Shabanu
The book Shabanu, written by Suzanne Fisher Staples, was published in the year 1989. This fictional book takes place in the deserts of Cholistan, which is located on the boarder of Pakistan. The main character in this book is a young girl, at the age of 11 when the book begins, named Shabanu. She has a 13 year old sister named Phulan, who is coming of age to be married. Phulan is betrothed to her cousin Hamir; Shabanu is betrothed to his brother Murad.Shabanu is a very vibrant young girl who loves to spend her days out by the toba, the watering hole, with her beloved camels. Usually girls are expected to stay in the house with their mother and learn how to cook and clean and all the other things that wives are responsible to know. Although, because of the fact that in Shabanu's family there are no boys to do the chores Shabanu must do them. She really does not mind, in fact she loves having the freedom to get dirty and be with the camels. She is not looking forward to getting married, because when she does all her freedom will be lost.One morning on her way out to the toba to watch after the herd of camels Shabanu saw a flock of vultures, which meant that either something was dead or near dealth. When she got closer to
I question whether or not Suzanne Fisher Staples really studied this culture well enough to write about it. In self-defense, Shabanu robed the landowner of his dignity and the resulting conflict ends with Hamir being shot. When she got to the toba she saw, with great dismay, a dying pregnant camel who was in the middle of giving birth. Shabanu seems most real to me when she is with her camels, and I do believe that the author did an accurate job introducing us into the woman's world. I also found it peculiar that Shabanu calls her father dadi which is suppose to be nomad for dady. Sure enough this was not the correct use of the word dadi in fact this actually means paternal grandmother. The rest of the season was spent getting ready for Phulan's wedding. This secures that Murad's land will always be protected from Rahim-sahib's wicked brother. None of the other mothers would feed or except the baby so Shabanu was forced to raise it. I do not agree that this book be read in a History class because there seems to be a bias against the practice of arranging marriages. She was successful; the baby was saved. The book ends in a desperate escape on Shaba!nu's part for her freedom, but instead she gives her potential freedom up to save the life of her camel Mithoo. Did Suzanne Fisher Staples read the original story of Shabanu and think !that she was an orphan who lived with her dad? If so I would be thoroughly disappointed. Shabanu is crushed because she was just getting excited about getting married to Muad.
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