GROUP # 6

HASEEMA ZAFAR

BUSHRA AFTAB

SHAMSA NOREEN

MOBEEN JAMSHAID

SONIA SANA

SANA SAFEER

Among the Belie

vers

by

V.S.Naipaul

Pakistan : the salt h

ills of a

dream

Naipaul uses

the sharp imagesvery ironic tone

for Pakistan and Pakistani leaders as

he says; “it could be seen as a fragmented country, economically

stagnant, despotically ruled, with its gifted people close to hysteria

• By giving a reference of an article in the Tehran times, Naipaul

asserts that Pakistan and Iran, both are using the logic of

religion to gain power because they are lacking behind in the

concerns of science, which is the ability to run a twentieth- century

state.

• He gives ethnographic details e.g. “Iran, with a Population… while Pakistan, with twice the population, earns one hundred forty millions a month”. So, he

says that Pakistan’s economy is dwindling day by day and to

authenticate his argument, he gives examples of

advertisements in Dawn.

• He gives historical perspectives of foundation of Pakistan that it came in to being on the name of

religion• Besides, using his analytic skills

to convince the readers of his idea Naipaul also ignores the

influence of British rule • he also hides the injustices done

by British to Muslims of the sub-continent

• He further quotes his dialogues, with some natives of Pakistan, to prove

himself a seeker who is on the quest to search the truth and says that

people are still dissatisfied with their present conditions and faith.

• We see three characters caricatured by him• Poet

• Maulana• driver

all people talk about Islam but expect from others to do

assumptions in a quite ordered plan. He has chosen all those characters

that were without mystics or intellectual bent.

Autobiographical features:he was an atheist

Historical perspectiveAhmad was born in northern India in

last century

Journalistic techniquesPLOT TO MAKE PAKISTAN A FOREIGN

STOOGE from the Morning News

Ethnographic details:

It had cotton carpet that was worn, its red and white patterns

are full of dust and tearing noise of a scooter that makes

smokes

Characters mr. Mirza, Mr. deen, Mr.Salahuddin,Mr. sherwani, the officer in a green sari,

Ahmed

IMAGERY a dead cockroch carried off by ants

Themestheme of islamic laws in action

poverty.

THE LITTLE ARAB

Naipaul has used different formal aspects that makes his writing more

authentic.narrative authority

eye witness experiences

“we went first to a mosque to find some people Ahmed thought I should

meet(pg:124)we were driving through Karachi, I saw

printed postures(125)

Naipaul has demonstrated acuity of observations in his writings

“Ahmed finished building his house; he paid off all his debts”(127)

“on his terrace, on an easy chair, lay an elderly man in brown; he was

paralyzed. He was the grandfather, the head of the family, once the head

of the firm”(129)

Travelling strategies as one of them is detailed Ethnographic reportingForty miles east was the little town

of Banbhorean ancient post site dating back to the first century b.c(124)

The Ramadan month ends, and the Id festival is proclaimed ,when the new

moon is sighted(124)

fictional elements used by Naipaul Tone is satirical

Dirt, old, dusty street, hot, filthy, sandy tracks(125)

Another element is characterization Ahmed, industrialist, police officers, old

man

“he walked briskly to the edge of the road, erect, military-looking in his grey-blue

Pakistani costume”(124-131)

Killing history

eye witness experiences History in Pakistan school books I looked at, begins with Arabia and

Islam(142)

Naipaul has used travel writing strategies one of them is journalistic

techniqueAs he tells us complete history of

Sind and Spain by reading Cbacbnama that is written by Persian

author(132)

CharactersHajjaj, Muhammad Bin Qasim, Dahar(131-142)

ethnographic reportingAs he has described complete history of sindH.

fictional elements used by Naipaulhis tone towards Muslim history is quite satirical

the imagery that he portrays of Muslim’s history is harsh, pithy all about war, destruction, death

and pessimism(132-139)

Hyderabad Boogie-woogie

Naipaul used narrative authority in his writings in order to convince his

readers.

eye-witness experiences:

“and when I got to the circuit house, where I thought I was staying, there was trouble. Two civil servants greeted me and told me that… my booking has been cancelled.”

He observed each and every aspect very keenly

“Hyderabad _ a nondescript desert town with low, ochre distempered concrete

buildings baked…..the desert was waterlogged.”

he said that “the stone was heart shaped… people passed their hands over the stone, caressed it, and then brought their hands

to their lips and eyes, or touched their heart; or they appeared to hug

themselves.”

Naipaul used particular travel writing strategies

In this chapter of the text he has used detailed ethnographic reporting

“beyond Hyderabad there were patches of cultivation; patches of scrub, patches of sand. The brightness hurt the heat hurt. Village dogs stood still in yellow waterlogged pools. We were

in one of the famous river valleys of early civilization. But there was no feeling of a valley”

fictional elements

The theme which he mostly discussed dealt with themes of poverty, desolation,

decay, inability and decadence

He presented totally negative imagery that is dark, sharp, dirty and filthy, not

pleasinghe said “the marble floor was grimy;

there were babies, and many fly, seeking always to settle on the floor and the

bodies.”

He used satirical tone in his text to

criticize others

“he said that the pir was out and

would be back in three hours. In

Pakistan the standard unit of stated

delay was half an hour; three hours

meant not that day”

Basics

In this chapter Naipaul has visited twin cities Islamabad and

Rawalpindi

In this chapter he uses ethnographic details, ironic tone and description of characters

In The Kaghan Valley

This chapter is about Naipaul's visit to the Kaghan valley

Ethnographic details, acute observation, colonial gaze, narrative authority and fictional elements used

by Naipaul

Agha Babur

Chapter starts with the description of condition of Pakistan

He discussed social evils and domestic atmosphere and their impact on

children

narrative authority

eye witness experiences

the minibuses plied between Rawalpindi and Islamabad had gone on a one-day

strike to protest against police harassment. The bus drivers told the newspaper that police wanted higher bribes. The police said the drivers had been ‘misbehaving’

with passengers

He gave minute description of everything and he keenly observes his surroundings and by giving the minute

description Naipaul actually has presented a readable and

impressing text

Ethnographic reporting

children growing up in a domestic atmosphere where smuggling, black-marketing and hoarding, bribery and corruption….. Are indulged in quite

blatantly, should not be expected to accept discipline in any form

fictional elements

Tone

First element used by Naipaul is tone, THAT is satirical

he has used the words dirt, indiscipline, shame, old, dusty street, hot, filthy, sandy tracks, misbehaving with others, and social

evils

characterization

Agha Babur, a retired military officer

Hameed Sagher, AN ARTIST

The Salt Hills of Dreams

CHAPTER starts with the description of weather in Punjab, Pakistan

He talked about Ahmadis, who claimed that that they are the purest of

Muslims

the village was full of stagnant pools, some quite large and it shows the dirtiness of the people of that village He said that there is

no greenery in the village

Rabwah hills stored and radiated heat. In summers the rocks never

cooled down

eye witness experiences by given the description of weather

“the evenings were getting cooler in Rawalpindi; the summer was nearly over”

“Lahore in the plains of the Punjab was to go down where it was still very hot.”

Ethnographic DETAIL

“besides the hills was the Chenab River, one of the rivers of the Punjab, a river here

of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent”

“The salt rocks of Rabwah hills stored and radiated heat. In summer the rocks never

cooled down”.

colonial gaze

“I thought this was strange thing to say, until I understand that what was being said

was that, before Pakistan, the house had belonged to non-Muslim, now the villages was all Muslim, pure and at prayer time-

though no call time- two of the men got up to the Mosque”.

Naipaul includes fictional elements in his travel writing as his tone towards

Muslim history is quite satirical

He presented totally negative imagery that is dark, sharp, dirty and filthy it’s

not pleasing