NIVERSITY SIDIMOHAMED BEN ABDELLAH

(USMBA), FEZ
FACULTY OF LETTERS DHAR LMEHRAZ
(FLDM)
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND
LITERATURE

Autumn Exam, Second Sitting : 2022/2023

Fundamental BA Programme
Extensive Reading
Filiere: English Studies Semester 3 Module
Profs: Baddouri & Khayati
Student’s Exam
CNE
Name Num.

INSTRUCTIONS
ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS IN BOTH “A” AND “B” SECTIONS.

A. Briefly answer the following questions:

1. Who is Chillingworth and what do we learn about his character in The Scarlet Letter?

Chillingworth is Hester’s legal husband. He is a doctor, an old scholar who dedicated his
life to learning and research, neglecting his young beautiful wife. As his name suggests,
Roger Chillingworth is a man deficient in human emotions or warmth. He also assumes the
identity of a “leech,” because he feeds on the vitality of others as a way of energizing his
own wishes and desires. So, when Dimmesdale dies, his object of his revenge, the leech has
no choice but to die too. Chillingworth is indeed the embodiment of evil. His desire is not to
restore justice, but to hurt others. He is truly devoid of compassion and is even considered as
the ‘’Black Man’’, a pseudonym which refers to his demoniacal aspect.

2. What is Faten’s real name and why is she first introduced as “the fanatic”?

Faten Khatibi is a poor and marginalized character. She is a student of Islamic Studies
at the university in Casablanca. She is described as a fanatic and fundamentalist, and the
clear sign that reflects her religiosity is the Hijab. Faten as a member of the Muslim
Brotherhood will try to influence people, like Noura. She is not only devoted to Islam, but
also to the Imam of her mosque. It is this latter who will encourage her to migrate to Spain,
since her political engagements and Larbi’s (Noura’s father) negative attitude towards her
are putting her in danger. Faten represents ‘fitna’, trouble, since she is a real menace to them.

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 3. What are the reasons that make both Aziz and Murad feel “invisible” in society?
Murad and Aziz are both dreaming of a hopeful existence far from invisibility. Murad is a
graduate in English literature who still lives with his mother in Tangier, jobless and without
hopes. Aziz, like Murad, is unemployed; however, his situation is worse than Murad’s
because he is married and it is his wife who is active. Their frustrated expectations lead them
to a struggle against social marginalization. Both seem to be deprived from their manhood
since they are confronted to economic impotence and then cannot be responsible for their
families. After the death of his father, Murad cannot be the Man of the house because he
has no income. The same for Aziz who cannot be in a position of authority since he is jobless.
Both are denied the respect due to a man in a patriarchal society. They, in fact, hardly exist
or are just invisible.

existence,
……individuals
to social
from ainvisi-
hopeful
A. Identify, contextualize and analyze this passage:
He looks at the Spanish coastline, closer with every breath. The waves are inky black, except
for hints of foam here and there, glistening white under the moon, like tombstones in a dark
cemetery. Murad can make out the town where they’re headed. Tarifa. The mainland point of
the Moorish invasion in 711. Murad used to regale tourists with anecdotes about how Tariq Ibn
Ziyad had led a powerful Moor army across the Straits and, upon landing in Gibraltar, ordered all
the boats burned. He’d told his soldiers that they could march forth and defeat the enemy or turn
back and die a coward’s death. The men had followed their general, toppled the Visigoths, and
established an empire that ruled over Spain for more than seven hundred years. Little did
they know that we’d be back, Murad thinks. Only instead of a fleet, here we are in an inflatable
boat—not just Moors, but a motley mix of people from the ex-colonies, without guns or armor,
without a charismatic leader.

This passage is taken from Lalami’s Hope and other Dangerous Pursuits. Murad is
one of the four protagonists of this story. He, like others has gambled all his money to look
for better opportunities as an illegal immigrant in Europe. He is a young and intelligent man
with a university degree who seems to suffocate at home since he is jobless. Attempting to
cross the border from Morocco to Spain via the Strait of Gibraltar is the only solution to be
independent, responsible and visible. The trip from Morocco to Spain, which was in the past
a glorious act, is today a very dangerous and often a tragic endeavor.

This passage shows a nostalgia for a dead glorious past. Through this flashback the narrator
seems to regret the falling apart of the Arab’s civilization. Instead of the conquering Moors,
like Tariq Ibn Zayed, we are reduced today to insignificant and hopeless masses of
immigrants from the ex-colonies. For the Moors the real danger was the enemy, but for the
immigrant the first immediate danger is the sea. The writer describes the waves as being
‘’inky black’’(l.1) which is a reference to danger or even death at sea. She obviously again
points out to the danger those immigrants face during their trip, when she uses a simile (l.2)
‘’like tombstones in a dark cemetery’’. This shows clearly that a lot of immigrants tragically

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end up in the Strait before reaching the border of their dreams. The Mediterranean Sea is
reduced to an open cemetery where thousands of hopeless immigrants are buried. Lalami
focuses, here, on the sense of despair that drives those people to defy death in order to exist
and achieve their dreams of hope and prosperity. Such a despair shows that we are in front
of a real human crisis. The Strait divides two different universes, while one seems to be a
sterile land (Africa) the other (Europe) represents the El dorado. It is only 14 kilometers, but
it seems that it is an endless dangerous distance that immigrants must cover. So, this is not
an easy challenge, but a very dangerous trip since the means are inadequately adapted to
the situation. They have just an inflatable fragile boat with too many people aboard to face
the dangerous sea.

Murad, one of those immigrants, is undertaking the same trip his ancestors went through,
but devoid of any heroic glory. The stories of the powerful Moor leader, he proudly used to
relate to tourists, are no more and the present is rather bitter. This shows that people, like
Murad, are unfortunately still sticking to a past which is dead and are unable to face the
reality. Murad is a graduate student in English literature who still lives with his mother in
Tangier; he is jobless and without hopes. His future is rather dark and uncertain. He does no
more bear his situation, because he sees that he has no place neither in his family, nor in
society. His situation mirrors the lot of many young Moroccans who feel frustrated because
they feel marginalized. Through this passage, Murad is meditating which reflects his
intellectual capacities. He has also the skill to relate stories to tourists, which will make of
him later a storyteller. He will have then the power to create and it is through this
achievement that he will exist.

Finally, this passage is important because it shows the degradation the Arab civilization went
through; it also shows the desperate condition of those who decide to cross the dangerous
Strait of Gibraltar looking for better opportunities. Lalami draws a very dark and pessimistic
picture of immigration today. She successfully depicts the illusory castles immigrants build
and firmly believe in to give a meaning and a sense of hope to their life.
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