Assignment task: Textbook French Feminism Reader
Other book questions are from
In the Country of Others by Leïla Slimani's
Trying to answer these questions and others with a theological foundation. I do not understand these questions that well. I am dyslexic I do get confused easily, so if you can give me a step-by-step explanation would help me out so much. Thank you.
1. When Mathilde visits France after her father's death, she nearly remains there, abandoning her children. Only after Irène proves unsympathetic to her plight-saying, "You made a choice. Now you have to live with it. Life is hard for everyone, you know"-does Mathilde go back to Morocco. Upon her return, she reflects that "it was doubt that was the problem, it was choice that created pain, that gnawed away at your soul." Once she makes her decision, and understands that "there was no escaping this life," she feels strong, feels "the strength that comes from not being free." What does Mathilde mean by this? Do you agree with her? How does this idea relate to the fight for Moroccan independence that provides the backdrop for the novel?
2. The fruit of the "lemange" tree in the backyard is inedible. Amine draws a connection between the tree and his own racially stratified society: "The world of men is just like the world of botany . . . In the end, one species dominates another. One day, the orange will win out over the lemon, or vice versa, and the tree will once again produce fruit that people can eat." Do you agree with Amine's assessment? Why does he feel that way?
3. This is the first book in a trilogy about a French-Moroccan family over the course of several decades and generations. What do you think the next novel will be about? Are you hoping it will feature any character from this novel?
4. The title of the book, In the Country of Others, clearly refers to Mathilde's status as an outsider in France. Does it refer to anyone else in the book?
5. Have you read any other books that are similar to Slimani's In the Country of Others? If so, do you see any similarities between those and this one, or is this a departure from what you have previously read?