Girl Made Of Dust

The Lebanese civil war also known as (the Israeli-Palestinian conflict), resulted in killings of a number of civilians and military troops was a war which as little Ruby got to discover in her quest to render sanity in her family was based in the name of race and faith. What started as a some-what operation to destroy terrorist attacks on the IDF forces along the Lebanon-Israeli border, later escalated into war when the supposed short-term movement led further into the outskirts of Beirut, (Ynetnews, 2008). The course of the war led to Internally displaced persons, camps being set up and Palestinian refugees struggling to go through survival of the event at hand. This write up however is not based on instances of the Lebanese war but rather on an intriguing drama and horrific events experienced by a little girl Ruby in the light of understanding the circumstances surrounding her families demise.
The novel “A girl made of dust” by Abi-Ezzi is a
captivating tale set in Beirut in the 1980s showcasing the Lebanese civil war on how the Israeli invasion forced families to flee out of their homes to refuge in other countries. The vivid explanations of the culture and ways of life of the people of Lebanon touches on a personal sense told in the eyes of a young girl named Ruba. Also, it shows how life is faced by civilians in conflicting zones. Ruba and her family are a Christian based family living outside a Christian city from Beirut. Shattered by war and bombing, the children of this home town are left to play with nothing but shells and cracks of what is left.
Instances in the narration of this novel brings about forms of social violence depicted by political factors such as; war. Furthermore, it brings depicts a transpersonal and individual experiences of suffering as narrated by the author. It shows a family shattered by the effects of war with a father torn by a devastating incident in which no one seems to want to speak of only towards the end of the novel. it is equally a dramatic story of a family where a little girl fights to re-live what it was her family once owned before the invasion by the Israelites. Violent images depicting instances of social suffering of this horrifying event as can be seen in the photos below gives an insight into what comprised of the war at that period.
Ruba’s grandmothers believe in the “Virgin Mary” the mother of Christ, the hope they needed for protection to serve as a savior depicts how much the town believed in their Christian fate.
Naji, who is her beloved brother, Aida her mother who is faced with situations of experiencing cultural change in family relationships such as changing gender roles. Her husbands absence from normal functioning in daily activities pushes her to assume role of the survivor of the family.
Ruba’s father broken by the war has become a man wasted in the shadow of whom he once was. Lost in a world of his own, the responsibility of running the household is shifted to the responsibility of a traumatizing Aida his wife and Teta, Rubas’ grandmother. The novel also brings forward a glimpse on the traumatizing effects war has on families and children. Not only does it lead to separation of families but also pushes children to the wrong directions in life. For instance, the absence of a fathers’ attention sends Naji to hang out with the wrong
crowd.
The circumstances in which little Ruba finds herself forces her to embrace the situations of her surroundings. Just like the works of Kleinman et al (1997) shows, our social experiences are shaped by series of factors such as our cultural representations. Ruba being a witness to some forms of social suffering in this novel shows the image of a young girl fighting her inner battles to overcome the situations around her. resilience
Troubled by her surroundings and the things happening around her especially by the state in which Ruba finds her father in, she becomes perplexed and tries to get answers to these situations such as; was he really cursed by their old neighbor with the glass eye? Will the glass eye she found while out with Teta, help in preventing “The witch” from harming others? Intrigued by all this, the author further dives into the novel by giving an insight into the mysterious discoveries and secrets surrounding the family.
Political instances such as war leads to instances of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) and outcomes such as depressive disorders. However, despite the challenges faced by Ruba and her family, Abi-Ezzi ends the novel on a beautiful and hopeful state when Ruba finally regain the father she once lost.