Re-thinking the Veil, Jihad and Home in Fadia Faqir’s Willow Trees Don’t Weep (2014)

Abstract

Abstract:In her latest novel Willow Trees Don't Weep(2014), the writer Fadia Faqir decided to go against the grain as a Muslim woman coming from the Middle East but lives in Britain and write about jihad, terrorism and Taliban. In this novel, the author negotiates meanings of secularism, fundamentalism, jihad, fathering, women and wars. The novel's protagonist, Najwa is torn between her mother's secularism and her father's religious fundamentalism. In her homeland, Amman, Najwa is different from many other girls of Amman because she does not wear the headscarf that represents hijab, a religious garment, in many Muslim countries. However, when she travels to Afghanistan to trace her father, Najwa meets women wearing the burqaa, a head-to-toe veil. This might be an unexpected re-consideration of this garment as a symbol of freedom because she met veiled women who are self-determined and emancipated from within. Therefore, this article sets out to explore how the novel's protagonist re-considers the veil, home and self-discovery.

The Adaptation of the Western Perspective (Don DeLillo) on Terrorism in Fadia Faqir’s Willow Trees Don’t Weep

“…Moreover, we cannot claim to have done a thorough examination of the literature if we ignore the unstable political environment. Sarnou (2017) discusses how Faqir's works have seen a boost in popularity in the West, owing to a growing interest in comprehending the "Others" who are seen as a danger to the West. In addition, Majed (2015) states that Faqir tries to integrate new themes into her work that have affected diasporic writing such as terrorism and Islam.…”

Trees as Safe Havens in Faqir’s Willow Trees Don’t Weep and Matar’s In the Country of Men

“…For example, Aini Soraya, attempts to reveal gender relations between male and female characters and categorizes these relations into three types: 'male domination', 'discrimination towards women' and 'violence against women ' (2016, 52). In another paper, Dallel Sarnou (2017) demonstrates "how the novel's protagonist re-considers the veil, home, and self-discovery" (155). Rizki Dewi Apriliani (2017) distinguishes two types of veil representation in the novel which includes the veil in the East, and the veil in the West (32).…”

“…They represent a source of comfort and solace in her exile. Dallel Sarnou (2017) elaborates: "Najwa's home was not Amman, neither Peshawar not even Durham where she ends residing. Najwa was looking for an emotional home where she could be re-territorialized after being exiled in all the places she went to" (158).…”