A Handful of Dates - Essay PDF

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Truc Hoang Professor Duran English 002 03/25/2016 A Handful of Dates The article “A Handful of Dates,” by Tayeb Salih tells a story of an innocent young boy's innocence, youth and love of nature as well as love and respect for his grandfather. His grandfather's characteristics are very influential and the boy is forced into choosing whether to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps or to become his own person. The young boy, Tayeb, idolized his grandfather as a god. Tayeb thinks of his grandfather as pure and compares him to a river. He wanted to be just like his grandfather when he grew up. At the beginning of the story, the words “I never saw anyone in the whole area address him without having to look up at him, nor did I see him enter a house without having to bend so low” implies that in the boy’s mind the height of his grandfather represents high prestige and reputation (410). Besides, this worship can also be directly showed by the words “I loved him and would image myself, when I grew to be a man, tall and slender like him, walking along with great strides” (410). He loved his grandfather and he believed he was loved because he was the most intelligent grandchild. “I used to know when my grandfather wanted me to laugh, when to be silent; also I would remember the times for his prayers and would bring him his prayer rug and fill the ewer for his ablutions without his having to ask me” (410). This quote fully expressed the thorough understanding between him and his grandfather in his acts. In additions, he knew that his grandfather loved him. Then, the story moves on to their neighbor Masood, who had inherited a large sum of land from his father, was forced to sell the land to the child’s grandfather due to an increasing number of wives on his part (411). One day, the neighbor of the grandfather, Masood, told them that he was harvesting the dates and asked if they wanted to help. They said yes (411). There was a history between the

grandfather and Masood. They didn't like each other. The grandfather said it was because Masood had treated him badly. So the grandfather and the boy went to harvest dates. When they got there the grandfather sat on a stool while Masood harvested the dates. Masood had told everyone to be careful not to cut the heart of the palm (411). Once the dates had been harvested, the grandfather and others went over towards the dates. The grandfather gave some of the dates to the boy and then they started to divide them. The grandfather and the others sepearted the dates and left none for Masood (412). Then, his grandfather said Masood: “You' re still fifty pounds in debt to me” (412). His grandfather wanted to have all the land that Masood once owned. His grandfather even boasted to him that he would own the rest of Masood’s lands before his passing. Therefore, looking at his grandfather being merciless to Masood Tayeb was depressed. Through the work, the boy temporarily realized the love of Masood for the dates and how gracious and kind hearted he was. Besides, the boy admitted his grandfather’s trade with Masood was greedy and avaricious, the personalities which he believed his grandfather did not have. Therefore, he temporarily felt disgust towards his grandfather. The boy said: “Quickening my pace, it was as though I carried within me a secret I wanted to rid myself of” (412). The secret was simply the hatred and disgust he suddenly felt. He believed his grandfather was the good man, maybe the best man he had ever seen. The disgust he suddenly felt was the breaking down in his grandfather’s idolization. Feeling disgust towards the one he loved the most was the terrible thought. “Then, without knowing why, I put my finger into my throat and spewed up the dates I'd eaten”(412). The disgust he felt for his grandfather made him to spew up.

Works Cited Salih, Tayeb. “A Handful of Dates.” One World, Many Cultures. Eds. Stuart Hirschberg & Terry Hirschberg. Pearson, 2015. 409-412. Print....