Thursday Lunch Essay

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Thursday Lunch Unfolding personal issues while growing up may be a tough role to ones’ self. In the reading, “Thursday Lunch”, from the book Distant View of a Minaret by Alifa Rifaat, the psychology of the main character seemed to have no sympathy for herself. It was on a Thursday morning, where she usually travels from her city to the other side of Zamalek to visit her mother, and in accordance, have lunch with her to catch up with each others lives. The main character had just celebrated her fiftieth birthday, but wasn't sure if "celebration" was the correct term for someone who has grown quite emotional during her marriage life and the upbringing of her own children. For example when Kareem, her husband, and the family's servant Attiyat, immediately left the house to perform the tasks for the day ahead, the main character finds her in tears. This could be a symbol of the feeling of her internal loneliness. All her children have grown to reach the age where independence, self-centered personalities, upbringing of a young family, and preoccupation in one's studies, were the root to each of their lives. In addition to her realizations, "the relationship between their father and I no longer contained that essential ingredient of marriage." (p.18). Here we see that she refrains from discussing her own thoughts and emotions from her children. This line indicates her struggle, and further in the story, hopes she would open up her mind to her mother to reveal her current feelings and emotions. When she arrives at her mother's, she is appalled during the few hours of her lunch visit with her. Her mom lives in a very closed in and elegant home where she was also self-contained. Although, the main character discusses her mother and daughter differences, she still isn't aware that her mother has similar issues, ones that are more eye-opening. There is an irony that is

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