–The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?
–What seems to be the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan? What’s the relationship between the government and the villagers?
–Explain the shift in narratorial perspective in the final passages of the story? How does it change our own view of the text
–At the end of the story, the old man refers to his own son and says, “it is my hope that he will stay where his is and not return.” How do you explain this?
–What do you think this story’s ultimate perspective is on the issue of tradition vs. modernity?
The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?
– This depicts the way that the tree ultimately is sacred and a symbol of the village as a whole. Since every generation sees the tree at its full height and flourishing, it seems as if it is a sacred piece of land and as seen in the story, has a strong connection to the people of the village. The fact that he states that the tree “would grow up with them” further emphasizes the sense of connection that the people have with the tree, even referring to the tree as a companion or real friend. Ultimately, the life of the tree is synchronized with the lives of the people of the village that grew up with it and for this, the tree remains sacred to the people at a spiritual level. The tree mirrors the growth and independence of the village as well as the growth at a personal level to every person that lives by it.
I think the story’s ultimate perspective on the issue of tradition vs. modernity is that a society can have an equal mixture of both without one over powering the other. Throughout the story, the villagers continuously fought back against any attempts by the government to introduce some aspects of modernity, such as a train stop. They viewed the issue of tradition vs. modernity as it being one where they had to choose one over the other, and if they wanted to preserve their tradition, it meant having to sacrifice any forms of modernity. Towards the end of the story however, the narrator says, “‘What all these people have overlooked is that there’s plenty of room for all these things; the doum tree, the tomb, the water-pump, and the steamer’s stopping-place'” (824). This quote shows that the village could have been able to preserve their tradition of the doum tree while also embracing some aspects of modernity that could help the village. However, they chose to completely fight back against modernity, demonstrating how sometimes, people can become so entrapped in their traditional beliefs that they refuse to budge when faced with the growing modernity of society.
What do you think this story’s ultimate perspective is on the issue of tradition vs. modernity?
The ultimate perspective on the issue of tradition vs modernity in this story would be a conflict arising of modernity trying to take over tradition. It is showing this because the villagers in the story have this tradition of seeing the Doum Tree of Wad Hamid and tend to believe in a source of their own health and ancestry. For many generations the tradition stays consistent and is in the roots of the people. On the opposing side, Modernity is a period of change in both socially and politically. In Sudan the new parliament having politicians with more of the world cynical views. Near the conservative village they intend to build a steamer because of the self interest to making more money. The village traditions are built towards for a benefit of the whole village. Later, Sudan has a conflict with deciding what they can do with Doum Tree Of Wad Hamid around. The values between modernity and traditions are being clashed.
–The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?
What I make of this quote is that there is a great relationship between the doum tree and the new generation. I think that it means that as the new generation grows up, they learn new things about the doum tree’s “powers” and thus get closer to it spiritually. Growing up with the doum tree imlies the sacredness of the tree since everyone has different types of connections with it at different times.
–At the end of the story, the old man refers to his own son and says, “it is my hope that he will stay where his is and not return.” How do you explain this?
I think the old man says this, because his son chose to go away. The old man’s town does not like outsiders, especially those who try to bring modern ideology. Since his son chose to study in the city where modern ideology is dominant, perhaps the old man does not want his son to bring back those ideas to the town. Especially because the town is very spiritually connected to the tree, perhaps the old man believes his son and his newfound ideas would spoil that sacredness. Additionally, the old man wants people that live in the town to remain supportive of the tree, and would not want to risk having his son come back to try and tear it down similar to people that have tried in the past.
The story’s perspective on the government in Sudan is that the government has the power to take over the property and change it the way they want it. The relationship between the government and villagers is that the government tried to cut down the Wad Hamid tree to put monuments and rails to prevent people from going over it. Throughout the story, the villagers protect the tree so that the government does not harm it. They attacked the government and threw them over the river for the tree to stay. The villagers valued the tree so much that they had mosquitos to prevent anyone from harming the tree. But the government locked the villagers up and still cut down the tree. Overall, the relationship between the government and villagers is that the government has the power to make changes to other property while the villagers fight to protect anyone from changing it.
In the final passages of the story, the narratorial perspective changes from the older man to the younger boy and this changes my view of the text because it makes you realize why the older man is even telling the boy about the tree, and its significance in the village, in the first place. Because this passage focuses a lot on the traditional vs. modernity, I think the shift in narrative is important in the sense that children, or younger people in society, are what determines whether or not traditions continue into the future. With the younger boy’s perspective coming into play, we can see how impacted he is by what the older man is telling him and this in turn might lead to the younger boy ‘s appreciation and preservation of this particular village’s traditional/cultural lifestyle.
At the end of the story, the old man refers to his own son and says, “it is my hope that he will stay where his is and not return.” How do you explain this?
In the story, we learned that the village disliked outsiders from the story and that was one of the possible reasons why they have been rejecting the streamer to be built. They believed in the old style, for example, they would rather ride on donkeys instead of having the streamer built and use that for traveling. And so, the son left the village to study, to the old man, the son has now become an outsider and possibly a betrayer. The old man didn’t want his son to come back because he is a stranger now. It is possible that if the son comes back, he might influence the villagers to be more modernized, and more people will leave the village.
I think the old man was trying to say that he doesn’t want anything modern like the lifestyle or the technology to come to the village. The old man respects his son’s decision to move to the town, but he doesn’t want his son coming back because it might cause the modern and the traditional life to mix. The modern life with the new ideas and technology might change things in the old man’s life that he is currently happy with. He likes his traditional life, like believing in the tree and using donkeys to get around. However, if his son comes back, people might get interested in modern life and leave. Also, I think the old man was already unhappy with the dome and iron railings around the sacred tree, so he doesn’t want more modern influence to come into his life. The old man prefers things to stay traditional and doesn’t want anything to interfere with that, even if it is his son.
–The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?
I think that it means that once somebody in the village finds the Doum tree, they admire it. Then as they are growing up, they visit it constantly, so they feel like they are growing up alongside the tree. Once they are older, they can look back and reflect on the times that they spent visiting and growing up alongside the tree. This reminds me of going to places that you grew up around, like landmarks, and remembering how much bigger everything once was. Then when you’re older, things seem smaller, but you remember the experiences you once had with them while growing up.
What seems to be the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan? What’s the relationship between the government and the villagers?
the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan is that the government is more modern than the traditional views in the village. the relationship between the government and the villagers is that the villagers doesn’t like the government imposing on their village and the government uses the village for show. For example, when the steamer came into the village and told the villagers to move the date, they go make sacrifices at the tree. This show that the government doesn’t understand the traditions that the villager believes in and shows a disrespect for their traditional beliefs. Also, towards the end of the story when there was outrage for the government due to a public awareness for the situation. The government used the village to gain favor in the public by honoring the Doum Tree.
What seems to be the story’s perspective on the government in newly independent Sudan? What’s the relationship between the government and the villagers?
The relationship between the government and the villagers is not a good one. The villagers want the Doum tree to stay where it is, it is vital for them. The government does not respect the villagers traditions and wishes to keep the Doum tree but wants to built a steamer to make business and modernize the village overall.
The narrator tells us that “every new generation finds the doum tree as though it had been born at the time of their birth and would grow up with them.” What do you make of this?
I would make of this quote from the narrator is that every generation has their own interpretation of the doum tree no matter what generation they are. It is almost like the doum tree is ageless and it is up to any generation to interpret it. No matter what the time is set for the doum tree it will always appeal to the generation that is set during their time.