Reading Response to Ali and Nino Essay

The most evident and reoccurring theme that I noticed in Kurban Said’s, Ali and Nino was the importance of religion and cultural backgrounds. In many different places in the story it is evident that Ali and Nino have been taught some completely different things about the world in general. The first major example that I found is when Ali speaks with his father and Nino’s father about marrying Nino. Although they are both somewhat supportive of the marriage, they both send completely opposite messages. Ali’s father tells him that the love for Nino is not necessary and that if he wants Ali can still marry up to three more wives. Contrary to Ali’s fathers belief, Nino’s father feels very differently. He feels that he must show unconditional love and treat her with the dignity and respect that she deserves. He also feels that he should focus all her energy and love on her rather than having any other wives. If Nino’s father doubts Ali’s for his daughter, maybe that is part of the reason why he tried to postpone the wedding. The second example I found is when Nino tells Ali he absolutely can not have a harem because it is considered a disgraceful tradition of Ali’s background to Nino and her family. Ali agrees that he will not have a Harem and then the question of whether or not Nino will have to wear a veil. After a bit of deliberation between Ali and Nino, they were still unable to reach a conclusion to whether or not Nino would have to wear a veil. Nino does not understand why a women must wear a veil whereas Ali feels that it is very important that the women does so that Nino will be protected from strangers looks. Although Ali and Nino are very much in love there are very many cultural differences and misunderstandings that make this inter religion/faith marriage a bit more complicated. This idea of religious differences and cultural misunderstandings really hits home for me. As a Jewish adult, it has always been very important to me to marry someone of the same faith and belief system. As I have grown up I do believe that the most important thing is being happy and that being accepting of all peoples values and morals is very much important. Out of personal experience, I have two relatives that both decided to marry out of the Jewish faith. Neither of these marriages have worked out very well in regards to my family. The first relative of mine ended up getting divorced and is now going through a custody battle for his children. The other relative is still married to his wife but does not talk to anyone on our side of the family due to many reasons but mostly because she was not willing to support his Jewish identity and background. It is ignorant in my opinion to think that inter faith marriages can never work out, because a lot of them do. But in my experiences with my family they have not. Regardless if people can make them work, it is definitely harder than marrying someone with the same faith as you. With religion comes a system of ideals, morals and beliefs and if someone has those same values as you do, there will be less cultural misunderstandings and cleavages than if you married someone with different values than you. So the whole idea of cultural differences through religion complicating thing relates both very closely to my life in terms of my family and Kurban Said’s Ali and Nino.