42 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth Warnock FerneaGuests of the Sheik
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1965A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Abayah
The abayah, a cloak worn by women only, is symbolic of the struggle between modernity and tradition in El Nahra as well as in Iraq at large. It manifests in a variety of ways according to the viewpoint of each character. To Elizabeth, the abayah initially represents degradation and oppression, and she is apprehensive about donning it in order to help Bob with his work in El Nahra. However, she eventually views it as a protective garment and comes to a more nuanced understanding of what it represents to the women of El Nahra. She recognizes that a majority of them wear the abayah by choice and do not want to discard it. Elizabeth also notes that Bob is unable to tell her apart from other women during a pilgrimage because he was not raised in El Nahra’s society and cannot “detect the subtle details—the way the head is turned, the gesture with which the abayah is adjusted” (220). After living among the women of El Nahra, Elizabeth can tell all of her female friends apart even under cover of the abayah.
Despite the fact that many of the women do not perceive the abayah as an oppressive garment, female relationships with it vary. Elizabeth notes that Sitt Najat is a proponent of modernity and quietly resents her husband for not allowing her to dress in a modern fashion. In addition, some of the teachers in El Nahra shed the abayah when they are outside of the settlement. Khadija, however, is horrified when she finds out that her brother and his new bride have plans to make a political statement by eschewing the abayah in El Nahra. Elizabeth notes that “Khadija’s daughter perhaps might be comfortable without the abayah, but I doubted that Khadija ever would be” (308). Perceptions of the abayah vary according to each character and their thoughts about modernity and tradition.
Gold
Throughout the book, gold features prominently in the lives of women. It is symbolic of the independence of Iraqi women, and it functions as a crucial form of wealth, ownership, and an insurance policy against the vagaries of marriage. Elizabeth tells the reader that an Iraqi woman owns her gold and that Iraqi society not only respects but protects this form of ownership, noting that “A woman’s jewelry is her own insurance against disaster, and the community may take action against men who attempt to seize their women’s gold” (33).
The more gold a woman is able to acquire, the more financial freedom and protections she has. Some of the women Elizabeth meets use their gold to support family members who have been cut off from the support of male family members for a variety of reasons. In that sense, gold symbolizes freedom for Iraqi women—a means to access and exercise independence in their society.
Gold also functions as a crucial insurance policy for women. Many women lament the fact that Elizabeth has so little gold, and they constantly tell her that it will be her only recourse if her husband abandons her. Qanda, the village beautician gives “a short, earnest sermon about the value of gold as ornament, but secondly and most important, the necessity of gold in every woman’s life as insurance in case her husband should die or leave her or divorce her” (134). Many women whom Elizabeth meets throughout Iraq state that social contracts between men and women can be broken. For these reasons, women need gold in order to protect themselves and to ensure their livelihoods.
Cigarettes
Throughout this book, cigarettes represent the social lives of women, particularly secluded tribal women. Cigarettes help break down social barriers so that friendships can be formed. Elizabeth quickly learns that in order to live among and socialize with the women, she must smoke with them and occasionally provide cigarettes as both a guest and a host. She notes that even during her early interactions with the women when they were apprehensive about her, cigarettes were “too great a temptation to resist, and everyone, even those whom I had never seen smoke, took a cigarette” (75).
The success of a party can be gauged by how many cigarettes are smoked the night before. Cigarettes are often served as party favors and passed around among guests during conversations. After her goodbye party, Elizabeth notes that “It had been a gay party; we had consumed several kilos of pumpkin seeds, five packages of cigarettes and countless glasses of tea” (302)
At times, cigarettes conclude religious rituals such as krayas. Elizabeth notes that after krayas “[n]o refreshments other than cigarettes are ever offered” (113).
Rice
To women in El Nahra and in rural Iraqi society at large, rice represents one’s worth and mettle as a wife and a housekeeper. The women in El Nahra initially tease Elizabeth because she cannot make tasty rice. When she tries to explain that “I did not know how to cook the rice in El Nahra because it was different from rice in America,” the women laugh and claim that rice is the same everywhere (76). She feels the depth of this insult, noting that to them “I was obviously slow-witted as well as lazy” because rice is crucial to these women (76). The women decide to teach Elizabeth how to make rice properly because they view rice making as a crucial skill. They worry that her inability to make rice will jeopardize her marriage. Later, they note that “We don’t want your husband to beat you” because of your bad rice (79).
To Elizabeth, rice represents the beginning of her integration into El Nahra’s female society. She is deeply wounded when they tease her about her inability to cook rice, believing that the teasing symbolizes her inability to form real friendships with the women. Elizabeth is thrilled when the women teach her to make rice because it symbolizes that she is being accepted by them as a woman in their society.
