Sandpiper

1. Sandpiper AhdafSoueif (1950-)

2. AhdafSoueifBiography Novelist AhdafSoueif was born in Cairo and educated in Egypt and England, where she studied for a Ph.D. at the University of Lancaster. She is the author of two collections of short stories, Aisha (1983) and Sandpiper (1996), and two novels: In the Eye of the Sun (1992), about a young Egyptian woman's life in Egypt and England, where she goes to study as a postgraduate, set against key events in the history of modern Egypt; and The Map of Love (1999), the story of a love affair between an Englishwoman and an Egyptian nationalist set in Cairo in 1900, secrets uncovered by the woman's great-granddaughter, herself in love with an Egyptian musician living in New York. The Map of Love was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. In 2004, her book of non-fiction, Mezzaterra, was published. Her latest book is a collection of short stories, I Think of You (2007).AhdafSoueif lives in London and Cairo.

3. Summary The narrator in this story is unwilling to disturb even ‘one grain of sand’, and this reflects her passivity as her relationship with her husband breaks down under cultural pressures. The relationship with him is carefully charted, almost historically, but it is significant that he is never named, and a sense of loss grows at the centre of the narrative. The narrative structure includes disconcerting juxtapositions between memory and the present to show the narrator’s state of mind. The narrative describes a love between the two formed elsewhere; it is the return to the husband’s country which creates the cultural and family pressures on the relationship, including the loss of female independence, work and identity, which cause the couple to drift apart. Such concerns of conflicting cultural pressures are perhaps a natural concern of an author born and educated in Egypt, before continuing education in England. She now divides her time between Cairo and London.

4. Homework & Extension Complete all the tasks & questions on this story. All answers due on Friday. Email for a .pdf of notes on Sandpiper Wider reading This story is taken from a collection of short stories by AhdafSoueif, also called Sandpiper. The Map of Love is a novel which deals with a love affair between an Egyptian and an English woman. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy Compare with To Da-duh, In Memoriam by Paule Marshall The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman Five-Twenty by Patrick White Online Biographical information about AhdafSoueif is available at: http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth227

5. Worksheet #1 • Why did the woman want to avoid making patterns in the sand? Describe how she stepped on the path? • Explain this quote from the first paragraph of the story. “I had an idea that the patterns on the stone should be made by nature alone; I did not want one grain of sand, blown by a breeze I could not feel, to change the course because of me. What point would there be in trying to decipher a pattern that I had caused.” 3. Describe how the woman balances and looks for the next space not covered by sand. Is this a reflection of how she is balancing between two cultures and countries, trying to do nothing wrong to upset her husband’s family? 4. The seaside is a place where she seems to seek peace from the tensions and changing husband and Egyptian culture. How is the sea an extended metaphor for the woman’s life and the changes that have happened? Is the sea constant or always changing? 5. What is the image that is presented where the unnamed woman says, “I used to sit in the curve and dig my hands into the grainy, compact sand and feel it grow wetter as my fingers went deeper and deeper till the next rippling, frothing rush of white came and smudged the edges of the little burrow I had made. Its walls had collapsed and I removed my hand, covered in wet clay, soon to revert to dry grains that I would easily brush away.

6. Answers • Because the patterns should be made by nature, she didn’t want to “change its course”. She enjoyed deciphering patterns made by nature, “what point would there be in trying to decipher a pattern I had caused”. This seems a naïve and fatalist point of view. • The quote shows

7. Worksheet #2 • Does the last sentence in the above quote mirror the woman’s attempt to try and understand what has happened to her husband, marriage and her inability to grasp the Egyptian way of life that is imposed on her when she visits Egypt each summer?( look at the images of the crumbling walls, wet hands and dry grains easily brushed away) • Why does she continually revert back to her own culture and the way of life she experiences and lives in Britain? Why can she not accept the Egyptian way of life? • Describe the imagery in paragraph 2 and what does this metaphorical language really represent? • Describe the times the woman and her husband had been happy, contented with one another and deeply in love. Use relevant quotes to back up your answer. • List the style of life the couple lived in the U.K. and explain the quotation, P731, “I thought of those things and missed them- but with no great sense of loss. It was as though they were all there, to be called upon, to be lived again whenever we wanted.”

8. Worksheet #3 • Explain the quite in relation to the woman’s feelings and difficulties. “ I tried to understand that I was on the edge, the very edge of Africa; that the vastness ahead was nothing compared to what lay behind me…my mind could not grasp a world that was not present to my senses.” (P371) • Describe the woman’s feelings towards her coming baby (p371) • “From where I stand now, all I can see is a dry, solid white. The glare, the white wall, and the white path narrowing in the distance” Explain how this refers to her state of mind, marriage and relationship with the people of Egypt. • P372. What is the effect of the repetition of “I should have gone” three times and “I should have turned, picked up my child and gone.” How do these words impact on the woman’s situation? • List the things the woman finds strange in Egypt throughout the story. What does she want to do? • What implications do these words have on the woman’s life and her child? “She was born here…belonged her.” (P734) What would happen if the mother wanted to leave her husband in Egypt?

9. Worksheet #4 • In her sleep she makes use of me, my breast is sometimes her pillow, my lap her footstool. I lie content, glad to be of use.” Explain the quote and how do you think the woman is coping being waited on hand and foot by the family’s maid? • Why include the image of the Pakistani woman with her son curled up beside her at the airport and explain the words, “All her worldly treasure was on that sofa with her, and so she slept soundly.” • The main character keeps referring to her trip to the African continent and how she took notes. “I leaf through my notes. Each one carries a comment and a description meant for him…What story can I write?” • How do you think an educated, liberated woman would feel being told about “the inferior status of women courteouslybecause being foreign, European, on a business trip, I was an honorary man”? (P373) • Is Egypt a country where women are liberated, able to make their own decisions and live as they like or is it male dominated? Do you think that this is something that may have driven a wedge in the marriage with the clash of different cultural values from the east and West? • Describe the parent’s relationship with their daughter.

10. General Questions • Describe where and when the story takes place. Is the setting important and significant to the story? • How is the story structured? Are there flashbacks or is it presented chronologically? • Where does the climax of the story come? Is it significant? • How does the story end? (Is it with a twist, a surprise, complete or incomplete?) • Describe the mood of the story and explain how the author achieves this mood and atmosphere? • What main themes are portrayed in the story? Explain how the author brings out these things clearly (e.g. through the characters or are they stated indirectly or directly) • Why do you think AhdafSoueif wrote the story? Explain the reasons in depth? • STYLE OF THE STORY • Explain Soueif’s style of writing and pick out all the significant features that she uses in her writing. Is this story easy to understand as well?

11. Characterisation • Describe the woman fully. Look at her thoughts and actions and how she relates to others in the story. Comment on how the author has shown her in the story and is she believable.(Is she presented as a real, full bloodied character?) • Comment on the husband’s character and explain how he is presented in the story. Does the husband seem a more open character who is able to embrace both cultures with having any hang-ups?

12. Questions • The woman hints at fear being misplaced in Kaduna, Africa.”And hand in hand with the fear that swept over me was a realisation that fear was misplaced, that everybody knew (the vultures) were there and still went about their business.” • The woman also survived the crash landing of the plane she was a passenger in. • Do you feel she could easily overcome her fears and reluctance to embrace her husband’s culture and way of life for a short time each year if she really wanted to? What do you think is stopping her? (Back up your answer with relevant quotes from the story. • How does Lucy describe Heaven? What is her purpose for doing this? • Explain the woman’s words, “Yes, I am sick –but not just for home. I am sick for a time that was and that I can never have again. A lover I had and can never have again.” • Describe how the husband has changed and explain how this has affected his relationship with his wife. Also find evidence from the text to show the state of the marriage now. • Is the mother jealous that Lucy is fussed over and looked after by her Egyptian relatives who only see her in the summer for a short while? Shouldn’t she be grateful that she can rest and bee spoilt for a short time? Give your reasons in depth for the mother’s behaviour and do you think the husband’s family might find her attitude rude and offensive. • Explain the following words, “Lucy. My treasure, my trap” • Describe and explain the imagery in the last paragraph of the story. How does it apply to the situation/marriage of the man and woman, especially “The white foam knows nothing better than the sands which wait fir it, rise to it and suck it in. But what do the waves know of the massed hot sands of the dessert just twenty, no, ten feet beyond the scalloped edge? What does the beach know of the depths? The cold. The currents just there, there…”

13. Essay Preparation • Use the following chart to prepare for an essay where you will compare the two short stories “The Journey” by Patricia Grace and “Sandpiper” by AhdafSoueif.