"INFIDEL" Online Discussion

Uploaded by Book Club Brunch Series on 2015-04-30.

“Raised in a strict Muslim family, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries ruled largely by despots. She escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, fought for the rights of Muslim women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Under constant threat, demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from family and clan, she refuses to be silenced.”

— http://www.amazon.com

Let's discuss what you knew about Islam before reading "Infidel".
Are you familiar with the Qur'an? Did this book pique your curiosity about the religion while reading it? 

Do you find her views on Islam to be extremely negative? Are her opinions and descriptions about Islam tainted due to the situations that she faced in a closed society where women's rights are pretty much non-existent? 

Family and genealogy apparently play a huge role in Hirsi Ali's life. 
How important is it to Ayaan's family to learn the names of forefathers? Discuss how having and knowing members of your clan can be beneficial. 

Describe Ayaan's mother. Is her mother loving towards Ayaan and her siblings. How does she treat Ayaan differently than the others?

Sister Aziza's ways of teaching is all about the positive and focusing on the inner intention. Ayaan later admits that although she looked up to Sister Aziza. She tried to be the best Muslim she should be, but she never felt the presence of Allah. For her, there was no inner light. Let's discuss.

"It was shocking, unslamic, unsomali to fall in love." (Page 126) Let's talk about how love and intimacy are described in the book.

Ayaan Hirsi Magan is the daughter of a highly respected Somali nationalist and revolutionary and later she serves on the Dutch Parliament. Do you believe that this book has a political agenda? 

 Hirsi Ali begins "Infidel" with an account of a murder which took place in  2004.  A Muslim fanatic shot Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh on an Amsterdam street and used a butcher knife to stab into his chest a five-page letter to Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Hirsi Ali had worked with Van Gogh on a film of about female oppression under Islam, entitled Submission, that included shots of a naked, battered woman covered with writings from the Qur'an. 

Watch the short film below and discuss any emotions that were provoked while watching the film. 

Mirrored from ArteTuga's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/ArteTuga ____________________ Original video description: Short film by Dutch movie maker Theo van Gogh in association with Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The film deals with the oppression of women in many Muslim countries. Van Gogh was killed by a Muslim fanatic in 2004 because of the film.

Breath, Eyes, Memory Online Discussion

Let’s get to some questions! Feel free to use these as jump off points for our discussion. You're also welcome to bring up some other points that stood out to you while you were reading. 

1. What did you think of the story and Danticat's style of writing? Did you like the book overall? Please elaborate. 

2. Are you familiar with Haitian culture? How does the book shape your views of Haiti? 

3. Sophie's mother seems to want the best for her daughter, and works to create the life she thinks she needs. Sophie was instructed to pursue a career in the medicine even when she told her mom she was interested in the administrative field.  "If you make something of yourself in life," she says to her daughter, "we will all succeed. You can raise our heads." (p. 44).  “You are going to be a doctor” (pg 56). Do you think parents should dictate what career paths their children should pursue? What influences do your mother’s opinions have on your life decisions? 

4.  The novel describes how family values and virtue of women are very important to the Haitian women in Haitian culture. The main character, Sophie, is shattered throughout the novel, due to the traumatic experience of her mother’s continuous tests. Her mother would often test her vagina to make sure she was still a virgin. Let's discuss how these tests affected Sophie's romantic life, self esteem, and relationship with her mother.

5. When Sophie met her mother for the first time at the airport in New York, she described her as scrawny with a long and hollow face, dark circles under her eyes, and scared and sunburned fingers as if she never stopped working in the cane fields. What do you think the author is trying to express here when she describe that first encounter? 

6. How would you describe Sophie's mother's relationship with her boyfriend Marc?

7. Sophie's mother's "tests" ended early for the same reasons she has her nightmares every night. Let's talk about the way she handled the terrible things that happened to her, and how that affected her relationships with everyone around her. 

8. Let's talk about the role of the male gender in this story. Feel free to focus on particular characters, or what men represented throughout different parts of the book. 

9. Sophie found a way to end her "tests" early too. Then she took her daughter and went back to Haiti to stay with her grandmother and Tante Atie. How do you feel about the way she did it? And what do you think that visit meant to her? 

10. Sophie made it to therapy, and met a group of women who struggled with some psychological and family issues just like her. She met with them to try to release the bad memories who were keeping them back. Do you think it helped the women to share their troubles with each other? How did that scene make you feel?

11. Sophie's mother committed suicide. Did you see that coming? Do you think it could have been prevented. Let's discuss mental health issues in the black community. 

Americanah Online Discussion

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a powerful novel about race, identity, and love. We are happy to have chosen it to open of our very first of our book club brunch series. Over 25 readers joined us on Sunday, February 22, 2015 to discuss the story of Ifemelu, an intelligent and very opinionated Nigerian woman who addresses modern day social issues we face today.

It was captivating to hear how strongly many from our group felt connected to the brave character.  Ifemelu created a life from observing how different groups of people live together in a world that favors one group of people over others. She is not afraid to voice her viewpoints and perplexity on her blog, “Raceteenth or Various Observations about American Blacks (Those Formerly Known As Negroes) by a Non-American Black.

We see her growth through different levels of her life, where she finds her freedom from no longer trying to sound American. We also found the way she handled love interesting. She falls in love with her childhood boyfriend in Nigeria, but distance and other difficulties she endured made her push him away for a while. During the brunch, we discussed the way she described all of her relationships, which involved a Nigerian, an American black, and a white man. Hair was also an important topic in the book as she includes her natural hair journey and her comical interactions with braiders from the African hair salon. What we loved most about the character overall was her blatant, no-nonsense honesty about the life she lived in Nigeria, and the way she viewed American culture through the eyes of Non-American Black.

We really enjoyed listening to everyone’s personal experiences as we talked about Ifemelu’s romantic relationships, friendships, and the way she described everyone around her. Check out the talking points below, and let the discussion begin!

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Ifemelu

What are the characteristics of the main character Ifemelu? Do you find her character easy to fall in love with? Do you see any reflections of yourself in Ifemelu or any other characters?

Race

Ifemelu is a blogger in the story. She is not afraid to speak her mind about issues of race. She categorizes race as: White, Black and Non-American Black. What category do you fall under? Did your race affect your experience while reading the book? How does reading the story make you more alert to race, and to the cultural identifications within race and class?

Ifemelu writes in her blog that “black people are not supposed to be angry about racism” because their anger makes whites uncomfortable (223). Do you agree? Do you think that Ifemelu’s blog could make a significant change in the way we talk about race in America? s race a topic that should openingly be discussed or ignored?

Women

There are many women characters in the book. How would you say Ifemelu described them, and do you think she did so in a fair way?

Education

Education is a key theme in the novel. How important do you think education is to the Nigerian culture? How do you think it relates to different cultures around the world?

Language

Language is an important theme that comes up many times in the book. One example is when Ifemelu was reprimanded by Aunty Uju for speaking Igbo to her son Dike. Aunty Uju believes that speaking their tribal language will “confuse” Dike. Let’s talk about the “extinction” of minority languages.

Immigration

Obinze had difficulty obtaining immigration documents, even though he would be an asset to any country. What do you think about immigration policies today? What are some changes that need be made?

The hair braiding salon

What do you feel that the hair braiding salon represents? Let’s talk about the many conversations that were held in the salon.

Hair

Black woman’s hair quandaries play a huge role in the book. Ifemelu realizes that naturally kinky hair is a subject worth blogging about. She notices that Michelle Obama and Beyonce never appear in public with natural hair. Why do you think that is?

Read the blog post “A Michelle Obama Shout-Out Plus Hair as Race Metaphor” (299-30), and discuss why hair is a useful way of examining race and culture.

Love and relationships

Ifemelu seems to sabotage her relationships. Why do you think she eventually abandons each of her relationships?

Americanah

Do you think that America is presented as in a positive or negative way in the novel?

The term “Americanah” is used for Nigerians who have been changed by having lived in America. Do you find this term to be offensive