THE PATIENCE STONE, or, SYNGE SABOUR by ATIQ RAHIMI
SUMMARY
A man and a woman live together in a wartorn village. The notable background of the story is unfolded through the woman's flashbacks and are as follows:
The man was a hero in a religious war. The woman was promised to the man at the age of 17 by her father who was infatuated with the idea of his daughter marrying a hero. Before they got married, the woman was captured by a religious merchant who tied her up in a basement and forced her to have sex with many men. When the hero returned from war and first met his new wife, he did not acknowledge her, he merely sat down next to her in silence, claiming her as though she was a possession. Not until 3 years after they were married did they first have sex, and because she was on her period she bled, which the hero took to be proof of virginity. During a battle, the hero was shot in the neck, yet he miraculously lived in a comatose state.
In the present, the man sits in the living room, attached to an IV and breathing tube, staring absently at the wall. Although the woman tries to keep her 2 daughters away from the man, one of the daughters sneaks in and complains that she is not allowed to see her father, and takes the tube out of his mouth long enough for a fly to dart in, which the hero does not notice. The woman increasingly laments the countless prayers she offers to God as she takes care of the hero injured in a holy war. The people of the village keep time by the cycle of prayers they are instructed to make. While the woman recounts the story of their first intercourse, she draws menstrual blood onto her finger, and jams it into the man's beard, insisting it is clean.
The woman begins to question her faith. An old, mysterious woman appears, babbling incoherently. Religious soldiers embark on a raid of the neighborhood and find the old woman, and break into the main characters' home and steal the man's wedding band and Koran, allowing the hero to live only because they see he is a good Muslim. The children play in the rubble, but are sent to stay with their aunt for their safety. The woman laments that her Koran is stolen.
The woman tells the man that she is upset about their history; and tells him he has become her patience stone, listening to her stories. The woman recounts her mother's story about a King who kills all of his newborn daughters because he wants a son. The Queen speaks to one of the daughters who is magical and is told she will inherit a grand realm if she saves the daughter. After the Queen runs away, the King goes on a warmongering quest for her, and eventually the Queen's realm prepares to do battle against the King's invading force. Instead of a traditional ending, the woman says that this story leaves the listener's bias to its own devices.
Another Religious force sweeps the area and the woman hides the hero. When the soldiers are gone, she tells the hero the story of her rape. He rises from his comatose state, and the woman proclaims that it is a miracle, but then her husband murders her. The book ends with a fly buzzing around the dead woman's body.
ANALYSIS
While the woman believes the tables have been turned on the hero and he now serves her instead of her serving him, it still appeared to me as though she was getting a raw deal by tending to him while he contributed nothing. The stories told by this woman exposed a difficulty in being forced into a situation and then accused of being unholy because of it. Unfortunately, the hero, soldiers, and merchant, were strong enough that they could choose to overpower and eventually kill her.
The recounted story about the cat suggests that the woman was seen as a pet, like a cat, with which her father could do whatever he pleased. Bearing a great similarity to Henry the 8th of England, who killed his wives if they gave birth to a daughter, the King from the woman's mother's story is incredibly cruel and immoral, also treating woman as though they are less than human. Asserting a strong belief in one's cause is emphasized by the need to imagine your own ending to the mother's story. In the world of the mother's story, if you do not believe you will win, you may lose.
This story feels less like a didactic message and more like a slice of life. It is tragic, and what is most unjust about the sexual relations in the story is that the hero cannot even be asked to stay in a coma, the easiest state to exist in, in order to give his wife moral support, and rises from the dead just to kill her because, in his mind, she allowed herself to be raped.
Rahimi, Atiq. The Patience Stone: Sang-e Saboor. Trans. Polly McLean. New York: Other, 2009. Print. Book about a man who becomes his wife's patience stone.
SUMMARY
A man and a woman live together in a wartorn village. The notable background of the story is unfolded through the woman's flashbacks and are as follows:
The man was a hero in a religious war. The woman was promised to the man at the age of 17 by her father who was infatuated with the idea of his daughter marrying a hero. Before they got married, the woman was captured by a religious merchant who tied her up in a basement and forced her to have sex with many men. When the hero returned from war and first met his new wife, he did not acknowledge her, he merely sat down next to her in silence, claiming her as though she was a possession. Not until 3 years after they were married did they first have sex, and because she was on her period she bled, which the hero took to be proof of virginity. During a battle, the hero was shot in the neck, yet he miraculously lived in a comatose state.
In the present, the man sits in the living room, attached to an IV and breathing tube, staring absently at the wall. Although the woman tries to keep her 2 daughters away from the man, one of the daughters sneaks in and complains that she is not allowed to see her father, and takes the tube out of his mouth long enough for a fly to dart in, which the hero does not notice. The woman increasingly laments the countless prayers she offers to God as she takes care of the hero injured in a holy war. The people of the village keep time by the cycle of prayers they are instructed to make. While the woman recounts the story of their first intercourse, she draws menstrual blood onto her finger, and jams it into the man's beard, insisting it is clean.
The woman begins to question her faith. An old, mysterious woman appears, babbling incoherently. Religious soldiers embark on a raid of the neighborhood and find the old woman, and break into the main characters' home and steal the man's wedding band and Koran, allowing the hero to live only because they see he is a good Muslim. The children play in the rubble, but are sent to stay with their aunt for their safety. The woman laments that her Koran is stolen.
The woman tells the man that she is upset about their history; and tells him he has become her patience stone, listening to her stories. The woman recounts her mother's story about a King who kills all of his newborn daughters because he wants a son. The Queen speaks to one of the daughters who is magical and is told she will inherit a grand realm if she saves the daughter. After the Queen runs away, the King goes on a warmongering quest for her, and eventually the Queen's realm prepares to do battle against the King's invading force. Instead of a traditional ending, the woman says that this story leaves the listener's bias to its own devices.
Another Religious force sweeps the area and the woman hides the hero. When the soldiers are gone, she tells the hero the story of her rape. He rises from his comatose state, and the woman proclaims that it is a miracle, but then her husband murders her. The book ends with a fly buzzing around the dead woman's body.
ANALYSIS
While the woman believes the tables have been turned on the hero and he now serves her instead of her serving him, it still appeared to me as though she was getting a raw deal by tending to him while he contributed nothing. The stories told by this woman exposed a difficulty in being forced into a situation and then accused of being unholy because of it. Unfortunately, the hero, soldiers, and merchant, were strong enough that they could choose to overpower and eventually kill her.
The recounted story about the cat suggests that the woman was seen as a pet, like a cat, with which her father could do whatever he pleased. Bearing a great similarity to Henry the 8th of England, who killed his wives if they gave birth to a daughter, the King from the woman's mother's story is incredibly cruel and immoral, also treating woman as though they are less than human. Asserting a strong belief in one's cause is emphasized by the need to imagine your own ending to the mother's story. In the world of the mother's story, if you do not believe you will win, you may lose.
This story feels less like a didactic message and more like a slice of life. It is tragic, and what is most unjust about the sexual relations in the story is that the hero cannot even be asked to stay in a coma, the easiest state to exist in, in order to give his wife moral support, and rises from the dead just to kill her because, in his mind, she allowed herself to be raped.
- man who has mistreated his wife becomes her patience stone in a coma
- woman is harassed by men and then blamed for allowing herself to be mistreated
- man rises from his coma to murder his wife for being impure
Rahimi, Atiq. The Patience Stone: Sang-e Saboor. Trans. Polly McLean. New York: Other, 2009. Print. Book about a man who becomes his wife's patience stone.
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