Zaat Assignment #5: The Giving Man

Early Years

Every day Aziz dreads the idea of traveling the three plus hours to school from the comfort of his large but humble home in Heliopolis. He believes school is for the weak at heart, which of course, he is not. He sees no point in wasting his time traveling there, then heading straight to the camps in which he devotes his precious hours giving people the gift of his time. Unfortunately for him, his parents value the importance of a well-rounded education and believe that Aziz will succeed as a strong communist man if and only if he finishes his education. That, and only that, is the reason why Aziz travels the three plus hours to get to this dreaded place. Yet despite his parent's wishes, he questions the validity of a strong education after hearing a claim stating that a plumber and a doctor reportedly receive the same salary. As a result, he decides to slack off in his studies since he sees no importance in continuing them.

Studying

At the age of thirteen Aziz is assigned a tutor. Despite his protests and promises to improve his failing grades, his parents hire a boy named Essam to help him with his classes. Although Essam is two years younger, he is considered to be highly knowledgeable in all subjects and only desires 57 pounds, which is a great deal for Aziz's frugal parents. After just a few weeks working with Essam, Aziz’s grades have improved greatly and he has learned the value of receiving a good education.

Attraction

Aziz meets Essam’s older sister, Safiya, as they are leaving school. Although Safiya does not say much, he can tell she, just like many of the other girls, admires his attractive facial features: his chocolate brown eyes inherited from his mother and his strong jawline from his father.  

Safiya

Aziz begins sneaking out of his house in the middle of the night to visit Safiya as their bond grows stronger.

Final Year

Aziz graduates school with the highest of honors and grades, however, he gives up college to help others, just like a good communist man should do.

Marriage

He declares his desire to marry Safiya and moves her to Alexandria with him. She is offered a job in Saudi Arabia as a teacher yet he does not allow her to take the job. She is forced to look for a job closer to Alexandria, with the help of Aziz.

Illiteracy

He discovers the world of adult illiteracy and is compelled to educate the people. He invites Safiya and her companion, Zaat, to accompany him and act as teachers, even though the two have only received a partial education and Zaat suffers from a speech impediment. Zaat leaves immediately after the first session due to her inability to tolerate the incapability of the men to distinguish between masculine and feminine demonstratives.

Children

Safiya and Aziz welcome two children into the world, Adel and Mustafa. Aziz soon spends every Saturday taking the children to camps to learn the satisfaction of helping workers and civilians, while Safiya is distracted with maintaining the well-being of their small, dilapidated flat, which is far from beautiful.

Her garbage is overflowing, forgotten from this week’s chores by the children, which threatens to attract vermin and other unwanted pests; she is consumed by the state of the middle class.

Money

Aziz soon regrets his decision to not continue with his education when the only item in the family’s fridge is a small carton of milk and leftover Koshari from a few nights ago, due to a drop in Aziz’s monthly salary from the camp. The family begins to feel the effects of insufficient schooling.

Following Footsteps

Adel begins to follow in Aziz’s footsteps regarding his schoolwork and begins to skip school. Aziz becomes nervous for his heir’s future, however, he cannot afford to hire a tutor like his parents did for him due to his lack of savings.

The Search

As the man of the family, Aziz concentrates on finding an additional job to finance his son’s education. 

He finds one in the meat-packing industry and begins the following day.

Childhood

Aziz is reminded of his childhood and does not want his son to follow in his footsteps... He receives his paycheck and pays for a tutor.

The Docks

Aziz and his family visit the docks. That day he gives away the saved money for his son’s tutoring and with it his son’s chances to receive a good education.

Death

Aziz lays in the hospital bed, finally accepting the idea that he will never be able to give his children what his parents gave to him: a sufficient education.

Word Count: 778

Zaat Assignment #4

1. After your reading up to 247, please make a connection between the news clippings of chapter 14 and the prose section of chapter 15.

In the news clippings, problems such as radioactive powdered milk, the spreading of foot and mouth by cattle, unsanitary meat, etc. all relate to the prose in chapter 15. This is interesting because normally the news clippings seem almost random and separated from the next prose, but in this case, the two corresponded with one another. On page 225, it mentions how Abdel Maguid was suffering from the side effects of eating too much unsanitary meat, "his breasts had filled out somewhat, and the hair surrounding them had grown thinner", which is mentioned in the news clippings on page 219 when it explains the side effects of feeding the poultry contraceptive pills. Another instance where the two correspond is on page 231 of the prose when Zaat is cleaning the tin and uncovers the old expiration date. This is explained on pages 222 and 223 when it says, "companies sell the [product] in its original packaging if the dates shown are still valid, otherwise they repack the [product] in bags carrying their own name and the date of repackaging". Through both of these quotes it is evident that there is a weak infrastructure in the food systems in Egypt.

2. Then, looking at pages 143 (Chapter 9) through page 247 (chapter 15) give examples of  how Ibrahim incorporates his criticisms of: religion, environment, and the economy--into the story/news clippings.  (does he use satire? characterization? contradictions? setting? metaphor? simile? )

Ibrahim is able to incorporate his criticisms of religion by employing the use of characterization in the prose section of the "machines". He included the scene where the women boycotted Zaat after she befriended Nadia to show the machines as well as the majority of the society's lack of acceptance of other religions, especially Christians. Through this he is able to highlight the Muslim culture's dislike for other religions and influence the reader to think the same way as he does. He indirectly shares his opinion of the environment and economy through contradictions especially in the news clippings. Earlier in the book he includes the correspondence between government officials who argue whether or not they have signed a deal, which shows his views on the government because the reader can decipher that he feels like the government lacks in communication. There are also contradicting statements over the environment and whether or not the cities are sanitary. 

3.  Can you find another example of "Absurdist Literature" at work? OR you can find an example of Satire -even if you used this in your previous answer.

An example of satire in the book is when Zaat witnesses a live birth when with Samiha in the city on page 153. This passage is satirical because it says, "the woman finished her food and stood up and two small rats leapt out from underneath her", and normally when people think of a birth they consider it to be a clean experience because they don't want to jeopardize the baby's health, but in this instance the women has her baby around rats who are considered dirty and disgusting. 

4. Finally, think of any character in the book thus far.  Imagine what their teenage life was like; make up a two line story....

Zaat sits alone in her room, imagining a future in which she could have the freedom to work and create a living for herself. Unfortunately this is not how society works, and she wonders how she'll ever find a husband who'll accept her and her forbidden dreams.