Introduction
The illustration of the Palestinian situation and events experienced in the 20th century can be analyzed through the examination of the most prominent literary works of that time. It is necessary to underline the fact that 1948 is considered to be the true catastrophe in the life of Palestinians, called ‘Nakba’; the period when the population was expelled from native homes by Israeli forces, due to Israel state creation, preceded by civil war. It is important to stress that such works as, ‘Men in the Sun’ by Ghassan Kanafani, ‘Memory for Forgetfulness’ by Manmoud Darwish, and ‘Palestine’ by Joe Sacco, managed to reflect all the sufferings of Palestinian Arabs through the destruction of their land and national displacement.
Palestinians
The story ‘Men in the Sun’ written by Ghassan Kanafani is dedicated to the disclosure of the Palestinian dream; beliefs in prosperity and freedom to become the stimulus for their national life. It is necessary to stress the idea that the author depicted tragedy and human sufferings through dramatizing the life of the society in the 20th century; it is the expression of Palestinian identity from the period of their oppression sufferings. The illustration of Palestinian strangers is demonstrated through their burden of the past; the central concepts are based on inertia, frustration, and stagnation; having met in Iraq, the characters of the story shared a common desire to find the road to Kuwait, though they were not fated to reach it. The characters were united by one idea to get prosperity and richness for themselves and their families; this aspect underlines the poor life of the whole population connected with experienced oppression on the part of Israel. Here the author closely analyzes the life of each character before the trip and explains the reasons for their resolute actions.
‘He would send every penny he earned to his mother, and overwhelm her and his brothers and sisters with gifts till he made the mud hut into a paradise on earth and his father bite his nails with regret’ (Kanafani, 29)
It is necessary to underline the fact that Kanafani strived to dramatize the passivity and hopelessness of the Palestinian people during the period of the late nineteen fifties. It was the period when the mass was driven from their homes by armed Zionists; the nation was reduced to the miserable existence in refugee camps, where people dreamt of material improvements. Some Palestinians strived to search for a better life, through the collapse of family units and marriages sour. The central idea demonstrated is based on the fact that Palestinians never denied their fate; they expressed no resistance to Zionism and remained to be a suffering nation.
The next story disclosing the life of the Palestinian population is considered to be ‘Memory for Forgetfulness’ by Mahmoud Darwish, who concentrated on his personal experience reflecting conflicting situations experienced by Palestinians. The text is the combination of dream and reality, past and present; it is the reflection of the relationship between history and memory. The disclosure of Palestinians’ life was highlighted based on personal world perception during the period of 1982. It is necessary to stress that the general image of the nation was shown through collective Palestinian exile conditions at that historical period, providing the only places as ‘here’ and ‘there’ as the differentiation between homeland and exile.
‘I try to unravel Beirut, and I become more and more ignorant of myself. Is it a city or a mask? A place of exile or a song?’ (Darwish, 90)
It should be noted that throughout the whole story the reader can feel the motives of the author’s guilt and love for the native city; the words are perceived as a scream for uncertainty expressed in the unknown role of Palestinians for the destiny of their native land. One should note that the period of wartime was not decisive for the nation, as they just waited for its end in silence. It is necessary to stress the idea that the role of Palestinians remained the same; to be more exact the nation is still characterized as a suffering society taking no resolute measures for the living conditions improvement. The story written by Darwish is considered to be the reflection of Palestinians’ inner state and feelings during the period of oppression through invasion of Israeli forces; the author did not strive to disclose their national soul and resolute actions aimed at victory, but internal sufferings connected with villages’ destructions and limitations in human and civil rights. The author managed to highlight the concepts of angst and violence through the environment the nation lived in; the element of war appeared to be the auxiliary element contributing to the characteristics of Palestinians’ perception of conflict and reaction on external instability.
And finally, it is necessary to analyze the book ‘Palestine’ by Joe Sacco, expressing the peculiarities of Israeli occupation and its effect of Palestinians’ life conditions. The author managed to depict the events of the front lines, highlighting numerous interviews with wounded children, prisoners, protesters, and families being deprived of their land and torn apart through Palestinian conflict. It is the reflection of the past depth in the history of Palestinians’ national development; ‘history victims’ live through their experience and sufferings in 1948, when they were oppressed by occupation and had to burry their children seeing numerous inevitable deaths. The author’s attempts to construct the graphic novel can be characterized by its brutality, torture and violence; the theme of injustice is especially centralized, which can underline the nature and mood of that war period suffered by Palestinians. The author managed to demonstrate the details of Israelis’ actions towards Palestinians, characterized by hypocrisy and hatred.
‘I don’t think peace is about whether there should be one state or two… The point is whether two peoples can live side by side as equals.’ (Sacco, & Said, 113)
Sacco strived to reflect the lives of people in occupied Palestine, who dreamt of peace and lived in accordance with their dreams. The story is referred to comics, which is based on the series of events and experiences in the oppressed Palestine; Sacco underlined the nightmare and dark reality faced by the nation through rude and brutal treatment of Israeli. It is a ruin of hopes connected with lost land and freedom limitations; Palestinians lived in the atmosphere of rights oppression and prejudices. The ruin of families and believes in better future was strengthened by characters’ diving into the past which took away the lives of their close people, and destroyed their homes.
Conclusion
The analysis of literature works dedicated to the disclosure of Palestinians’ image at the period of 1948 occupation by Israeli forces, managed to underline the soul of that time and reflect the feelings of the nation. The stories ‘Men in the Sun’ by Ghassan Kanafani, ‘Memory for Forgetfulness’ by Manmoud Darwish, and ‘Palestine’ by Joe Sacco, appeared to be the real masterpieces of world literature reflecting the elements of historical development and contributing to the research of Palestinians’ experience at the period of war oppression. The authors highlighted the Nakba consequences through their personal experience and underlined the national world perception and desire for freedom under the conditions of constant oppression and families’ destruction.
References
Darwish, M. Memory for forgetfulness: August, Beirut, 1982. University of California Press, 1995.
Kanafani, G. Men in the Sun and other Palestinian stories. American University in Cairo Press, 1991.
Sacco, J. and Said, E. Palestine. Fantagraphic Books, 2001.