The literary analyzes of the land of the sad oranges?
Who has the first existence in Palestine , the Palestinians or
the Israelis ? Over ages, it is well known that "Canaan", who is
one of the Palestinian ancestors, has lived in Palestine, for long
time before the Jewish invasion. He was the first farmer and the
constructor of that land. That human gave Palestine a special
position among all countries existed in that era. He built several
Palestinian cities; "Jericho", "Nablus", "Shakim", "Jerusalem"…etc.
The history of the Canaan tribes immigration to Palestine goes back
even before 3500 B.C according to the Palestinian historical
studies. After these groups have resided in Palestine and laid down
the root of their culture, society and work, and the companions of
the Prophet Moses (also known as Bani Israel) attacked them in
order to respond the call of God, for he ordered them to go to
Palestine as their holy state. However, there is a vast difference
between the people of Israel "Bani Israel", and the Israeli people
who live in Palestine now. The first Jews are followers of the
right Jewish religion, and they have been led by Moses. The second
group the Israeli people who colonized Palestine in 1948,and killed
Palestinians by military forces in which to attempts to distort and
destroy the heritage of the Palestinians. The narrator of "The land
of Sad Oranges" says : "you and I and other of our age were too
young to understand what the story meant from the beginning to the
end"(75). Both the little boy and his friend, who listen to the
story, do not know why the Zionist troops have attacked Palestine
in 1948. They are unsophisticated, and they do not have historical
knowledge, so they asked themselves some question. Who are they ?
why they do they invade us as if Palestine is their mother country?
These question and other have flashed in the child's mind and face,
but has not find answers to them. He can not find a satisfying
solution for these existential question. As a result, he only
imitates what others do, so we see him following his father
aimlessly in the course of the story.
By the time, the catastrophe happened, and Israel declared is
independence in May 1948, a civil war was raging in Palestine.
Palestinians and Arabs had rejected a United Nations plan to
partition the country between Jews and Palestinians. Arabs from
Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Iraq joined Palestinians to battle against
Jews, who by then had sustained a huge influx of Jewish immigration
for more than 30 years--long enough to establish a de-facto state.
Israel's Declaration of Independence was the culmination of what,
in retrospect, looked inevitable--the establishment of an
independent Jewish state, made up of the Jewish Diaspora, and the
triggering of a new, Palestinian Diaspora. (Benny,2008). According
to Jameel Al-Hosseini the spokesman of the Arab Higher Committee
(AHC) in 1948, the British and the Jewish policy is built on the
replacement of the Israeli people by the Palestinians. In which
they have distorted the Palestinian Heritage and slaughtered the
Historical equality of the human being. They distorted the History
and killing the people in brutality way as ,in Sabra and Shatela,
Haifa, and Jaffa. He tries to show that the real goal which lies
behind the Israeli policy of killing and threatening the
Palestinians in order to force them to leave their lands. In "The
Land Of Sad Oranges", Ghasan Kanafani tries to connect the solution
of the Palestinian case to the real events which happened in 1948,
so he uses a number of symbols to confirm that Palestine can not be
liberated, only by force. If we look at the chronological
organization of the action, we will find that every symbol in the
short story is well connected to something really happens. Kanafani
attempts to show the readers of his short story the hard, strong,
catastrophic results of the Palestinian Nakba on the Refugees in
1948. He summarizes his short story by mentioning three meaningful
symbols that reflect a real image of the Palestinians how they
become outcast and the refugees' life. The narrator says "when my
glance fell on your father's face …I saw at the same moment the
black revolver..and beside it an orange" (80). The Little child
sees his father' face, the black revolver, and the shriveled orange
at the same time. Kanafani wants to highlight the relation between
the daily political life in Palestine and the practical techniques
to resolve the problem of the Israeli occupation since 1948.
The Palestinian leadership did its best in 1948 to liberate the
occupied land, but it could not; because the Arab countries did not
support it. In his short story, Kanafani employs a number of
symbols in order to show us the tragic position of the Palestinian
leadership in 1948. He tries to attract the leaders in his short
story by using these simple signs. In addition, he wants to draw
the real image of the Palestinians' life at that time. The little
child says, "It was rather cloudy, and a chilly feeling invaded my
body" (75). These bad feelings invade the body of the narrator.
Kanafani makes this analogy with this personification in order to
tell us how Israel and its allies attacked Palestine in 1948. He
asserts that the land of oranges itself suffers from the bad, ugly,
and disastrous effects of the Israeli occupation until now." The
actions of the short story embody deeply what the land means in the
Palestinians' life," said Mohammad Khaleel. Kanafani shares the
same ideas with khaleel who believes that the land is the most
important that we have, and they assure that we must defend and
protect it. Khaleel confirms the value of the land and emphasizes
the meaning of being homeless. Kanafani mentions another image in
which he gives to his audience a foreshadowing to the dark future
which will face the Palestinians later on. He draws an effective
comparison between the clouds and the black road which the narrator
sees in Ras Naqura and the catastrophic events that will challenges
the refugees in the exile. Kanafani employs these symbols to
highlight the bad, strong, and distractive problems of our relative
who live in the refugees' camps, and to declare that they have the
right to return and live in peace. Finally, Kanafani notes the
Palestinian family which is completely cooperative and well
connected, for it represent every Palestinian. "You and I p(75) the
narrator says. The little boy dose not say he stand alone. He hints
that everyone watches the actions with him from the beginning till
the end, so they become outcasts and refugees together. "Our family
problems had began" p(78). Both the previous quotations describe
how the Palestinians support their leaderships, and how they share
it the same problems. The Israeli occupation wants to divide this
family in order to control it easily, but it refuses even to talk
about one of its members far from the others. In the course of the
short story, the Palestinian family rejects the Israeli oppression
and refuses the life under the restrictions of the occupation.
When the Israeli military groups invaded Palestine in 1948, the
Arab leadership could not do any thing to resolve the Palestinians'
problems even when they became outcasts. Kanafani argues the deeds
that the Arab regimes, in general, to solve the Palestinians case.
He describes the Arab armies in an ironic way. The narrator says,
"The friendly soldiers were looking at us from under their helmets
silent and motionless" p (78). The Arab soldiers are silent, and
they can not do any thing to liberate Palestine. They are running
after their leadership which orders them to stand far from the
Palestinians' problems. Even in 1948, when the Israeli army started
the independence war against them, they spent their time, in vain,
on making the useless conferences and agreement which ended with
the independence of the Israel state. Netanel Lorch assures that
the Arab armies in 1948, had stronger weapons and equipments than
Israel, but they fail and lost the war which finished with Israeli
control over every region in Palestine p(1). Netanel mentions the
most important point which controls the conflict between the Arab
armies and the Israeli military groups. In 1948, the Arab force was
stronger and more effective than the Israeli one, but the Arab
countries could not do any thing . If they have had that great
strength, why did not they liberate our occupied lands? Can we find
one answer to this important question? Of course, we can find even
a person who can talk honestly about that Nakba and about the
results of that disastrous war. Mitchell Bard confirms that the
west helps Israel p(8). Kanafani hints to that point in his short
story when he describes the soldier who is stationed to Ras Naqura
in order to collect the guns from the Palestinians p(76).Here, we
find that Brad agrees what Kanafani says. Brad highlights an
effective, important, and strong elements in 1948 war. The west
supports Israel and stands by it every war. In the course of the
story, Kanafani argues the reasons which lie behind the Arab
regimes silence and motionless. The Arab leaders are too afraid
from the punishments which the west makes against the country that
will affect the Israel right of having safe existence in Palestine.
Brad agrees what Kanafani says, and both of them answer the
previous question that Netanel argues. Netanel' s question aims to
remark the reason and the result of the catastrophic war in 1948.
In fact, the Palestinians specially, and the Arab people in general
do not know why they run their after leadership, so they can not
make any serious, real, and great attempt to find a satisfied
resolution for the case of Palestine. In addition, they must read
the history again and over again in order to know the truth which
lies behind the collaborated regimes from 1948 till now.
In 1948, the Israeli army occupied Palestine by using the
military force, so occupied lands can not be regained only through
of the military choice, Kanafani end his short story with three
strong, meaningful, catchy symbols which work as salary to his
fiction. He sums up his short story with mentioning the part of the
Palestinians - Israeli conflict which consists of the leadership,
the resolution, and the occupied regions. He aims to give his
audiences a foreshadowing to the future of the Palestinian case.
The little child says, " I slipped into the room like a pariah.
When my glance fell on your father's face, which was twitching with
impotent fury, I saw at the same moment the black revolver lying on
the low table, and beside it an orange. The orange was dried up and
shriveled "p(80). Kanafani shows the headline which every must
Palestinians must follow in order to achieve the general goals that
every one of us runs after the father is in bed, ill, the revolvers
till lies on the table, and an orange sits alongside, "dried-up and
shriveled". Leaving off with an ending such as this demonstrates
Kanafani's purpose in this work to illustrate the frailty of the
human's nature and also to depict the pain of loss. Even material
possessions, which can so easily come and go, have a way of
embedding themselves in us, emotionally as well as behaviorally. He
draws the image of the Palestinians decision makers who could not
make any thing to get the Israeli occupation out from Palestine in
1948. Then, Kanafani goes on to reassure the solution tool by which
can liberate our land and become free. He illustrates the slogan
that says " Whatever is taking by force can not be regained, only
by force ". He invites the Palestinians individuals everywhere to
revolt against the Israeli occupation. He does not believe that
Palestine can be free by negotiations or an other diplomatic
method. He challenges that the Palestinians case would not be
resolved neither by using peaceful resistance, nor will it be
solved by following the negotiations with Israel, but it must be
solved by the usage of the military force. The third final symbol
that kanafani asserts is the orange which embodies the occupied
areas of Palestine that suffer the oppression of the Israeli
occupiers. Nabeel Aodeh says, "There are two attractive elements in
this short story; the first thing is the well written literary
image, and the second is the signs which are too simple to be
understood "P(1).
In accordance to the text of the fiction, we will find the
simplicity of Kanafani' s symbols, in order to show the readers of
his prose the obvious part of our case without spending their time
on thinking about what every symbol of them means in the real life
of the Palestinians. The little child has a small brain which can
imagine only the simple signs and the pictures of our happens in
1948. The narrator sees these small images at the same time which
reflect the position of Palestine after Nakba in 1948, and the boy
hints to their meaning in the course of the story.