The Almond Tree is an agonizing story written by an ardent and eloquent writer Michele Cohen Corasanti. She is an Israeli born Jewish- American lady. She has a minute eye to keep herself well aware of the circumstances happening in the surrounding. Moreover, she has also visited a number of countries, so she knows the mankind more than an ordinary person. Humanity (It is the best defined as when one people suffer, we all suffer. We not only do share their pain but have equal pain) is above all religions. Corasanti has proved this statement candidly, and in an impeccable style. She has tenderness for humanity and more significantly for those human beings being crushed under subjugation and domination. She presents her valuable efforts done to unveil the Jewish atrocities and to synthesize this tale presumably being less callous than she has observed and analyzed, as she mentions “it took twenty years to write this novel”. But she also writes superbly that “past has a way of clawing its way out”. In this novel she tells the story through first person narrator, a protagonist, a great reader, thinker a math lover and a physicist who experiments and uses science for the cause of humanity. Ahmad presents his ordinary family (unable even to buy tickets, when they want to leave for Dror Detention Centre to meet their father) under wicked and ferocious control of Israelis. The continuous exploitation and violence of Jews make this Palestinian family homeless, landless, jobless and they are just left as stray cattle. The spiteful Israeli forces do not have any regard for human lives, and they have not only controlled Palestinian land, but their lives, identities, Professions, schools and even curriculum have also been overcome by them. Story has a romantic side also, which also seems throbbing in the beginning but it changes into triumph later on, though this triumph does not subsist for a long time. The second major debatable subject of this debut, “Knowledge” is a great blessing of divine power. Through this power and command the protagonist is able to solve every math problem given at competition to win scholarship. Where, despite Israeli’s malicious and unfair attitude and inflictions poured down upon him one after the other, his smartness enables him to move beyond the binary of disgust to the binary of equality and friendship. Corasanti mentions, “past has a way of clawing its way out”, similarly man has a way to demonstrate his abilities through knowledge and education, as Ahmad is capable to show his caliber through same ignited tool of knowledge which alternates the detestation of “sick” professor Sharon into friendship. It is a tool which attracts beautiful and generous Nora towards it and urges her to marry a post doctorate person. She is such an innocent character in the whole novel to lesson that all Jews are not equal, though generous one are rare in number, as another character Justice is there to prop up Palestinian and to do work for their better cause. The world needs more “Nora” and “Justice” to bring equality and peace in this world. Though this text has been taken similar to Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner yet Israelis’ complexity to consider Palestinians inferior make this book also similar to many other texts as Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, as Shakespeare’s play The Tempest, where in these texts west creates a Eurocentric binary considering Africans inferior, uncivilized and savage. Same is the case in this book, where Israeli binary includes Palestinians as terrorist, extremist, ruthless, bloodthirsty and devious also, and it is the binary which does not acknowledge Arabic language. Writer uses the title The Almond Tree which specifically shows writer’s sense and relation to land and ecology. She gives worth to human beings as well as land and its bits and pieces. Land is a source of livelihood not only for Palestinians but also for Israelis. This land and natural objects are a source of optimism and delight for humanbeings. This natural stuff can serve as best companion when no one is there to strengthen mankind as Ahmad mentions, “The Almond Tree was a blessing”. But Israelis have not only destroyed mankind; they are uprooting the trees also to make Palestinian land barren. Secondly, significance of the title can be estimated through its size as it was too big to watch the whole country when someone climbs over it, and it is the Shahida (the witness, the spectator) of the Jewish’ atrocities. Thirdly, it is important that philanthropist Nora has been buried under this tree. Corasanti also has a keen eye to observe inclination of the people towards natural objects, when she mentions a series of disease that can be brought under treatment with natural herbs and shrubs. Novel also shows how victimization leads towards extremism and terrorism. All the organizations have emerged against these atrocities and they are paying back for the blood of their dear ones. As they are not free to practice anything, or to utilize their minds for positive development, so they consider aiming at the enemy the only purpose of their lives. Therefore, despite confiscation of land and minds, people of Palestine and Gaza ought to free to do work autonomously for the positive development of the world. Moreover, Corasanti has a way to explicate things and an art of telling a story. She has knitted the story in a way that a reader cannot get away as long as he/she comes to end. She has successfully used literary technique of frame narrative devised by her own self and digression from different disciplines like history, politics, basic sciences and medical sciences which mould the story more motivating and attention-grabbing. These techniques also show writer’s knowledge and interest in various fields of life making literature as a cosmic field of knowledge that can take hold of all disciplines of life. Review by Uswa Nazir, a Phd student of Lahore university
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:48:36 +0000
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