reality, Muslims worship “Allah,” which is the Islamic term for the Christian word “God.” The Christians rampaged against the Muslims, calling them filthy and disparaging their religion, but both Christianity and Islam are monotheistic religions, and aren’t all that different from each other after all. Furthermore, by using the term Mohametanism, the Christians were insulting them on a whole new level; by refusing to refer to them by the names they chose, they simultaneously stripped the Muslims of their Arabic identity.
As Umar points out, "if we had used our iron fists to deal with Christianity the way you treat us now, this situation might never have arisen" (68) is indicative of the benign methods in which the Islamic people ruled over Spain before the Reconquest. However, said acts of kindness could not protect even the most innocent of Islam--Yazid. Slaughtered by someone nearly as young as he, the corrupt forces of Cisneros' Christian forces have stripped Yazid of his life and briefly, his innocence, a thread common throughout the narrative. Bearing witness to the evil that Christianity brought to al-Hudayl, Yazid develops a darkness, evidenced by his retort to the prepubescent captain: "I wish I had a dagger...For I would run it through your heart. I wish now that many centuries ago, we treated you as you have treated us," (234). The carnage that is left behind by the evils of Christianity momentarily instills within Yazid a hatred, which is described as being the poison that could destroy the newly powerful Christian presence in Spain, as purported by the captain.
Today, the majority of the western mindset does view the Orient through this lens, and it shows that, historically, there is no worse religion--all religions have blood on their hands. The Reconquest is only one incident in the past that is indicative of the deviltry of Christianity, however, it should not wholly be described as such. Similarly, "9/11" is just one incident in the past that is indicative of the deviltry of the generalized western perception of Islam should not be a synecdoche to understand the culture of the middle east. Ali uses this book to highlight that religions are not good or bad, people are good or bad, and evil comes from within the human, not from a system of belief.
In Chapter nine I was intrigued by the similarities between Shades of the Pomegranate Tree and The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel Cervantes. When Zuhayr embarks on his journey to Gharnata, he exhibits similar heroic and Romantic qualities to Don Quixote when he travels as a knight errant. The two texts begin to converge when Zuhayr says his final farewells to Yazid and the Al-Hudayl household (Ali 147). Zuhayr makes references to nature throughout his final farewell speech that produces powerful imagery for the reader, illustrating the environment that surrounds his family’s mansion. He describes the landscape as it evolves through the seasons in Romantic terms when he says, “in the heat of the summer when the gentle sound of a single drop of water soothes the mind and cools the senses”, and “the heady mountain air filtered through the pines and the majesty of the palms as they dance to the breezes from heaven” (Ali 148). Dramatically, he ends his speech and gallops triumphantly through the gates while his family watches in tears. The most direct connection I found between the two novels was Zuhayr’s self-reflection following his speech. He, like Don Quixote, was “brought up on a thousand and one tales of chivalry and knighthood”, and “…the romance of a last battle, of riding out into the unknown, taking the enemy by surprise and, who knows, perhaps even winning a victory” are all the same essential motives for Don Quixote’s career in knighthood. The inspiration that led to Don Quixote’s misadventures also “inspired [Zuhayr’s] impulsive behavior” (Ali 148). Unlike Don Quixote of La Mancha however, he claims that his impulses are not solely driven by fantasy or “dreams of glory” (Ali 148). Later, when he is speaking to Ibn Basit, he receives the same criticism that Don Quixote received by those who witnessed his actions. It was evident to the reader that Don Quixote was incredibly well-versed in history and the tenets of chivalry, but his ambition blinded him from accurately perceiving his reality. Ibn Basit tries to awaken Zuhayr by saying that “Chivalry is a thing of the past – that is if it ever really existed and was not a chronicler’s invention” (Ali 161-162). The narrative style of Don Quixote itself is a fictional chronicle, supposedly chronicling the life of a chivalrous knight errant during a time when chivalry and knight errantry were already extinct. I believe that Tariq Ali is alluding to Don Quixote in this passage as a reminder to the reader that the Muslim resistance to the Inquisition was in itself a fantasy, and there was little hope for the Al-Hudayl family to sustain their lifestyle.
“He came dancing across the water” is a line from the song ‘Cortez the Killer’ made famous by Neil Young, a Canadian folk/rock singer. The song focuses on the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes who is known for being murderous to the people he conquered. The epilogue of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree reveals that the ‘victor of al-hudayl’ is the famous explorer who would become the subject of Young’s song. The song echoes very similar characterization as the book of Cortes. Both are two separate accounts of Cortes, one when he is younger, roughly sixteen and the other when he is older. First comparison is how Cortes acts to being welcomed. In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree Ubaydallah who tells Cortes that he will gather up people to convert to Christianity welcomes Cortes. He ultimately destroys the city and kills everyone. In the song Cortez the Killer the lyrics talk about how Montezuma welcomes Cortes, ‘On the shore lay Montezuma, with his coca leaves and pearls’. This gives us a nice imagery of how the Aztecs welcomed the new people and how ignorant they were to how vicious the Spanish actually were. History tells us that Cortes would capture and imprison Montezuma taking his land and giving it to Spain. The books interpretation of Cortes seems to foreshadow to how conquistadors like Cortes would ultimately go to the Americas and wipe out the people there. In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree Cortes wipes out all the people of al-hudayl without any regret. Then he would grow up and then travel over to the Americas and take over the land, and wipe out a culture completely. A shadow of the Pomegranate Tree’s last scene is his schooling on how to kill a culture. The one thing that the song does but the book does not is humanizing Cortes. After the first chorus the song shifts to a first person point of view of Cortes. He talks about a girl that he loves while on his expeditions in Mexico. ‘And I know she's living there and she loves me to this day’ here he is talking about a girl that he loves and how he longs for her. He then says ‘I still can't remember when or how I lost my way.’ Which humanizes Cortes quite a bit by having him say that he does not know where he went wrong. This girl must of left when she saw how he treated other cultures. When he asks where he went wrong we could look to Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree to find that answer. He was a young man who was looking for glory and he found it in the inquisition. The Neil Young song is in no way a historical account of Cortes due to the fact that he wrote it in history class in high school yet it does offer some interesting takes of Hernan Cortes. We can see that Young thinks that everyone Good or Evil has regrets and feels like other human’s pain and loss. It may be this humanizing idea that Cortes needs to truly see where he went wrong. I like the song a lot due to its very dark sound and progressive rock heaviness. The lyrics are very poetic and interesting, but it’s meaning that really affected me. The book takes a very dark turn when it is revealed that the captain was Hernan Cortes because it shows that the man who committed such atrocities in al-hudayl will go on and commit even more equally damaging atrocities.
Part 2 of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was truly a shocking and moving ending to an incredible novel. I was really shaken by the ending and how each character was able to handle the change of their society and the collapse of their world. As we discussed in class the microcosm of Zuhayr’s forgiving actions towards the Christian’s in sparing their lives as opposed to the Christians who acted in utter and complete destruction. Which in a larger sense speaks to the general beliefs and culture of the Muslim’s in acting through nobility rather then force. I was interested in further exploring this microcosm and found it interesting how the essence and embodiment of nobility is shown through a number of characters all at different stages of life. To begin, we are given the character of Don Inigo who is shockingly a converted character, and yet he much rather abstain from the use of force through the killing of his Muslim practicing family. Then we have the character of Umar, who goes as far as to acknowledge the fact that he had treated the Christians with respect by even accepting them into his home instead of rudely kicking them off of his land, which they will later do unto him. Umar is successful in instilling this notion into the minds of his sons, who act in extremely similar ways. I found this unbelievably beautiful how Zuhayr becomes almost a figurehead to the rebelling Muslims and despite his mistreatment, acts exactly as his father would have. Instead of killing a group of soldiers who would have easily killed him, he spares their lives out of honor. The final character that acts in this way is Yazid. One of the final scenes of the novel almost brought me to tears, as Yazid states to the Captain who has just relentlessly killed his entire family let alone village, “Would you like to stay at our house and be my guest tonight?”( Pg 234). Heartbreaking. Immediately after this, he is struck in the heart by an arrow and murdered. To conclude, I felt that Tariq Ali did an exquisite job in embedding this moral statement into the novel. He clearly portrayed the juxtaposition between the Muslim’s peaceful and noble position versus the Christian’s forceful and ruthless one. Furthermore, I enjoyed how this was done through the eyes and perspective of characters at all stages of life, truly conveying the message in a number of different ways.
“Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree” Part II: The Destruction of Childhood
ReplyDeleteThroughout “Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree,” Tariq Ali shows the effect that the Inquisition has on children. Since children are revered in all cultures as innocents who must be loved and protected, the perversion and ruination of childhood in the novel demonstrates the destructive force of presumed cultural superiority. The experiences of Yazid, the youngest of the al-Hudayl family, are the strongest example of the destruction of innocence. The unconditional love of children is established by Yazid’s interaction with his chess set. Even though his chess set represents Christianity as evil and monstrous, Yazid responds by forming a particular attachment to the monstrous figurine of Queen Isabella, confessing his hopes and fears to the Catholic Queen. This shows the purity of children and their inability to judge or hate others. That the officials and soldiers of the inquisition were willing to destroy someone who didn’t even have the malice to hate them at their most monstrous indicates just how horrible they are. Moreover, the utter depravity of the Inquisition’s soldiers is revealed in Yazid’s death scene. The soldiers’ captain kills the boy while he is unarmed and helpless, and so faultless that he invites the soldiers who massacred his family to dinner. No force that is culturally or religiously superior would act with such cruelty. Further, the forced maturation of Zuhayr is brought on by the pressures of the Inquisition. Al-Zindiq points out that Zuhayr is “too easily convinced” of what others say (34) and even Zuhayr admits that his mother was right to call him “readily convinced of anything and incapable of firmness” (238). Under normal circumstances, these traits would be considered to be the natural naivety and uncertainty of youth. However, under the shadow of Inquisition, it is considered foolish for a young man to trust others, and to refrain from imposing his will on others. As a result, Zuhayr must abandon his lingering connections to childhood and lead an army against Cisneros. The abrupt collapse of Zuhayr’s childhood illustrates the devastating force of the Inquisition. Conversely, the depravity of the Inquisition is revealed through the corruption of innocence of Catholic children. The destruction of the peaceful village of al-Hudayl and the massacre of its inhabitants was carried out by a sixteen-year-old captain. Tariq Ali provides the audience with the sickening image of a “voice not yet fully broken” charging into the village shouting “no mercy on the infidels” (231). The demonization of children is perhaps even more disturbing than the massacre of children, and any entity that mutates innocence into depravity is more vile than any other group or culture in existence. By revealing the malevolence of the Spanish Inquisition through the destruction of childhood, Tariq Ali banishes the image of Western superiority.
The second of half of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, by Tariq Ali, moves much faster and is filled with more action and urgency than the first half. The first half of the novel was focused on character building, general exposition, and laying the framework for the philosophical issues of religion, justice, and morality that confront the characters throughout the text. By the second half of the novel, however, this slow build-up of character and background information explodes into action with Zuyhar riding into battle and al-Andalus being attack by the Christian Knights. This intense and sudden shift in narrative is important to consider when thinking about the overall meaning of the book.
ReplyDeleteThe burst of action that occurs after approximately Chapter 8 is twofold. First, it involves a great deal of physical movement by characters from one place to another—Zuyhar sets out for battle in Granada, Hind marries and leaves home, Ama dies, and the Christian Knights storm into al-Anadlus. What does this sudden burst of physical movement to different locations in the novel show? First of all, the sudden use of movement physically embodies the change that has been foreboded since the beginning of the novel. The characters all sense that great change is coming, and that once it does everything they’ve known will completely destroyed. The use of movement in the second half of the novel is used to show definitively that this change has in fact come. Second, and more straightforward, the movement of characters shows, in the microcosmic sense, the greater dispersion of the Islamic culture in the Iberian Peninsula. Through history we know that the Jews and Muslims of Spain were either killed or forcefully driven out during the Reconquest, and the dispersion of the Banu Hydal family shows this.
The intense action also involves a rather violent mixing of the past, present and future. Towards the end of the novel, characters desperately trying to grapple with their imminent destruction describe this moment as a sort of collapsing in of past, present and future into one moment of destruction. Umar, realizing his town and his family is about to be destroyed, thinks “Their homes, their past, their friends, their future, everything has been destroyed,” (230). In this sense it’s like time is collapsing in on itself in this one catastrophic moment. This furthermore now brings attention to Ali’s treatment of time throughout the novel: is this strictly a historical fiction piece? Or is he playing with time more liberally, suggesting that the barriers between the past, present and future are not as solid as they may at first appear?
Revenge, how is it Justified
ReplyDeleteOn p.214-15, Ibn Basit tells the Hudayl family of Zuhayr’s challenge with Don Alonso. In the duel Zuhayr wins fairly but nonetheless a bounty is put out on his head, the Christians outraged at his victory wanting revenge. Zuhayr’s “moral” and chivalrous stance concerning war coincides with his familial beliefs (there is the story of his grandfather inviting defeated foes to dine with him). This chivalrous mentality seems to be ingrained in the culture of the Moorish people.
Prior to this exchange, the re-conquest of Spain has been taking place. With this comes the destruction of culture and the Moors way of life. I would think it’s fair and justified that the oppressed Muslims, now pushed into a corner, would fight back or at least not go down quietly. This may have some connection to Abu Zaid and his renegade/guerilla tactics in war, which include ambushing the Christian soldiers from the mountains after Zuhayr’s duel. This less chivalrous practice enrages the Christians who in turn blame Zuhayr, which leads to the destruction of Al-Hudayl.
The question of why the Christians feel the need to get revenge is hard to justify. The Christians are not chivalrous themselves, and it is mentioned many times in the novel how they went back on their word of letting the inhabitants of Spain keep their religion and culture. “I wish now that many centuries ago, we had treated you as you have treated us” (p.234). Perhaps they expected the Muslim people to play fair in war, but by eradicating the roots of the culture that promotes chivalrous combat it is not surprising that the oppressed people fighting back use guerilla tactics. At this point, the Christians wanting revenge for the Muslim resistance using underhanded tactics seems unjustified, as their actions caused it.
Whether or not the Christians choice to exact revenge on the Hudayl family is justified or not, they go ahead and do it. On p.227 Cortes orders his men to kill all the women and children in the town to which one man refuses, arguing it is wrong to kill the innocent. “If you kill their men, the women and children will become filled with a blind hate of everything Christian…and become a poison under our skin.” Here the Christians are thinking two steps ahead and trying to break the cyclical tendencies of revenge. While it is true that the killing of women and children will prevent them from plotting revenge on the Christians in the future, it is the actions of the Christians in Spain as a whole that started this whole chain of events. In this way the Christians almost validate what they are doing, with the destruction of an entire culture and its people being justified, in part, by getting revenge.
It would easier, however, to view the Christians being justified with their revenge if they had not initiated the whole conflict. The Muslims fighting back against the Christian armies is a justifiable “revenge” because their homeland was tarnished without provocation. The Christians killing everyone in Al-Haduyl based on a premise of revenge is wrong, and it doesn’t seem to be any different from genocide.
How important is a book title anyway?
ReplyDeleteI would imagine it would be very vital for an author and publisher in order to grab the attention of a possible reader. And although Tariq Ali’s title, Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, is very captivating and inquisitive, one has to read the book to understand the context and value of the shadows of the pomegranate tree.
This first stuck out to me when I came across the sections where Ama is speaking with Yazid. “Oh my son,’ sighed Ama. I was talking to the shadows of the pomegranate trees. At least they will be here when we are gone.” (p.9) The shadows of the pomegranate tree openly reflect the circle of life that Ama first describes. It represents the Muslim culture, Islamic community, and specifically the people of the Umar’s household. His family and his workers have lived there for years and his grandfather, Ibn Farid, planted the pomegranate trees and other plants that they are surrounded by himself. The shadows of the pomegranate trees will always be there and signify how even though one’s body can be gone the memory will still live.
The shadows of the pomegranate tree also bring about a romance that is filled by the family. It is not only of new memories but old ones too; and it where lives and sensation take off. “The pomegranate grove?’ asked Zahra faintly, trying to control her heartbeats. ‘The clump of trees just before the house is visible when you’re returning from the village? When you lie flat on the ground does it still feel as if one is underneath a tent of pomegranates with a round window at the top? And when you open your eyes and look through it, do the stars still dance in the sky?” (137) Zahra is delighted by Hind’s talk of her and Ibn Daud’s encounter under the pomegranate trees and her memory of love and excitement returns to her. These shadows under the trees are in a sense like a web. They capture the most passionate parts of this family’s life and their secrets are woven into the thickness of the branches.
The pomegranate trees bring the books overall theme and genre in a sense into one. It encompasses the Muslim’s life and culture. Although a tree can be lifted by the roots its deep impact on the earth will never be forgotten.
The Art of War in Shadows of thePomegranate Tree
ReplyDeleteWarfare is a concept deeply embedded in any culture and Tariq Ali portrays various types of warfare throughout the novel. To many Muslim characters the war with Cisneros and the Catholic Church seems to be a new type of warfare altogether; one that is physically brutal and psychologically damaging. The character's face not only death but the destruction of their culture, demonstrated through ideas such as book burning and forced conversion. Both sides of the battle seem to feel the movement away from chivalry and into ravenous war tactics.
When Zuhayr is in the city of Gharnata he meets with his converted uncle Ibn Hisham. At this point in the story Zuhayr has left Banu-Hadyl and become engaged with a developing army in Gharnata. He offers some advice to Zuhayr in regards to warfare; "In this new world which we inhabit there is also a new way of dying. In the old days we killed each other. The enemy killed us and it was over" (Ali, 205). Here Ibn Hisham is highlighting how this specific destruction of the Islamic culture is much more painful and cruel. Instead of coming in a large army and wiping out an entire race of people, this battle is full of empty promises of safety and the slow destruction of culture.
The physical fighting seems to take on an entire new perspective also. Zuhayr meets the Christian army in battle and challenges Don Alonso to one-on-one combat. After winning the combat the Muslim army unexpectedly charged the Christians and slaughtered most of them. Umar, upon hearing this story he states "But that is against the rules," (Ali, 214). This demonstrates the changes in warfare between generations. It is the first time in the novel that a Muslim character sets chivalry and nobility aside for the defense of his culture and religion, which seems surprising since the reader has watched many terrible events happen to the characters throughout the book.
A Legacy
ReplyDeleteA very important component of the novel’s theme of the devastating nature of imperialism comes in the epigraph. Twenty years after the conquering of al-Hudayl, the young captain has traveled across the Atlantic to part of the New World, where we find out that he is Hernando Cortes, the infamous conquistador responsible for the fall of the Aztec Empire.
Ali’s decision to include this epigraph highlights one of the main ideas present throughout the novel: the conquering of a people leads to the destruction of a unique culture. If becoming part of Umar’s family’s life, and then watching it disappear, isn’t enough to make the reader see how conquering a land means taking over a people and their culture, then the epigraph clears it all up.
As an American, I was more exposed to the Spanish conquest that devastated cultures in the Americas than I was to anything about Moorish Spain. The novel clearly illustrates the effects of imperialism on a culture, but by drawing the connection from events in Gharnata to those in Central America, Ali demonstrates the span of the conquest and makes it easier to understand its effects. Presented with the very beginning of the conquest in Central America, the readers know what lies in store for the Aztec Empire because we just witnessed this same captain kill Yazid and his family.
The epigraph also works to point out the greed that drives imperialism. The easiest driving force for to pick up on in the novel is the religious, but it is more than the Catholics wanting to save the souls of those they consider unfortunate heathens. The end of the epigraph notes the wealth of the city and the richness of the nation, a fact that makes Cortes smile (240). With no mention of religion, it’s clear that motives have changed and expanded; the Catholics are looking for gold and clearly will employ ruthless tactics.
The economics of imperialism are mentioned in the novel only in passing, but obtaining wealth is clearly an important goal for the Catholics. After converting to Christianity, a person’s wealth becomes property of the Church, just as people fleeing the country have to leave their possessions behind. Greedy and devastating, the Catholics nearly eliminated entire cultures in their conquests, a fact that Ali makes sure to remind us went well beyond the walls of al-Hudayl and affected countless families like Yazid’s.
Cortes and The Epilogue
ReplyDeleteIn Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree, Tariq Ali focuses on a fictionalized account of Moorish Spain in the late fifteenth century and the Catholic war on the Islamic religion and culture. However, in the epilogue of the novel Ali introduces a new conflict—the conquest of Mesoamerica. In the epilogue, Ali reveals the identity of the sixteen year-old Castilian Captain who burns Al-Hudayl to the ground and kills Umar, Zubayda, and Yazid as the teenaged version of the infamous conquistador Cortes.
Epilogues usually remind me of afterthoughts; written after an author has already finished the main plot and storyline of the book, they usually serve to tie together any loose ends the author did not get to within the main plotline of the book. So why does Ali choose to reveal such a huge character within the epilogue of the book?
In the last chapter of the novel, when al-Hudayl is being destroyed, the young Captain’s name is not revealed. Instead, Cortes is referred to as “the red-headed beardless captain” (225). Perhaps this because, within the historical fiction novel, Ali wanted to focus solely on the history—the Catholic domination of Moorish Spain. If Ali had named the Captain as Cortes, readers undoubtedly would have been distracted by extraneous thoughts of the destruction of Aztec culture in Mesoamerica.
However, Ali reminds readers within the epilogue that the destruction caused by religious conflict is not limited to Moorish Spain. Having concluded the story of Umar’s family, Ali extends the conflict at the heart of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree beyond the boundaries of the novel’s pages within the epilogue, reminding readers that this “historical” novel is not constricted by one place or time. Violence caused by the lack of tolerance for different religions and groups of people is not just limited to Moorish Spain, but continues as the Spanish conquer Mesoamerica. And, even though Ali’s novel was first publish in 1992, it continues to be relevant today as post-9/11 America continues to struggle with the Christian vs. Muslim mentality central to Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree.
August Heinrich
ReplyDeleteEnglish 241
Blog Post 3
Umar, Zuhayr, and Yazid portray the role of a strong male in the Banu Hudayl, but in very different fashions. Umar acts as the voice of reason. He carefully surveys the situation facing Al Hudayl and openly, and repeatedly, defers the dilemma to fellow Moors to determine the best course of action. Umar responds to Christian threats of brutality with gentle diction, and acknowledges the moral impurity of the Christians manifested by their violent oppression of the Banu Hudayl and the extermination of their way of life. He is only violent when necessary, as he acts in the final battle against The Captain and his soldiers when his village was under attack. At home, he is fair and kind to his wife and children, who share input in family affairs, and he doesn’t discriminate or mistreat the women of the family.
Zuhayr acts as the warrior of the family, as his age appropriately resembles. He is in a stage of life where he is beginning to discover his identity. Zuhayr is determined to prove himself as a man and can become too blinded by vanity to question his decisions; which is the case when he is offended by Abu Zaid al-Ma’ari’s remarks about his religion. Though he is headstrong and impulsive, he’s focused on the protection and safety of his family first and foremost. Although he’s not the head of the household, Zuhayr feels a strong responsibility for the well being of his family and his village, and resolves to risk his life for their safety.
Yazid develops a fantastic amount in his character by the end of the novel. He was attached like a toddler to his parents, spending most of his time harassing the adults or his siblings to play a game or entertain him. As the tone of the novel grew more solemn, and the threat directed at Al-Hudayl gained became more true to reality, Yazid became more reserved. He concealed his emotions and became more reserved, and spent progressively more time in the tower reading. By the end, facing the sword, he was brave enough to maintain his composure and offer his conqueror to stay over as a guest, as his father once told him was the proper course of action. Arguably the most courageous character in the finale of the novel, Yazid accepts his death with a weak, half-smile, and dies morally superior to the Christian army.
Zuhayr's Masks
ReplyDeleteIn the second half of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree the tension between the Catholics and Muslims in Islamic Spain finally comes to a climatic point, leading to a battle within the city of Gharnata and the eventual massacre of the Banu Hudayl family and the destruction of their estate. Zuhayr’s arrival immediately afterwards is one of the most ironic scenes of the novel; Ali chooses to have the eldest son of the family, who left to fight to the death in hopes of protecting his faith, arrive after his relatives and acquaintances have perished at the hands of Catholic soldiers. Instead of breaking down and crying, Zuhayr instead practices Islamic customs with a calm demeanor as he buries his father and brother in the family graveyard. Despite the dramatic scene he has just encountered, Zuhayr continues to embody the ideal caricature of a young revolutionary. The casualties of battle do not sway him and he continually stresses to Dwarf that he longs to remember the house he left behind by stating, “Let us remember it as it used to be” (238).
Yet, it is during the conversation that Dwarf and Zuhayr have right after discussing the terrible events that have just transpired that readers begin to see behind the façade that Zuhayr has been hoping to hide behind. He subtly reveals his emotional weakness to Dwarf when he stresses that it is the past he “wants” to remember, but instead hints that he cannot and struggles to be the leader he has arisen to (238). Although he continues to act like the powerful soldier and defender of the faith that he has built himself up to be, Ali is finally able to humanize Zuhayr because of this traumatic event. In the last lines of Chapter 13 Zuhayr discloses that he no longer fully believes in his faith. He feels that Allah has failed him (239). Despite leaving behind his family, directly contributing to their slaughter by the hands of the Catholics, and fighting to protect the rights and culture of Islam throughout Spain his God has let him down and destroyed the few parts of his life he held dear. Ali creates Zuhayr into a three-dimensional character who puts on a mask to continue acting like the Muslim rebel he longed to be, despite the fact that he has matured into a young man that has finally discovered that the world is not a fair place.
Ali, in fact, even goes as far to include a revealing letter from Zuhayr to Hind to fully explain and characterize Omar's eldest son. Zuhayr's true characteristics were not fully understood and somewhat revealed until the last few pages of the text, thus the letter allows readers to gain a real insight behind the concept of war figures and leaders who are seemingly stoic and completely dedicated to the cause. This letter to Hind refutes these stereotypes while simultaneously uncovers how Zuhayr has grown up quickly and become a man. Zuhayr notes and understands his previous flaws of being easily manipulated and willing to wholeheartedly commit himself to a cause, yet he also reveals that this time of war against the Catholics has made him recognize that things are much more complicated than that; he has had to lie about who he was and what he believes to keep moving forward (238). Zuhayr sums up his tactics in these trying times quite simply revealing that he has come to wear a mask and has been pretending to be the revolutionary figure he for so long desired to be. He has built himself up to a position of leadership and has had to act rather than simply be the ideal Muslim defender he created. These concept of masks introduced in the final pages of the novel allows Ali to fully reveal the effects that war can have on people and the characters average citizens look to embody; Zuhayr, therefore, is defined as a prime example of a war time hero who soon learns he is not the ideal person he has longed to be.
The ending of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was really unsettling. I assumed that at least some of the family would have to die at the hands of Christian soldiers; I had prepared for it, and being a historical novel it seemed almost essential. However, the death of Yazid was really shocking, and in my opinion very unnecessary. Perhaps that opinion comes from the fondness I found that I had for Yazid by the end, but I don’t see why Tariq Ali didn’t just send him to live with Hind, or Kulthum, or anybody else, and spare him his tragic death. True, he was loyal to his father and his religion until the end, which definitely demonstrates to the reader how devoted the Muslims were to Islam; for me, it also works to dehumanize the Christian soldiers more than any other scene in the book. The fact that Yazid was slain moments after inviting the soldiers to eat dinner at his home makes the soldiers out to be true animals; who else could slaughter a little boy? Although I may understand Ali’s potential intention behind the death, it doesn’t make me feel any better about it.
ReplyDeleteThe epilogue of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was unexpected as well. I never would have guessed that the captain who devastated Gharnata would turn out to be Hernan Cortes. He was a very prominent historical figure, one that many readers would be familiar with; but without Ali including the epilogue, I would never have made the connection between the Spanish Inquisition and the fall of the Aztec Empire. This is a perfect example to show the great impact that different historical events have on each other; if the Spanish Inquisition had never happened, then perhaps the Aztecs would have been left alone as well, and the world would be drastically different. The book demonstrates that the cruelty of the Christians ensures we will never know.
Something we discussed a little in class is the difference between “Mohametanism” and “Islam.” Mohametanism was a term primarily used by Christians, who wrongfully believed that Muslims worshipped the prophet Mohammed; in reality, Muslims worship “Allah,” which is the Islamic term for the Christian word “God.” The Christians rampaged against the Muslims, calling them filthy and disparaging their religion, but both Christianity and Islam are monotheistic religions, and aren’t all that different from each other after all. Furthermore, by using the term Mohametanism, the Christians were insulting them on a whole new level; by refusing to refer to them by the names they chose, they simultaneously stripped the Muslims of their Arabic identity.
Historical Distortions
ReplyDeleteAs Umar points out, "if we had used our iron fists to deal with Christianity the way you treat us now, this situation might never have arisen" (68) is indicative of the benign methods in which the Islamic people ruled over Spain before the Reconquest. However, said acts of kindness could not protect even the most innocent of Islam--Yazid. Slaughtered by someone nearly as young as he, the corrupt forces of Cisneros' Christian forces have stripped Yazid of his life and briefly, his innocence, a thread common throughout the narrative. Bearing witness to the evil that Christianity brought to al-Hudayl, Yazid develops a darkness, evidenced by his retort to the prepubescent captain: "I wish I had a dagger...For I would run it through your heart. I wish now that many centuries ago, we treated you as you have treated us," (234). The carnage that is left behind by the evils of Christianity momentarily instills within Yazid a hatred, which is described as being the poison that could destroy the newly powerful Christian presence in Spain, as purported by the captain.
Today, the majority of the western mindset does view the Orient through this lens, and it shows that, historically, there is no worse religion--all religions have blood on their hands. The Reconquest is only one incident in the past that is indicative of the deviltry of Christianity, however, it should not wholly be described as such. Similarly, "9/11" is just one incident in the past that is indicative of the deviltry of the generalized western perception of Islam should not be a synecdoche to understand the culture of the middle east. Ali uses this book to highlight that religions are not good or bad, people are good or bad, and evil comes from within the human, not from a system of belief.
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ReplyDeleteZuhayr: The Moorish Don Quixote
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter nine I was intrigued by the similarities between Shades of the Pomegranate Tree and The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miguel Cervantes. When Zuhayr embarks on his journey to Gharnata, he exhibits similar heroic and Romantic qualities to Don Quixote when he travels as a knight errant. The two texts begin to converge when Zuhayr says his final farewells to Yazid and the Al-Hudayl household (Ali 147).
Zuhayr makes references to nature throughout his final farewell speech that produces powerful imagery for the reader, illustrating the environment that surrounds his family’s mansion. He describes the landscape as it evolves through the seasons in Romantic terms when he says, “in the heat of the summer when the gentle sound of a single drop of water soothes the mind and cools the senses”, and “the heady mountain air filtered through the pines and the majesty of the palms as they dance to the breezes from heaven” (Ali 148). Dramatically, he ends his speech and gallops triumphantly through the gates while his family watches in tears.
The most direct connection I found between the two novels was Zuhayr’s self-reflection following his speech. He, like Don Quixote, was “brought up on a thousand and one tales of chivalry and knighthood”, and “…the romance of a last battle, of riding out into the unknown, taking the enemy by surprise and, who knows, perhaps even winning a victory” are all the same essential motives for Don Quixote’s career in knighthood. The inspiration that led to Don Quixote’s misadventures also “inspired [Zuhayr’s] impulsive behavior” (Ali 148). Unlike Don Quixote of La Mancha however, he claims that his impulses are not solely driven by fantasy or “dreams of glory” (Ali 148).
Later, when he is speaking to Ibn Basit, he receives the same criticism that Don Quixote received by those who witnessed his actions. It was evident to the reader that Don Quixote was incredibly well-versed in history and the tenets of chivalry, but his ambition blinded him from accurately perceiving his reality. Ibn Basit tries to awaken Zuhayr by saying that “Chivalry is a thing of the past – that is if it ever really existed and was not a chronicler’s invention” (Ali 161-162). The narrative style of Don Quixote itself is a fictional chronicle, supposedly chronicling the life of a chivalrous knight errant during a time when chivalry and knight errantry were already extinct. I believe that Tariq Ali is alluding to Don Quixote in this passage as a reminder to the reader that the Muslim resistance to the Inquisition was in itself a fantasy, and there was little hope for the Al-Hudayl family to sustain their lifestyle.
"Cortez The Killer"
ReplyDelete“He came dancing across the water” is a line from the song ‘Cortez the Killer’ made famous by Neil Young, a Canadian folk/rock singer. The song focuses on the Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes who is known for being murderous to the people he conquered. The epilogue of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree reveals that the ‘victor of al-hudayl’ is the famous explorer who would become the subject of Young’s song. The song echoes very similar characterization as the book of Cortes. Both are two separate accounts of Cortes, one when he is younger, roughly sixteen and the other when he is older.
First comparison is how Cortes acts to being welcomed. In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree Ubaydallah who tells Cortes that he will gather up people to convert to Christianity welcomes Cortes. He ultimately destroys the city and kills everyone. In the song Cortez the Killer the lyrics talk about how Montezuma welcomes Cortes, ‘On the shore lay Montezuma, with his coca leaves and pearls’. This gives us a nice imagery of how the Aztecs welcomed the new people and how ignorant they were to how vicious the Spanish actually were. History tells us that Cortes would capture and imprison Montezuma taking his land and giving it to Spain.
The books interpretation of Cortes seems to foreshadow to how conquistadors like Cortes would ultimately go to the Americas and wipe out the people there. In Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree Cortes wipes out all the people of al-hudayl without any regret. Then he would grow up and then travel over to the Americas and take over the land, and wipe out a culture completely. A shadow of the Pomegranate Tree’s last scene is his schooling on how to kill a culture.
The one thing that the song does but the book does not is humanizing Cortes. After the first chorus the song shifts to a first person point of view of Cortes. He talks about a girl that he loves while on his expeditions in Mexico. ‘And I know she's living there and she loves me to this day’ here he is talking about a girl that he loves and how he longs for her. He then says ‘I still can't remember when or how I lost my way.’ Which humanizes Cortes quite a bit by having him say that he does not know where he went wrong. This girl must of left when she saw how he treated other cultures. When he asks where he went wrong we could look to Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree to find that answer. He was a young man who was looking for glory and he found it in the inquisition.
The Neil Young song is in no way a historical account of Cortes due to the fact that he wrote it in history class in high school yet it does offer some interesting takes of Hernan Cortes. We can see that Young thinks that everyone Good or Evil has regrets and feels like other human’s pain and loss. It may be this humanizing idea that Cortes needs to truly see where he went wrong. I like the song a lot due to its very dark sound and progressive rock heaviness. The lyrics are very poetic and interesting, but it’s meaning that really affected me. The book takes a very dark turn when it is revealed that the captain was Hernan Cortes because it shows that the man who committed such atrocities in al-hudayl will go on and commit even more equally damaging atrocities.
"Force Vs. Nobility"
ReplyDeletePart 2 of Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree was truly a shocking and moving ending to an incredible novel. I was really shaken by the ending and how each character was able to handle the change of their society and the collapse of their world. As we discussed in class the microcosm of Zuhayr’s forgiving actions towards the Christian’s in sparing their lives as opposed to the Christians who acted in utter and complete destruction. Which in a larger sense speaks to the general beliefs and culture of the Muslim’s in acting through nobility rather then force. I was interested in further exploring this microcosm and found it interesting how the essence and embodiment of nobility is shown through a number of characters all at different stages of life.
To begin, we are given the character of Don Inigo who is shockingly a converted character, and yet he much rather abstain from the use of force through the killing of his Muslim practicing family. Then we have the character of Umar, who goes as far as to acknowledge the fact that he had treated the Christians with respect by even accepting them into his home instead of rudely kicking them off of his land, which they will later do unto him. Umar is successful in instilling this notion into the minds of his sons, who act in extremely similar ways. I found this unbelievably beautiful how Zuhayr becomes almost a figurehead to the rebelling Muslims and despite his mistreatment, acts exactly as his father would have. Instead of killing a group of soldiers who would have easily killed him, he spares their lives out of honor. The final character that acts in this way is Yazid. One of the final scenes of the novel almost brought me to tears, as Yazid states to the Captain who has just relentlessly killed his entire family let alone village, “Would you like to stay at our house and be my guest tonight?”( Pg 234). Heartbreaking. Immediately after this, he is struck in the heart by an arrow and murdered.
To conclude, I felt that Tariq Ali did an exquisite job in embedding this moral statement into the novel. He clearly portrayed the juxtaposition between the Muslim’s peaceful and noble position versus the Christian’s forceful and ruthless one. Furthermore, I enjoyed how this was done through the eyes and perspective of characters at all stages of life, truly conveying the message in a number of different ways.