Before I began to read Baghdad Without A Map, I had limited ideas regarding the culture of Middle Eastern countries. What particularly interested me before beginning the novel were the cultural differences between Western nations such as the United States and Middle Eastern nations. What interests me the most about these first chapters, is the way Tony Horwitz focuses not so much on the governments of the countries he visits, but more on the every day life, religious, and social entities. It seems as though Horwitz is also interested in contrasting Western and Middle Eastern cultures. I find the chapters on Yemen to be particularly interesting. Horwitz unveils two things which seem to be a right of passage in Yemen; weapons, and qat. According to Horwitz, people in Yemen chew qat the same way people in America drink coffee. Where in America, people sit around a table and sip coffee, Yemenis sit around a table chewing a wad of qat. Horwitz emphasizes the fact that every man in Yemen (as long as he is not a Jew) carries a dagger around his waist and usually has at least two rifles. He says that men in Yemen carry daggers the same way Americans carry a wallet. Along with depicting the violence driven aspect of the country, Horwitz seems to justify it. Violence in Yemen is so evident because of the influx of weapons from surrounding countries. The sale of weapons is a major source of income. I don’t think that Horwitz in any way intends to depict Yemen’s culture in a bad light, nor do I think he tries to unfairly accuse it of being uncultivated. One of the reasons why I have enjoyed reading this novel so far is that Horwitz manages to include a great amount of detail and insight from his own perspective from his adventures, and his opinions regarding the Middle Eastern countries from the truth. In the chapter about Yemen, he isn’t afraid to depict how unstable and violent the country is. In the next chapter about the United Arab Emirates, he praises the nation’s civilized culture and flourishing economy. These opinions which can be seen through the writing are enjoyable and interesting to read because the Horwitz has alot of knowledge backing them. I trust that Horwtiz’s contrasts between American and Middle Eastern culture are fully realistic.
B.C.D
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As BD stated in "A Contrast between Cultures", I too had little knowledge of the Middle Eastern cultures, lifestyle, and beliefs. When I first started reading the novel, I automatically saw distinct differences between the United States and Middle Eastern cultures. For instance: according to Horwitz, people in Yemen chew qat everyday, and every man (unless he's a Jew) carries areound a dagger. My first opinion of this was that Middle Eastern people were very different from Americans, because in America you would never be able to carry around a dagger everywhere you went. It had seemed to me that the Yemen culture was almost promoting violence and accepting it as part of their culture. What I didn't notice, but came to realize, like BD, the second time I read the chapter on Yemen, was that the people in Yemen chew qat the same way people in America sip coffee, or that the men in Yemen carry daggers the same way Americans carry wallets. At a first glance, the two cultures seem completely different, and although they may be, there are a few similarities that they have in common; their daily rituals. The two cultures daily rituals may not be the same, but they are important to each culture. Americans may consider carrying daggers dangerous, but to the Yemen society it's part of the way they live. Neither society is right, and neither is wrong, they just don't understand eachother. It is ignorance that drives the two cultures and their people to believe that the only right way of living is their own way of living.
^^^-BC
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