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
the toba she began to hear the sound of a camel in pain. Shabanu started to run. When she got to the toba she saw, with great dismay, a dying pregnant camel who was in the middle of giving birth. Shabanu labored for what seemed like hours upon hours to free the calf from it's dying mother. She was successful; the baby was saved. None of the other mothers would feed or except the baby so Shabanu was forced to raise it. Her father named the calf Mithoo and gave it to Shabanu to have. that she was an orphan who lived with her dad? If so I would be thoroughly disappointed. Also I believe that if the author would have let Shabanu tell her own story without bringing her own western perspective into it, it would be a far better story. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I enjoyed this book a great deal , especially the descriptions of the camels and the annual fairs where the nomads meet relatives and friends. 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. However, I am concerned about the author being bias and putting a Euro-centric point of view in this story. I question whether or not Suzanne Fisher Staples really studied this culture well enough to write about it. I do not agree that this book be r
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 909
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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