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Analytical Essay Echoes from the other land Ava Homa GHUM 1216 Melissa Mouck 100727853 Professor Homa November, 25, 2011.

In the scholarly analysis of Echoes from the other land by Ava Homa, the short story Fountain will be analyzed thoroughly. Depth is provided to characters through their relationships, dialogues and through the techniques and style of writing, this all contributes to the brevity of the story. The story Fountain is written in Third person limited point of view, this allows the reader to know what all characters are doing throughout the story, but the reader is unable to get into the mind of the characters. This is a very effective writing style in allowing the reader to think, and contemplate upon the characters and find out for themselves what characters are thinking, rather than simply stating what the character is thinking. as Ali yells at Anis about where the bank passbook it, Anis clenches her fist, without it being explicitly stated one can understand that, Anis is frustrated, or that Ali is causing her some anger.

The setting is an important aspect of the Story. Fountain takes place Tehran in the Capital city if Iran. Iran is a county viewed by the world as a society who holds highly the regard of a man dominated, controlling culture. It seems that in this country “Canonically, commonly and legally” (9) there is no way to escape the law. Iran is a country where women are arrested if her headscarf does not cover her head, while men are arrested if their shirts to not cover their stomach. Tehran is modernized compared to other rural areas in Iran. In the story of the Fountain one can understand that Women are not allowed to leave the house without their husband’s permission, many women oppressed, but one can see that men in Tehran do not seem to be so traditionally controlling on their wives. One can see that as Anis rejects the fiancé her father chooses for her, and decides she wishes to marry Ali, her father tells her she will never again step in her home Island of Qeshm ever again. We can see two different cultures within the Country of Iran. It is important to understand the differences in cultures in the setting, to understand the characters. One can see that Anis was raised in the more traditional area of the country yet migrated to the more liberal area, and had adapted to the less traditional culture of that city. The setting of which the Characters have been emerged in their entire lives creates a cultural context of which they are most likely to react to certain situations.

In the analysis of character traits, one can gain much knowledge of the characters general emotional attributes through the reading. In the case of Anis One can tell she is a strong willed, independent and intelligent woman. In the very first paragraph of the story Anis character begins to develop. We can see that Anis has a pill in her hand yet she throws it out and proceeds to tie a scarf around her head tightly, it is explained that lately she has been using the scarf to squeeze her head whenever it ached (2). One can see that Anis she does not take the simple route out of the pain, but choose a more homeopathic treatment of her headaches, another thing to notice about this is that Anis suffers from the headache Ali is yelling at her, and had been suffering from them lately, pointing to the fact that Ali causes her the headaches. Anis is a computer programmer. From this one can say that Anis is a modern, independent and intelligent woman, to have a job in a country where many women do not work. Throughout the story more and more incidences build up the independency and strong willed character of Anis. We see she is the only female to ever leave her peasant island of Qeshm to come to the large city of Tehran, to study in university. One can see Anis is different from other women in her society, she exceeds them in independence. One can see that Anis also exceeds other women in her society in her bravery, Anis goes against her fathers will when we marries Ali a man from Tehran, not her native Island of Qeshm, and rejects the fiancé her father proposes for her.

Ali is the husband of Anis. From the beginning of the Story it is clear that it is important to acknowledge that Ali is a traditional and controlling man. One can see that Ali is a controlling man through the dialogue that occurs on the first page, ““where’ve you put the bank passbook” he called out. Anis clenched her left hand. “I don’t have it.” “Find it,” Ali said and walked back to the bedroom.” (1) One can know that Ali is a traditional man from the text of “the headscarf was there for her to cover her had whenever she opened the door; this was how Ali made sure no man would see his wife’s hair.” (2). Through the Actions of Ali, the reader can see that he is a confident, egotistical man, who takes a great pride in presenting himself well, and exuding the perception of wealth. One can see this as he actually takes the time to examine himself in the mirror before going out something many men would not do, he also perfumed himself before walking towards the door. One may also observe that Ali copies his friend Esi, as she chugs down his drink. This shows that Ali enjoys blending with the society around him; showing why Ali is such a traditional man because he wants to fit into the culture that surrounds him.

The style and techniques used throughout the short story allow the readers to contemplate on the ideas; they allow some mystery, and some insight into characters you may have otherwise missed, and intrigues the reader to continue reading. Foreshadowing occurs throughout the story. One example is when Ali “noticed a drawing above the mirror. It was a cat looking into a mirror, seeing a lion in its refection. Ali removed it, tore it into pieces and put them in his coat… she had almost closed the door after then when Ali looked back. “Hey!” He put the pieces of the drawing in her palm and said “ Give me your cell mines dead.” (3) The cat/lion can be expressed as Anis, with her confidence at a high level, but Ali rips this apart with his demeaning attitudes towards her, it is a foreshadowing to Anis falling apart later in the story. Another experience within the story occurs on page 5 with the quote “Yalda night?” Esi asked. “Sounds familiar” “where the woman goes abroad…then divorces” “ Oh yeah didn’t we watch it?” “Yeah. Wanna watch it again?” “ I’ll look for it” Esi said, observing Ali through the corners of his eyes.” ( Homa,5) This is significant because one knows from daily living experiences, movies are not usually watched a second time or brought up again, unless they were excellently filmed or evoked a certain emotion in the watcher that is important to them. One observes that Ali brings up a movie about a women who goes abroad and divorces her husband, from this one can see this is on Ali’s mind, and it foreshadows that his wife may be planning to do this to him. Repetition occurs throughout the story as Ali sees a young couple, the repetition of seeing this young couple shows the reader that they are significant to Ali. The young couple is significant to Ali because they represent a younger Anis and Ali, as he is watching them it is continually seen that Ali seems to be thinking, contemplating upon Anis and his relationship. Repetition occurs throughout the story as Ali sees a young couple, the repetition of seeing this young couple shows the reader that they are significant to Ali. The young couple is significant to Ali because they represent a younger Anis and Ali, as he is watching them it is continually seen that Ali seems to be thinking, contemplating upon Anis and his relationship. Repetition also occurs that Ali is continually observing people who are like Anis. He observes a women in the park who looks like Anis, then he sees a couple who are a younger representation of Ali and Anis. Soon after the two men are walking down the street, as the pass a movie poster of the movie Cease Fire,-a movie about a couple having a rough patch in their relationship, where the girl ends up going to a psychiatrist to seek help, as Ali passes he frowns. One sees again and again throughout the story that Anis is constantly on Ali’s mind, he sees her in everything. At the end of the story a bit of a cliffhanger is used, the reader knows Anis had run away, but what next? Will she leave Tehran to go abroad? Divorce Ali? Come back home? They are questions that will never be answered; this is effective because it allows readers to contemplate on the story even after it has been read.

Throughout the Story dialogue is an important aspect. Dialogue allows one to see the character’s point of view, and how they interact with one another. Imagery is used as a technique to allow the reader to understand something without being told, as an unspoken dialogue between the author and the reader, this occurs throughout the story with the posture of the character, “The young couple passed them again; Ali slouched forward and gazed at them, one elbow resting on a leg, his chin in this hand(7).” This shows how Ali contemplates on the young couple. The dialogue that occurs through imagery occurs in the story multiple times, it is a key element to actually understanding the story and picking up on things one would otherwise miss. This imagery really allows the reader to be more a part of the story as they decipher the characters emotion through their posture or actions rather than the author simply stating it, or exposing it through a clear dialogue. With that said the Actual dialogue of the character is quite important as well, this allows the readers to see how the characters treat each other and associate with one another in their daily livings through speech. The title of the work is Fountain. The fountain is relevant to the story of Anis and Ali. The fountain represented a sort of cycle of life, with the ups and downs, but focused on the youthfulness of life, and Alis wishes to return to the past. First Ali notices a young woman who looks like Anis. The woman is specifically stated to be young, a representation of a younger Anis. Later Ali, sees a woman pushing a baby stroller, many people connect that young love to close to the time where couples bear children, the couple has no children, it seems that perhaps the reason Ali is observing this woman and not others in the park is because she has something he would like but has not obtained within his life. After Ali continually notices a happy young couple near the fountain enjoying it, from Ali’s actions it is clear the couple is a representation to him,Anis and is relationship in the past. It is important that it is understood that the fountain pertains to youthfulness, as one can understand more of Ali. One can see that although he is very controlling over Anis, very traditional toward what she can and cannot do, it may be because he loves her. Although Ali doesn’t show his love toward Anis that he does love her still. Evidence is shows that Ali still loves Anis even as he treats her without respect this is shown on page 13, “Ali stared into her black eyes. The eyes that he was trying to recall in the park where dewy now, eye that were his life once and were now.” (13) Ali is constantly thinking about his wife, Ali’s world seems to revolve around her. It seems almost that Ali is afraid, afraid that he knows she is too good for him, to highly educated, the breadwinner of their relationship, an independent woman. Ali feels guilty, and doesn’t know how to handle it so he takes it out on Anis. Ali is afraid, afraid that if he allows her to go abroad that Anis will leave him. It seems that without understanding the fountain that perhaps thoughts of Ali’s fear would not come into the light. In conclusion, the totality of the story including the dialogues, setting, character traits, and the styles and techniques used by the authors, all contribute to the brevity of the story as a whole.

References

Homa, Ava. Echoes from the other land. 1. 1. Toronto, Ontario: Tsar Publications, 2010. Print.

"Metacritic." Cease Fire. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Nov 2011. .