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Leila Abouzeid’s novella Year of the Elephant tells the story of Morocco's evolution and tension between modernism and tradition through the eyes of a working class woman, Zahra. The book involves Zahra recounting her past while also expressing her thoughts of the present. Zahra recounts how she grew up, her involvement in the independent movement, and her divorce. Zahra’s life and experiences helps build upon the core themes of the novella while also revealing the tension between modernism and tradition in Morocco.
Each stage of Zahra’s life expands on the themes of feminism, history, and the national language while also drawing parallels between Zahra and Morocco.
Zahra’s upbringing before she joined the independence movement provides a starting point for the evolution of Morocco and the themes involved in the novella. The manner Zahra was married to her husband builds upon the theme of history. Zahra’s lack of say in who she was married to also reveals a parallel between Zahra and Moroccan culture.
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Zahra’s ex-husband decided to marry Zahra based off “[her] long hair and dark eyes” (Abouzeid 20), which shows how women are seen in Morocco. Moroccan Tradition essentially makes women “trophies” for the men to claim and flaunt, which can be seen in the fact that even though the ex-husband never met Zahra, he deemed Zahra “his”. The manner in which Zahra was treated by the family of her ex-husband also shows a starting point for feminism in the novella. Zahra’s in-laws “came to rule [Zahra’s] life like a feudal overlord.
[Zahra] was to wake up every morning and praise [The mother-in-law] for giving birth to her son” (Abouzeid 22). This experience reveals how women are expected to act in a Moroccan marriage. The female is expected to be submissive and deal with everything that comes her way without saying anything. It can also be inferred that Zahra never knew how to read before the independence, as she would learn to read during the independence, in which she would classes at a “literacy center” where she would talk her notebook and pens to go learn how to read (Abouzeid 57). The fact that she only learned to read during the independence movement shows how unimportant it was for women to learn to read in Morocco. These events provide a starting point for the evolution of the themes of the novella, which leads into the events of the independence movement.
Zahra’s involvement with the independence movement of Morocco provides an insight into Morocco’s attempts to become a more modern culture. Zahra’s involvement with the resistance brings the theme of feminism to the forefront, while also showing a time where the women of Morocco were motivated to make a difference. Zahra’s plan to have meetings with the women is an example of this, as the purpose of this meeting were to inform women about the “delicate phase of [the] country” and details about the “new Morocco” (Abouzeid 56). These meetings both show Zahra’s desire to promote feminism in Morocco and show a time in which the women of Morocco were motivated to take action for what they believe in. The theme of History reflected in Zahra also shows how the theme is developed while also drawing a parallel between Zahra’s actions and Morocco’s independence movement. Zahra’s reasoning for joining the resistance shows this, stating that she joined because “The situation has to be changed, or it was not worth living” (Abouzeid 24). This reasoning for Zahra to join the resistance parallels to the resistance’s reason for existing, which is that the Moroccan people are tired of the situation, and that something needs to change. The 1952 Casablanca Massacre was the turning point for the resistance, causing thousands of other Moroccans to join the movement (Hall 3). Zahra’s desire to change Morocco reflects the other Moroccans desire for the same ideal. Zahra’s desire to become literate represent the development of the importance of language to Zahra. Zahra first priority after the first meeting with the women was to enroll in literacy center, as she directly states that enrolling in literacy centers is “the first thing” (Abouzeid 57) she will do. This shows the importance of language, as it has become a way for the women of Morocco to become more informed and independent about their lives. While the independence shows signs of improvement in terms of women’s rights and development of the country as a whole, Zahra’s divorce shows how some themes have digressed after the movement.
Zahra’s experiences and the events she goes through after the independence movement reveals how the themes have developed and draws parallels between Zahra and post-independent Morocco. The manner in which Zahra’s divorce was carried out reflects how the theme of history has evolved and the importance of tradition in modern day Morocco. Zahra was left with almost nothing after her divorce and only having to rely on nothing but herself. This is something that is expected for a divorce in Morocco. This parallels with how divorce is usually handled in Morocco, as a majority of female divorcee’ lose everything once they get divorced, and the lack of laws to protect these people only makes it harder for a female divorcee to find their footing (“Marriage and Divorce in Morocco”). Feminism plays a role during Zahra’s strive to find her footing. Zahra is trying to not rely on anyone to take care of her, as she wants to remain independent. Zahra’s manner of denying her sister from taking care of her proves this, stating that “[she’s] not anyone’s inheritance” (Abouzeid 76). This shows Zahra is still striving to become independent from anyone, which shows how feminism has changed Zahra compared to when she was growing up. However, the other Moroccan women in the novella doesn't seem to share the same ideology as Zahra, as most women Zahra encounters expect Zahra to act by tradition, an example being that Zahra’s sister “expects that like other divorced women, [Zahra] will abide by custom and live with her”. (Abouzeid 76). While it is not directly stated in the novella, Morocco still uses the French language for a majority of important documents and even in school. This has been something that has been worked on in post-independent Morocco, as the official language taught in school would be changed to Arabic (Shahu 36). The government would also make Arabic the national and official language of the country (Shahu 21). However, Zahra working for the French Cultural Center shows how even though language played a huge part in the independence movement, it has become unimportant afterwards for Zahra (Abouzeid 78). Zahra’s unwillingness to work at first does draw a parallel with how Moroccans view France after the independence, still being skeptical about getting help from them, even though French was still widely used at Zahra’s time (Abouzeid 78).
Each event that occurs in Zahra’s life throughout the novella highlights a point in evolution for each theme of the novella. Each part of her life drawing parallels with the tradition and norm of modern day Morocco while at the same time showing how each theme evolves throughout the story. Each theme evolved in their own way, whether that be positive or negative, and each event that Zahra went through reflects it. Each theme provides the reader with a specific insight on how Morocco evolved through the development of each theme and how each part of Zahra’s life parallels the events of Morocco. Zahra’s story reveals the true problems of post-independent Morocco, and brings them to the forefront with her stories and themes.
Work Cited
Summary: The Story Of Morocco Through Zahra. (2024, Feb 21). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/summary-the-story-of-morocco-through-zahra-essay
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