What are the various meanings of the book's title?
Created: 10/27/22
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The word Honor is used multiple times throughout the book to mean:
1. Meena gave Honor to Abru's father.
2. Meena gave Honor to her mother.
3. Meena's brothers acted to save their family Honor.
4. Govind asked the sisters to consider the Honor of their forefathers.
5. Govind explains Meena's hut was set on fire to protect the Honor of all Hindus.
6. Smita's mummy taunted Smita's father when the mom found out that the father had bribed Sushil to help sell their apartment. First you sold out your religion. Now even your honor?
7. In the final essay, the author explains that the term Honor is a cover for the domination of women by their fathers, brothers, and sons. The author introduces the concept of Honor killings explaining that women are raped, killed, and sacrificed to preserve male pride and reputations. For me, the final essay was the most powerful pages of the book. I didn't understand the concept of honor killings until I read the essay.
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To the brothers, honor meant "keeping face" with their community and faith. A woman certainly couldn't get the upper hand or disobey!
To Smita, honor meant standing up for what you believe in. Her father recanted to save the family.But it was a matter of honor for her father to protect his family.
Meena honored her love for her husband by leaving her brothers behind. She honored that love by sacrificing herself to save her daughter.
Abru was the daughter's name, which meant "Honor." In aspect to the daughter, I believe it means hope for a better life by honoring who she is.
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I think that Thrity Umigar gave us a lot of different options of the word honor to choose from, and I find myself asking how can i live honorably? I would like to live as Meena did. She was true to herself and a husband who believed in a new and better way. She allowed her case to be used as an example, refusing to let her fear or intimidation by others stop her from fighting what was done to her husband. She knew what kind of daughter she wanted to raise and gave her a name to be proud of for always. She was willing to learn from Abdul and open to accepting new possibilities. She protected those people she cared about and stood her ground the last night of her life.
Was putting the mangoes on the cover of the book intentional? Is this a message of what honor Umrigar wants us to aspire to?
Join Date: 07/15/21
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The necessity to preserve one’s honor, as the word is used by Meena’s brothers, seems to mean preserving the image held of oneself and one’s family by others. Here social standing and not losing face (respect) with others is the essential priority. As Meena uses the word, honor also refers to acting with integrity in accordance with what you value most. It’s just that what Meena valued most, protecting and preserving those she loved, was very different from her brothers. Smita also acted in this way, as had her father before her. Losing face was not important over and against protecting loved ones.
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Previous answers outline well the many ways honor is interpreted throughout the book. However, the author also writes about the danger of a community that "mistakes revenge for honor and blood lust for tradition" (pg. 160) With these words the reader is challenged to reflect on what is truly honorable and what is merely cloaked in this seemingly noble attribute; i.e. how honor can be used to justify cruel, misogynistic and criminal behavior.
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