"women Belong to Men, and a Man's a Man Even If He's Decrepit." Discuss Mahjoub's Statement with Regards to Season of Migration to the North

Written by Tayeb Salih, the novel 'Season of Migration to the North' as described by The Observer "is an Arabian Nights in reverse, enclosing a pithy moral about international misconceptions and delusions." The novel is set both in England and the Sudan, showing the stark social differences within these two locations. In this essay, I will evaluate the reasons supporting and opposing Mahjoub's statement as defined in 'Season of Migration to the North'.

In the first line of the novel (and once more later in the book: "dear sirs" page 62), the narrator introduces the reader to a male-dominated world by suggesting his audience is masculine;

"It was, gentlemen, after a long absence--seven years, to be exact, during which time I was studying in Europe--that I returned to my people."

Despite the subtlety of the word "gentlemen", this, I believe is purposefully done, to immediately show the reader the extent to which village life is dominated entirely by the male. Its subtlety reflects the idea that male dominance has become just a normal part of life, to the point where it can almost be looked over.

The death of Mustafa Sa'eed meant that his widow was placed in the care of the narrator,

"You're the bride's guardian."

This suggests that even as a widow, a woman was not free to do as she pleased, with regards to who she was to wed. The fact that a widow was being dictated to, showed that the village society was more patriarchal than that of the society that existed in England, or the developed world. There were of course exceptions to the rule and this is exemplified by the actions of Bint Majzoub,

"You doubtless run after women because what you've got to offer is no bigger than a finger joint." And "Bint Majzoub sprang to her feet at a bound like a man in his thirties."

The novel gives the impression that once a woman has passed child bearing age, she is no longer seen as a woman, as her one true role within the zealous patriarchal society was to produce offspring. As a result of her inability to bear a child, Bint Majzoub was able to freely converse with the men of the village.

The notion that women belong to men, is a statement indicative of a female's vulnerability. At many times within the novel, the idea that women are weak and feeble creatures is portrayed,

"I imagined Hosna Bint Mahmoud...being the same woman...wide-open thighs." And "I pictured Hosna Bint Mahmoud... a woman in her thirties, weeping..."

Both quotes show the reader how the narrator viewed women as meagre creatures. With the power of thought, the narrator could have believed that Hosna Bint Mahmoud, a woman in her thirties, could have overpowered an old man, but due to his conditioning as a member of a tremendously patriarchal society, he pictures the worst and imagines

Hosna Bint