In the story, I believe Talib was conveying that even though tradition is an important, respected part of society, it will imminently be affected by modernity. In the story, Talib talks about all of the inconvenient ways of life in his village. He makes it clear that it is not easy to live there, and has many unpleasant aspects. But in this underdeveloped neighborhood, the Doum tree is the most respected and cherished part of their culture. This can especially be seen as people speak about having dreams of Wad Hamid and the Doum tree, and also the woman’s report of being healed because of the tree. But although the tree is very important to the village, which can be seen by the villagers relentlessly defending it against government officials who sought to cut it down, the Doum tree was eventually affected by modernity. This is seen when the government officials manage to block off the tree, in an attempt to memorialize it. The effect of modernity was also seen in how the narrator’s children ended up leaving the village to live in the city. This just goes to show that no matter to what extent a certain tradition is protected abd preserved, the effect of modernity will affect it one way or another.
Kaicy, You make an important point here by noting that, although the old man and the rest of the villagers offer a robust defense against modernization and are even willing to go to jail to protect their traditions, they can’t prevent modernity from reaching them, as we see from the changes to the doum tree you refer to in your post.