The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi

The theme of The Conflicting Worlds of Domesticity and Adventure is a major one that arises frequently throughout the text, starting before the actual story with the dedication that Chakraborty makes to the those who have abandoned their dreams in order to raise their children. The scribe tells us in the opening chapter that the world sees marriage and motherhood as the end of a woman’s story. Amina’s story, however, strives to prove that the seemingly conflicting worlds of adventure and a domestic life can coexist. As the novel progresses, Amina moves from despairing that the worlds will never fit and feeling extreme guilt for loving her life at sea. Ultimately, she acknowledges that she can love both things, and her definition of domesticity changes to encompass adventure and the life she loves.

From the very first chapter, Amina admits that when she smells the ocean, the world of domesticity fills her with “blazing grief,” (18), a sadness heavy enough that she couldn’t get out of bed. The love of her daughter, however, necessitates a domestic role that she does not fit, and her guilt over failing to providing it hampers her throughout the novel. The idea that she might leave her daughter motherless sometimes makes it difficult for her to proceed as she normally would, and she ends up doing rash things like charging a sea monster while mentally asking her daughter to forgive her or paddling harder with Marjana’s “earnest, little face and trusting eyes” telling her to “come home” (344).

The pressure for Amina to be a solid domestic presence is largely driven by her love for Marjana, but this is also a societal expectation, as demonstrated through conversations with other women who experience the same thing. It is telling that Amina’s mother never accuses her of being a bad mother, and it is only Amina herself who does so. This pattern implies that the pressure she feels isn’t coming from the people around her, but instead from Amina’s own conviction that she is failing in her attempt to be a good mother. The wise words of Majed’s wife Nasteho are a turning point for Amina, for Nasteho validates Amina’s feelings even as she allows the pirate captain to reframe the conflict of the two worlds as a problem to be solved rather than something to feel guilty about. This conversation allows Amina to move toward the idea that the two worlds are closer than she believed them to be, especially as she watches Majed and Nasteho’s children enjoying the ship.

Toward the end of the novel when Amina is about to save her crew, Amina admits to herself that while she loves Marjana, there are others who need her, and that although she wants to be a mother, she ultimately wants more. This moment of guilt-free self-revelation enables her to see that having both desires is acceptable, for one does not diminish the other. Thus, she learns that she will never give up the dreams of being a great explorer and captain, and that she can be a good mother despite her ambitions.