Author :Waris Dirie
Publisher :Virago Press, 1998
How does the text relate to the theme of a journey?
Desert Flower, written by Waris Dirie and Cathleen Miller, is about a journey of a Somali girl ,who has been circumcised when she was a child and how she attempted to change her fate of living in nomadic way. The theme is women mutilation in Africa. At five, she was circumcised to become a woman. Luckily she survived from the circumcision, because her sister, Halemo bled to death. However, it was her starting point to suffer for the rest of her life. She felt pain every time she wanted to urinate and had worse period sick. When she fled to London and years after ,she involved in modelling, her genital problem made her feel ashamed and crippled. She determined to operate. The interview with Marie Claire gave her strong courage to tell the world the true story of her life, especially about female circumcision. Yet that was the beginning of her mission to fight against female genital mutilation.
2. What is the main issue in the text?
Waris, a rebellious little girl who initially excited to become a woman by circumcision, regretted to death when she experienced once. She did not get the leisure when she urinated and took long time. When she became an adult and educated, she knew that this African tradition is only to fulfill men’s desire, meanwhile women suffered the most. This kind of mutilation gives no good to female but several diseases , for instance, bladder infections, septicemia and recurrent urinary. Waris has fought for female’s rights against this traditional culture with her strong will, although she knew that she might be objected by her own people. She has suffered from mutilation and did not bear to look any other girl to face the same thing. She joined UN’s fight and encouraged the world to be on her side.
3. What quality do you admire or dislike in a character?
Waris is the woman i adore in this text. I couldn’t imagine how she could travel all alone in the desert without food and water. Being molested at four and nearly being raped at twelve made her feel strong and wanted to become without men. For me, she is no angel that had been commonly appeared in some cliche texts. She was an ordinary human who chased her dreams with courage and went through unbearable obstacles. Waris succeed, at last, to become a wealthy famous woman, however her down-to-earth personality amused me. Born as a nomad did not impede her to change her fate. Patience and self-trust in herself gave her the spirit to endure the pain until she became the UN’s Ambassador.
4. How does the text develop your understanding of the world?
When I read this novel, I couldn’t believe that this nomadic life is still existing in this world. I thought it was only happened in the past. Moreover,I could say that men abused women in this circumcision way just to fulfill their sex desire. Even the women could not do anything for the sake of their husbands. The obedience of women to their men is something that could be praised, but how come men do not see their sacrifices. One thing that has shocked me is the death of children due to this traditional culture. For the future sexual purpose, millions of female children died. This is absurd, but true. The circumcision is important to convince the bridegroom to have a virgin wife, but what is the importance of being a virgin, if the woman has to endure pain for the rest of her life? Moreover, she would never enjoy the sexual intercourse, meanwhile the husband would be happy all the time and to be worse, sometimes he married another “virgin” girl. This text teaches me that life is not always fair. Sex discrimination still exists nowadays. However, there are still some people who insist to halt this foolish ideology. Keep silent does not change anything. Lend a hand.
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