A Handful of Dates
Background
Character Analysis
Masood
- Grandfather sees Masood as lazy and undeserving.
- Nonconfrontational
- Friendly
- Generous
- Losing everything he has
Tayeb Salih
(the grandson, narrator, and author)
Tayeb Salih
- born in a village in Northern part of Sudan
- Family:
- Small farmers and religious teachers
- Work in agriculture
The Narrator is the the young boy, named Tayeb Salih.
- Curious
- Observant/Maturing
- Devoted
- Thoughtful
- Innocent
- Religious
- Looks up to his grandfather
- He is the favorite grandchild
- Tayeb Salih's (the narrator) grandfather
- Corrupt
- Ambitious
- Greedy
- Strict
- Serious
Plot and Main Point
Relation to Today
Plot
Main Point
- Young Islamic boy is raised by his grandfather.
- Masood is the grandfather's neighbor
- Masood and the grandfather have their own conflict
- Masood has lost ⅔ of his land to the grandfather because he is in debt
- The grandfather divides up the dates
- The young boy runs to the riverbank
- In this moment, he hated his grandfather
- Grandfather treated Masood so poorly
- The young boy no longer thought of his grandfather to be some sort of pure figure in his eyes.
The young boy realizes how greedy his grandfather is. The grandfather was the boy's role model, but after seeing his true colors, the young boy no longer idolizes his grandfather.
Definition of Greed: A selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth, food, or other possessions
Teens Experiencing Greed:
- Expectation from parents
- Jealousy
- Cheating
"I used to know when my grandfather wanted me to laugh, when to be silent" (87).
Simile: "palm trees are like humans"
Symbol: The dates symbolize the debt Masood owes to the grandfather
"'I don't care' I told myself, 'who owns those date palms, those tress or this black cracked earth--all I know is that it's the arena for my dreams and my playground'" (87).
"I looked at Massod and saw his eyes were darting to left and right like two mice that have lost their way home" (89).
Symbol: The narrator uses the words "purer whiteness", "greater beauty", and "extremely tall" to represent the grandfather's pure strength and goodness in the boy's mind