Two stories which manage to derive their true and original capabilities from the birth of their respective cultures, are both unforgettable in terms of their own potential abilities. “Run George!” by Najwa bin Shatwan and “There was a bridge in Tekka” by Latha manage to figure out a way to understand the concept behind originality which can relate directly to a way which revolves around foreign names, ideas, values, traditions and a faintly new perspective which could be taken by a variety of people. Both stories will be judged and perceived in a different way to ensure that previous texts will not repeat and flaws which have not been analysed in detail will be analysed further down the track. Generally, my opinion of the Libyan story was quite high however I will try to keep this comparison as unbiased as possible, whilst trying to envision a line between the two.
Beginning off with Libya, a noticeable difference can be seen with the perhaps lack of effort or seldom use of culture in terms of foreign language in the ‘second-half’ of the text. For this to be criticised, an explanation is necessary. In the first half of the story there is a proficient use of foreign words which give hints of cultural impact on the mind of a reader. Words such as ‘Daesh’, ‘Al-Huwwari’, ‘Jellabiyas’ give an extremely nice touch, adding on a mild arab herb to spicen up a reader’s vision of the events occurring. Furthermore, words such as these really add originality to the story, keeping true to the time and place of the setting in the story. With this said it is important to note that the blend of religion, reality and traditions have been well executed to take on a wider stance at a so-called moral. Rather than a take on a specific religion the story gives a relative perspective so an understanding of similarities rather than differences can occur whilst reading, corroborating the theory of a wider audience. Something to truly recall afterwards rather than to forget. Back to the ‘second-half’ of the story we don’t see as much delight, as if perhaps the cultural herbs had just dissolved into the air. Although a bit dissapointing to see, the story regains its composure when it takes on the concept of war and its significance to so many ideas. The violence it creates, the unrest it creates and just the true potential it holds to create disastrous situations. In the midst of this we can taste a slight tingling feeling of humour, irony and satire scattered throughout to change the breeze just enough to take this story to another level. “George didn’t have the time to set right such wrong ideas, and such people died with their uninformed views still intact”, lines such as this hint at the irony of the statement. The fact that at times some paragraphs voice and address concerns and controversies which still lie between religions keep a steady relation to multiple moralities in real life which could be addressed.
As we move forward with Singapore, right off the bat we can individualize certain distinct specificities and noticeable similarities as well. However, these will be discussed later on. When the reader delves further into the story, they begin to understand that events with significant actions are not that common. With not much going on in terms of fast-paced story writing which keeps the reader on the edge of their seat, this text takes on a different set of concepts. Which in my opinion would be about acommodation and adaption. And how the mind is able to adapt and convert its own intentions and aims to the impediment of our actions and choices. I won’t be expanding on this point as, much since my goal as noticed is the use of conveying a country’s traditions, values and originality. Whether it is in terms of religion, ancestral values of even love for one’s country after continuous obstacles and struggles as Magnus mentioned. However, it doesn’t end there as we can see the controversies between intercultural relations. “They turned us down at first, when they heard our names and realized our caste, relenting only when we gave the name of our family friend, Uncle Veerappa. The name Veerappa Thevar still carried enough weight to challenge an age-old prejudice, at least in Singapore”, with a major concept for patriotism, ‘There was a bridge on Tekka’ taken on an approach of setbacks occurring in lives which render them invalid for reparations. Singapore also packs in a view on different cultural views on feminism and a chance for females to advance as they wish. Readers continuously take on stages of self-realization and perspectives which after a while become a bit too familiar. With this to say in my opinion I would definitely say that a certain lack of action and speech wasn’t able to give me a fresh area of work to criticise. The story felt conventional in a way where it explored the realities of concepts without giving it action to facilitate controversial scnarios in order to deal with the subject in more detail.
Both stories were enjoyable to read in their own rights, however the way Libya managed to add degrees of concepts and hints of satire really stood out for me. Unfortunately, Libya wins the match with a close 2–1.
