The narrator portrays Hosna, the wife of Mustafa Sa’eed, as a person who lacked cultural loyalty because of not emulating the Sudanese culture. The narrator talks of her as a woman of a noble carriage and foreign type of beauty, because she used no henna on her feet and hands. She had a lovely smell, which was a perfume she used, her natural dark tint and white teeth. The Sudanese culture dictates her to apply henna on her nails and use makeup on herself. What is evident about Hosnas’ character is her desire for independence and individual rights. Hosna was only able to trust men who respected her as a person with equal abilities. She had the mentality of a man from her childhood that shaped her strong character. Consequently, her mentality is depicted when Hosna is asked if she loved her husband but does not reply in the affirmative. Instead, the character says how she appreciates him for being a generous husband and father (Salih,1966). Hosna, therefore, did not respect Sudanese cultural traditions contrary to what the society expected. The people of Sudan expected Hosna to follow and uphold the Islamic tradition that was the way of life for the Sudanese. She was not able …show more content…
Effendi is tasked with the responsibility of being the guardian of Mustafa’s family and also the executor of his estate. Effendi is a dilemma caught between two worlds of following the traditional culture and making all decisions for Hosna or letting Hosna to make some domestic choices by herself. Effendi makes some choices for Hosna although he believes she should do them for herself. He asks Hosna what she thinks of Wad’s proposal, but Hosna rejects saying she will never remarry and if forced to do so, she will kill the husband then herself. In the end, Effendi lets Hosna to make marriage choices by herself and even supports her refusal to marry Wad, a decision that leads to Wad Reyye’s death (Salih,