‘In the face of oppression, family provides the only safety.’ To what extent is this shown in In the Country of Men?

Question 1

Contention:

Answer 1

Within a Libyan context of a brutal dictatorship and highly patriarchal society, the family to some extent furnishes individuals with security and protection.

Question 2

Body Paragraphs

Answer 2

1. Family provides safety for patriarch
2. Family provides safety for children
3. Family may not necessarily provide safety for women.

Question 3

BP1: Family provides safety for patriarch

Answer 3

Successful for Faraj - Najwa begging, getting him home
“Something wonderful has occurred, God has looked into our case”

Not successful for Ustath Rashid - Dead
The crowd’s reaction to Ustath Rashid’s execution was “madness”
Traumatised “shut or open, my eyes continued to see the slim figure of Ustath Rashid swinging in the mid-air”

Question 4

BP2: Children

Answer 4

Suleiman feels safe when Baba home - Najwa isn’t ‘sick’, walks with confidence.
“I felt such relief when Baba was home”

Revolutionary Committee walk in, see torture on home, sees his dads injuries.
“[Baba] was sustained with thin lines of blood.”
“theres a monster in our home”

Question 5

BP3: Women

Answer 5

Najwa’s marriage. How it came to be, age, choosing.
“Baba came to be married, that “black day, as she called it” “Dad 23 years old; mum 14”
“She lay beneath him, unmoving, looking away.”