A Winter in Arabia

A Winter in Arabia - 1st Draft

Kris Wong 12TB

'A Winter in Arabia' is a travel narrative written by Freya Stark, a British writer who went to Arabia during the Second World War to educate and prepare the Arab world for its imminent freedom. It is about her experiences while traveling with a band of soldiers during a winter's night in Arabia. Throughout the narrative, the group goes through arguments and encounters problems; they are becoming tired and weary, yet the leader Nasir is still in high spirits and maintains order within the group.

The author uses first person narrative and uses pronouns such as 'we' and 'our' to show the 'band's' events and feelings, it also represents a sense of closeness yet the narrator is really an outsider and not a member of the group. The omniscience of the narrator indicates that the band may be quite outward in expressing their opinions and welcoming to outsiders. However, in line 9, the author uses the word 'I' to represent her own point of view and not the group's. The narration focuses on Nasir, who through different actions and speech prove to the band that he is the true leader of the group. There is some unmediated dialogue in the text which gives us contact to the speakers and allows us to have a better understanding about the band and the relationship between Nasir and the others.

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Throughout the passage, a sense of tension and anxiety builds up through language and narration. The cleaning of rifles (line 5) gives us an indication that the weapons of destruction may be required in the near future. A sense of tension begins to build up when Nasir says 'They may cut us of at the pass,' as there is a feeling of uncertainty and threat. The shooting of rifles 'towards the hostile unresponsive walls' (line 12) seems to show that the soldiers have lost control over their own action as are so frantic and worried that they are trying to destroy objects which pose no threat to them. 'The sharp teeth of lava' (line 14) represents a beast of prey and allows the reader to get a sense of fear the band is facing and the possible threat of enemies nearby. Words like 'Dark', 'Night', 'Ghost of Cana', 'Blackness', 'Unlit' and 'Blind' help us to visualize how dark and gloomy the conditions are. It also tells us the band had to exercise extreme caution, as every step could be a lethal one; this puts a lot of pressure and tension on the soldiers who are in constant fear of the 'bad bits ahead' (line 27). A considerable amount of tension is built up when two of the members of the band quarrel with each, which nearly results in a fight. Luckily, Nasir, the 'leader' of the band, is there to mediate the trouble.

The author is a British writer, in the passage she considers herself to be 'Western', while she sees the other members of the 'band' as being 'Eastern'. The cultural gap between the narrator and other members of the 'band' caused a difference in ideas, which is shown by line (14) 'I resisted the western passion for giving advice.' From the description of the actions and speech of Nasir in lines 20-24, we can see that the author admires and respects Nasir, who was 'walking cheerfully' despite 'sharp invisible cinders' under his foot. Nasir also '[left] the other camel for his men' indicating selflessness and concern for other members of the group. A sense of sympathy can also be seen from these lines. The admiration and respect is confirmed in the last paragraph where 'he instantly leapt and seized the aggressor's rifle, wrestling with him for it in the light of the fire…' Because of this, 'the soldiers of his small garrison look up to him and…call him affectionately.' In lines 39-41, the author greatly praises Nasir for his 'readiness of wit', 'cheerfulness', 'quickness of decision' and 'unselfish bearing of hardship'. From this praise, we can see that the speaker is quite open to other cultures and is willing to accept their ideas and beliefs.

The detailed description of the incidents involving Nasir helps to give us a strong impression of Nasir. The speech in the beginning (lines 6-10) allows us to learn about the relationship between Nasir and the soldiers. The line (7) 'let us dance a zamil' gives us an idea about the nationality of the soldiers - Middle Eastern. While the 'Why?' in line 8 gives us an indication that the soldiers may not be agreeing with some of Nasir's ideas, especially if it is awkward- dancing a dance. Lines 20-24 give us the impression that Nasir is a strong member of the 'band' and is willing to go through personal suffering so that the other members may have an easier time - clearly an act of 'unselfish bearing of hardship'. The last paragraph, a detailed description of an incident, allow us to learn more about Nasir's relationship with the other members of the 'band', his position as a leader is confirmed here. Lines 39-41 strengthen the earlier impressions of Nasir and allow us to learn that the speaker also has a positive impression of him.

The description of setting allows us to have a deeper understanding of what is happening. The first sentence immediately tells us that the narrative begins in twilight. This allows the reader to imagine the surroundings of the 'band' getting progressively darker. Arabian words such as 'huri', 'zamil' and 'tariq' help us learn that the narrative is set in the Middle East which give us an impression of a semi-desert environment and allow us to learn more about the origins of the 'band'.

The passage tells us that we should learn to be more open other people's origins and cultural beliefs. Even if we do not truly accept them. It also reminds us that not all people in the world are selfish and that there are altruistic people. Even if we cannot always bear hardship in place of other people the way Nasir does, we should always strive to help the community and people around us as much as possible.

Time Taken: 1 Hr 25 Min