season of migration to the north

i had to read season of migration to the north for a class in world literature and to be honest, this story is very fitting in discussions of colonialism and post-colonialism that are essential to any sort of discussion about world literature.

an interesting concept i found in this book is an illustration of the oppressed adopting tactics of the oppressor to be used against them. it is an inherited violence, with colonialism acting like a disease. that in itself is such an intriguing facet of this text. it forces the reader to contemplate the layers of violence and boundaries that i had never thought were able to be crossed. 

the main character, mustafa sa'eed, is a huge perpetrator of sexual violence against the women in london. his actions are a sort of revenge for the crimes of colonialism, but through the physical invasion of the body. he takes this learned aggression and uses it to his favor while also taking advantage of stereotypically harmful narratives that have been attached to his sudanese identity, in order to lure these women under his power. but in the process it becomes apparent that this is no longer just a process of revenge but him as a victim transitioning into the offender. it is impossible to figure out who he is underneath this violence, this germ of contagion. mustafa as a character starts to represent colonialism. while i can understand why he has entered this sphere of violence, the misogyny in which mustafa's resentment has fostered itself is objectively wrong on all levels. 

in addition, the relationship between men and women in this story relatively symbolize the power dynamic between a colonizer and the colonized. the women are spoken of in a very dehumanizing and disturbing manner by the men in this story, not just in london but also in the narrator's village located by the nile. salih emphasizes that the lingering affects of colonialism are inescapable, even if it may not be seen to the same extent as in mustafa, they still have the same disease. underneath colonialism, there is still the patriarchy looms overhead postcolonial women

with that being said, there are scenes of revolt. mustafa's actions in itself are an act of revenge, but the women are also capable of inheriting this violence that their male oppressors have often used against them.

it is an inescapable cycle of violence. 

the narrator on the other hand struggles with identity and although he is not directly violent there are tendencies similar to that of mustafa in thought. there is this underlying tension that the narrator could become mustafa, but there is also a possibility that he could not. is he capable of breaking the cycle?

overall, this book is graphic and has one of the most unlikable characters i've ever read which made it a very difficult read despite  being intentional. i deeply respect the book, but can't say i enjoyed it. i can appreciate that salih does do something with the reader's discomfort, which i think requires a lot of courage and ingenuity considering there are multiple books i've read recently that do not do that despite their best efforts.