Portrayal of The Sufferings of The Somali Women Through The Character Ebla in Nuruddin Farah’s Novel

Ebla is punished for her sin that she had committed of not voiced against Awill. Farah portrays the sufferings of the Somali women through the character Ebla, and the pain women are undergoing in the male-dominated society. He shows that the pitiable condition of women in Somalia who do not raise voice against the men and they are subjected since they are considered subordinate. When Ebla is wounded psychologically and physically she questions herself,

“But why is a woman, a woman? To give companionship to man? To beget him, children? To do a woman’s duty? But that is only in the house. What else? She asked herself. Surely a woman is indispensable to man, but do men realize it?

Ebla pours all the emotions by questioning herself and tells to men that both men and women are equally important, one cannot survive with the help of the other. Ebla states the unsafe situation for women that prevails in the society where men are down to hunt to fulfill their desires. She examines her issues and got rid of it. She also examines her mistakes and corrected it, carefully she builds her position in a society.

After their marriage, Awill flees to Italy for an official work, by leaving her in Mogadiscio. Awill betrayed her by not keeping the promise that he made to her. He also cheated on her during the marriage. He told Asha to bring a sheik for marriage who is unfamiliar to him.

After he reached Italy, he was in a relationship with a white lady. Making false promises he gets close to women and he breaks the relationship when unsatisfaction strikes in a relationship. This defines that the women of any kind are not an exception from the spurious love shown by the man in a relationship. Any women who are unaware of the cruel instinct of a man is not spared from the damaging mission of them.

Ebla is not passive and irresponsive to the barbarous activities that are happening in her society; she is acting against the patriarchy when she is affected by it. She even opposes and accomplishes her stance against patriarchy. She decides to marry a man for the second time to take revenge for Awill’s relationship with a white woman. Asha told about a man, Tiffo and his desire to marry Ebla. The next day, Ebla and Tiffo got married and, she asserted it as a secret marriage to Tiffo.

Tiffo got married to Ardo and they have two children who are in the same age as Ebla. Ebla hides her marriage with Tiffo and when he comes to know about it, he got furious and got divorced with Ebla. This reaction of Tiffo towards her marriage with Awill exposes a truth that a man get married for four times in his lifetime if he is a Muslim , but a woman should not get married more than one time. If she did, she is a harlot.

When Tiffo asks her about Awill, she boldly responds to him as "You have another wife and I have another husband. We are even: you are a man and I am a woman, so we are equal. You need me and I need you. We are equal." A woman has to remain as a widow if her husband dies at a young age and if they got a male child, she has to raise him to an adult. After that, she has to rely upon him for her. There is always a dependency upon the men by the women.

Ebla's relocation from one place to another helps her find two women who are from an urban setting and they have a different ideology about life and womanhood. Ebla learns to live her life independently by opposing the male-dominated society. The widow in Belet Wene boosts her confidence and her company gave her a strength. She gave Ebla enough confidence to live in the patriarchal society and the nature of men was explained and it has been an alert for her to lead her life.

Awill’s introduction about Asha to Ebla benefitted Ebla as she teaches her how to survive in Mogadiscio. She is a cunning woman who runs behind money. She not only supports her, but also made Ebla realize the importance of equality between men and women in a society. Ebla with Asha’s support attains confidence and the strength to speak out “Surely a woman is indispensable to man, but do men realize it? A man needs a woman. A woman needs a man”.

Asha’s help made her to refurbish the thoughts that she had in mind since her childhood and it prepares her to oppose the every patriarchal onslaught against women, she stands for a new ideological set up to resist and oppose the men. This mission is embarked to reconstruct the mind-set of women to question and oppose each and every action against women.

Asha’s ability to manage her house with individual potential signifies her shrewdness. Through Asha’s character Farah, knocked down the notion of women as mentally weak creation and inert beings. Farah intensifies his concept through the mental agility of women through the character of Asha. Ebla is induced by Asha that she is an important component in man’s life and a fully-fledged member of a society.

Asha earnestly says to Ebla that if a man has the right to marry more than one woman, in a same way woman too has the right to marry more than one man. By defeating all her struggle, Asha has become a challenge to the patriarchy and she proves her stand against marginalization of women.

Asha abolished the thought like women is inferior to men from her mind and she instil her beliefs in the minds of women like Ebla. Her voice against men is inherited gradually by Ebla and she is feasible to encourage the personal struggle against the subjugation of women:

Ebla, little by little, learnt the background of Asha, who she deemed the most interesting character she had met since she left the country. Ebla could not help being fond of Asha, because she was the first person who had ever considered her equal: she made Ebla aware of what she was.

The tribulation of arranged marriage from which Ebla runs away from her home, symbolizes a race to free from inhibition and convention. Her ideological transformation and the notion of women, the resistance and opposition regarding the injustice against women is particularly to challenge the illegal and unjust patriarchal tendencies.

Ebla, during the process of her migration, she attained awakening, enlightenment, independence and freedom. Through the process of migration Ebla is acquainted with the sturdy female characters who help her to achieve what she want in her life and they helps her to proceed life in a way she likes to live it.