subhampaudel2002

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“He was surprised by how easily his troops were defeated.” (7)

- Jean Sasson, Princess

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“In Islamic and Arab culture, a bottle symbolizes woman.” (213)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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“He will acquire a small revolver. He will make up his mind...” (204)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s bottle

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“When Munira had read the decree of her deliverance, every word of which was a missile, every letter a stone, she folded it with both her hands and let out a long, deep sigh.” (193)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s bottle

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Week#17 Blog

Munira’s Bottle by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (Page range:135-180)                         Word Count: 450

Summary: 

In this week’s reading, many shocking things happen and Munira’s boyfriend, Ibn’s true identity gets revealed and why he chose to play with her heart. Apparently, Ibn worked under Munira’s other brother, Yusuf, who is a high-ranking officer in the army. However, Yusuf abused his ranking and humiliated Ibn by making him clean his boots, wash the window blinds etc. even though that wasn’t Ibn’s job because he was an officer in the army and not a cleaner or servant. This bruised Ibn’s ego, especially after Yusuf spit on him for asking him if his sister is a writer and told him to keep things professional. Ibn sought for revenge so he planned to get closer to Munira and become her secret boyfriend. Even though Ibn had a wife and six children, he deceitfully charmed Munira and made her fall in love with him.

Critical Analysis:

The two quotes posted this week use foreshadowing and irony. The one that uses foreshadowing was “She saw a box of diapers in the back of his car. Did he have children and was only with her for pleasure?.”(158). I believe that, based on the fact that Munira found diapers on the back of Ibn’s car, Ibn will later on go on to shock Munira and will possibly reveal that he does indeed have children as he is a shady individual and we don’t know much about his past. The quote that uses irony is “Why did you go to such lengths to deceive me? Why did you insist on humiliating me in public, in front of my family and relatives and friends?” (178). Irony occurs when the outcome is opposite of what a character intended or expected to happen. This situation is ironic because Munira thought that Ibn was a loyal boyfriend and would never do anything to hurt her, but instead she finds out about his past and gets the opposite of what she expected him to be like.

Critical Analysis:

I thought this week’s reading was very exciting as I learned more about Ibn’s past every day I read more pages. And the ways he prepared to deceive Munira to finally get his revenge. I was sad too after Munira finds out about Ibn’s true past and faints only to wake up and be screamed at by her father and brothers because of the trap she fell into. It’s not like she knew what was going on as Ibn was a truly skilled con and practiced every move he would use against Munira to make her fall in love with him even more. I hope that Ibn is arrested and loses his job as an army officer since he played with a sensitive woman’s emotions.

[subhampaudel2002]

“Why did you go to such lengths to deceive me? Why did you insist on humiliating me in public, in front of my family and relatives and friends?” (178)

Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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“She saw a box of diapers in the back of his car. Did he have children and was only with her for pleasure?.”(158)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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“If he had found a humble stall selling women’s accessories in the Mecca souk, he would have had his hands on it, and his heart and his pocket too.” (143)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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Week#16 Blog

Munira’s Bottle by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (Page range: 60-135)                         Word Count: 426

Summary:

In this week’s reading, more information about Munira’s brother Muhammad and boyfriend Ibn-Dahhal is known. Munira’s brother was apparently brain-washed by a teacher when he was younger in school to follow extreme jihadist beliefs. This led him to go to Afghanistan when he grew older to fight in the war. After he came back he was still religious but started making money off of selling people islamic audio recordings and tickets to the Hajj. But when he became rich enough, he started a monopoly by buying stores from Yemeni people who had to leave Saudi Arabia because of their country’s position in the war. This made his image one of a powerful but a shady person. Information about Ibn-Dahhal’s past is also known as he was working under Munira’s other brother who was in the Army. Apparently, Munira’s other brother did something to Ibn which made him want revenge so he charmed Munira to deceive her. This is known as Munira is narrating her past.

Critical Analysis:

“Her eyes resembled the sea.”(102). This quote uses figurative language in the form of a metaphor since Ibn is telling Munira that her eyes resemble the deepness of the sea and is suggesting a likeness between the two.“She did not suspect her boyfriend, whose voice she had been addicted to for months, was simply casting a line into the swollen stream of her passion in order to entice her.” (117). This quote uses irony since Munira is shocked as she finds out something she never expected from her boyfriend. Which is that her boyfriend, Ibn, was simply charming her in order to make her connected to him physically and emotionally so when he showed his true colors she would be hurt much more and he would get his revenge from her brother.

Personal Response:

This week’s reading was very interesting and shocking as the past of Munira’s brother and boyfriend is known in the book. It helped explain why Munira’s brother acted so restrictive towards the women in the family and was even against his little brother putting oil on his hair and having quotes in English on the back of his car. Which he described as being welcoming of the infidels. All these behaviors were understandable after knowing Muhammad was a brain-washed jihadist in the past. It was also shocking how Ibn, Munira’s boyfriend, wanted revenge from her other brother who was in the army so he decided to go for his sister's heart. I am curious about what Munira’s other brother did to Ibn, that made him want revenge.

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“The gun in the back of his car was a sign of many more things that Ali had done in the past, about to come up.” (132)

- Yousef Al-Mohammed, Munira’s Bottle

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“She did not suspect her boyfriend, whose voice she had been addicted to for months, was simply casting a line into the swollen stream of her passion in order to entice her.” (117)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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“Her eyes resembled the sea.”(102)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s bottle

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“There is no response save the sad cooing of the pigeons as they warble despondently on the window ledge.” (79)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

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“You are a wonder. You are depths fathomed, a deed unexpected, a moment of blinding revelation, and with a flutter of your eyelash you shatter the moon into a million moons.” (71)

- Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s Bottle

[subhampaudel2002]

Week#15 Blog

 Munira’s Bottle by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed (Page range: 1-60)                         Word Count: 369

Summary:

In this week’s reading of Munira’s bottle, the author introduces Munira, who is an unmarried woman in her early-thirties from a wealthy family in Saudi Arabia, remembering her past. She was in graduate school and worked at a counseling center for abused females. She also wrote news for the local newspaper company. However, there’s a second Gulf war going on so the earlier setting was in a war-zone. Munira also had a secret affair with a Saudi soldier whose name is Ibn-Dahhal. They secretly dated while Munira was an undergraduate student in this sexually-repressed Saudi society. Munira also has a brother named Muhammad who was in Afghanistan fighting for jihadists against invaders. But apparently, pages 50-60 indicate that Ibn had problems with Munira’s brother in the past and will probably be revealed in next week’s reading.

Critical Analysis:

“The sky is white and clear, undisturbed by the shriek of F16s” (12). This quote uses figurative language in the form of personification. It gives the sky which is a non-living thing a quality which living-beings have which is the ability to be undisturbed. As in the sky being undisturbed by military jets.“She was very jealous of the love the father felt for his three daughters, especially the little one.” (40). This quote uses foreshadowing as it gives the reader a hint of what might happen later in the book. By talking about how a wife is jealous of the love her husband has for his daughters, especially for the little one, it indicates that there might be further confrontations between the wife and the daughters, especially with the little one.

Personal Response:

Munira’s Bottle this week was very interesting to me as the characters were being introduced with their complicated past. Munira is in her early thirties still unmarried which indicates to me that she or someone she dated or was supposed to marry must’ve done something shameful in the view of Saudi society. As women usually get married in their early to mid-20’s over there. Or maybe some kind of tragedy happened, who knows. Which is why I’m excited for next week’s reading as Munira dives deeper into her past life and things that caused her to be in her current position.

[subhampaudel2002]

“She didn’t expect her own father to throw her out the house.” (56) -Yousef Al-Mohaimeed, Munira’s bottle

#Irony