NOORJEHAN
By Ahmed Essop
Noorjehan, the protagonist of this short tale, is a south African
matriculate who is described as around 5ft tall with a blooming
appearance. She lived with her parents in a house with walls of green.
She was the topper of her class. She had a smooth open forehead, auburn
shading to brown hair which was parted in the middle. the narrator,
Noorjehan’s teacher, describes Noorjehan’s physical appearance vastly
compared to her academic qualities using only the term “gifted pupil” to
describe her academic value. His description of her physical features
leads us to believe that he is attracted to her. Noorjehan is in love with
her teacher but her teacher fails to notice this until the situation is out of
his hands. Noorjehan expresses her desperation in her letters to her
teacher. Noorjehan, alike other Indian women of her era, was subjected
to following the family tradition of an arranged marriage which she was
neither ready for nor wanted. Noorjehan is a character whom although
oppressed by traditional and social decorum, bravely sets out life anew
and afresh.
Noorjehan portrayed numerous attempts to notify her teacher of her
romantic desires contained for him but to no prevail. Noorjehan finally
decided to start off a life for herself by running away to cape town to live
with her uncle. Here she bids farewell to her beloved teacher, never
knowing whether the man she loved indeed loved her too. The writer
uses the colour green to describe the colour of the walls building
Noorjehan’s home and the colour of the seats of the train compartment.
Green is usually used to describe positive development but in the story it
was used to represent the main character’s inner conflict and turmoil
expressing her paralysis and inability to have control over the situations
she was put in.
How did Noorjehan overcome her feelings of paralysis to the situation
she was put into? She realized that her desperate attempts to confess her
love to her teacher were proving nil-and-void and decided that if she
, were to live her life, she would live it on her own accord, thus giving her
enough reason and motivation to commit to escaping the injustices
inflicted on her.
Noorjehan was forcibly removed from school by her parents in order to
partake in an arranged marriage with a man who was an absolute
stranger to her. She did not consent to the engagement so in combat to
the injustice she writes letters to her teacher, whom she is in love with,
asking him to persuade her parents into disqualifying her from these
practices formulated against her will and letting her complete her
education. This conversation with her teacher was concluded nil-and-void
to her father. After her engagement to the suitor, Noorjehan struggles to
let this unjust decision, in which she did not have a say take place, so she
runs away on her own accord after meeting the with her thought to be
figment of their ‘one-sided love affair’. She then left to cape town to live
with her uncle. She starts her life anew. The narrator is left to regret his
’personal paralysis’ due to his inability to court Noorjehan.
The central theme of this tale is the idea of escaping. Noorjehan tries to
escape her family’s pressure and social restraints. This is known by when
Noorjehan tries to escape her trauma through letters she writes to her
teacher and when Noorjehan runs away from home to find a better life
and comfort for herself. The tale is based of tradition, marriage, fear,
desperation and hope.
By Ahmed Essop
Noorjehan, the protagonist of this short tale, is a south African
matriculate who is described as around 5ft tall with a blooming
appearance. She lived with her parents in a house with walls of green.
She was the topper of her class. She had a smooth open forehead, auburn
shading to brown hair which was parted in the middle. the narrator,
Noorjehan’s teacher, describes Noorjehan’s physical appearance vastly
compared to her academic qualities using only the term “gifted pupil” to
describe her academic value. His description of her physical features
leads us to believe that he is attracted to her. Noorjehan is in love with
her teacher but her teacher fails to notice this until the situation is out of
his hands. Noorjehan expresses her desperation in her letters to her
teacher. Noorjehan, alike other Indian women of her era, was subjected
to following the family tradition of an arranged marriage which she was
neither ready for nor wanted. Noorjehan is a character whom although
oppressed by traditional and social decorum, bravely sets out life anew
and afresh.
Noorjehan portrayed numerous attempts to notify her teacher of her
romantic desires contained for him but to no prevail. Noorjehan finally
decided to start off a life for herself by running away to cape town to live
with her uncle. Here she bids farewell to her beloved teacher, never
knowing whether the man she loved indeed loved her too. The writer
uses the colour green to describe the colour of the walls building
Noorjehan’s home and the colour of the seats of the train compartment.
Green is usually used to describe positive development but in the story it
was used to represent the main character’s inner conflict and turmoil
expressing her paralysis and inability to have control over the situations
she was put in.
How did Noorjehan overcome her feelings of paralysis to the situation
she was put into? She realized that her desperate attempts to confess her
love to her teacher were proving nil-and-void and decided that if she
, were to live her life, she would live it on her own accord, thus giving her
enough reason and motivation to commit to escaping the injustices
inflicted on her.
Noorjehan was forcibly removed from school by her parents in order to
partake in an arranged marriage with a man who was an absolute
stranger to her. She did not consent to the engagement so in combat to
the injustice she writes letters to her teacher, whom she is in love with,
asking him to persuade her parents into disqualifying her from these
practices formulated against her will and letting her complete her
education. This conversation with her teacher was concluded nil-and-void
to her father. After her engagement to the suitor, Noorjehan struggles to
let this unjust decision, in which she did not have a say take place, so she
runs away on her own accord after meeting the with her thought to be
figment of their ‘one-sided love affair’. She then left to cape town to live
with her uncle. She starts her life anew. The narrator is left to regret his
’personal paralysis’ due to his inability to court Noorjehan.
The central theme of this tale is the idea of escaping. Noorjehan tries to
escape her family’s pressure and social restraints. This is known by when
Noorjehan tries to escape her trauma through letters she writes to her
teacher and when Noorjehan runs away from home to find a better life
and comfort for herself. The tale is based of tradition, marriage, fear,
desperation and hope.
