A Winter In Arabia

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Commentary on “A Winter in Arabia” - by Rushad Heerjee “A Winter in Arabia” is a travel narrative written by Freya Stark. Through this article, Stark not only explores herself but also learns about culture and leadership through 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 as their emotions impart on their physical activity. However, with a strong leader in the form of Nasir, high spirits and order within the group is maintained. In the passage “A Winter in Arabia”, Freya Stark utilizes a vivid description of setting, pronouns, the characterization of Nasir and the rising tension to show the significance of cultural diversity between the narrator and the “band” and thus the difference between Western and Eastern diversities. The vivid description of setting allows us to delve deeper into the problems faced by the soldiers and thus gain a deeper understanding of what’s happening. “The shore of Cana grew forbidding in the twilight” (1) automatically sets the scene of for coming nightfall. Also the use of the word “forbidding” has a negative connotation and ties in with the twilight as it allows the reader to visualize the surroundings of the “band” getting progressively darker. With the introduction of “Arabia” (34) and Arabian words such as “huri” (4), “zamil” (7), “Wongar” (24) and “tariq” (25) help the reader learn the narrative is set in the Middle East, giving us an impression a semi-desert environment and allow us to learn more about the origins of the “band”. Stark uses the first person narrative and pronouns such as “we” and “our” to show the “band's” events and feelings. It also creates a sense of closeness despite Stark being an outsider. The omniscience of the narrator indicates that the band may be quite outward in
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