Name : Nor Hidayah Binti Abdul Rahman
Class : Accounting
Title : Desert Flower (by Waris Dirie)

How does the text relate to the theme of a journey?

The book “Desert Flower” by Waris Dirie is about her own life. It relates to the theme of a journey because it tells the story of a Somali nomad girl who knew nothing about the world outside, turns into a famous international model. We can see how her life changed dramatically, but, of course, it needed a lot of efforts from her and she went through a lot of things and experiences.

We know that Waris tried to adapt with the situation at new places. When she was young, she used to taking care of the herds as the main activities because that is one of famous jobs there in Somalia. But when she went to developed country like London, the people there have their own routine of life and activities that quiet different from the undeveloped country. For examples, time is more important and we need identification card wherever we go. So she started to appreciate time more when she lived with her aunt. She also realized that passport is so essential, until she would do anything ridiculous like contract marriage in order to get it whereas when she was in her country she just didn’t care about that.

Not only that, she also learned new things and getting matured from time to time. At first, although she new that circumsion can be so hurt, she still wanted to do it because all the girls around her went through it in order to be a woman. But when she went to London, and befriended with Halwu, she happened to know that Halwu and other women did not perform such ritual. It made her felt different and she determined to change her condition by doing operation. Besides, she also started to learn English with Halwu because it is important for her to learn the mother tongue of the country that she lived at the moment. It is proved that, via her journey, she gained a lot of knowledge that can advantage herself.

What is the main issue in the text?

From this novel, we can see that the author try to rise the main issue of the efforts and the risks that one took to succeed in their life, and when she made it, she still doesn’t forget whom and where she belongs to. In order to change her life, Waris determined to leave her beloved family so that she didn’t have to marry the sixty-year-old man. She believed that her life wouldn’t be the same if she ran away. She also willing to jeopardize herself by going to new places that she has no idea what they are all about alone. Not only that, after she made it, she still has the sense of responsibility to her family, especially to her mother. Even when she knows that her family is well, she feels a sense of guilt because she has left her mother behind with all the daily work to do on her own. Based on these situations, we can see that she is a strong woman who really determined to change her way of life.

What quality do you admire or dislike in a character?

One of the characters that I admire is the author herself, Waris. She has the courage to live and succeed by using her own ways. She refused to marry the old man that her father wanted her to end up to because she believed that there’s a better life out there. After ran away from home, although she had no energy, she still make her effort to go to Galcaio. When she was in London alone, even though she has no passport, she still tried to upgrade her life. Furthermore, in order to be an excellent model, she tried to learn and made efforts to travel from one place to another, so that she can succeed and be able to help her mother.

Other than that,Waris also caring for animals especially her pet goat, Billy. She would spend her day with taking herds about 60 to 70 sheep and goats into the desert to graze. She will make sure that animals drank as much as they could because it would be along time before they found other source of water, or not, it will end up with death. Furthermore, animals in their country are asset in their life for contributing food ad transportation.

In contrast, I dislike Nigel so much because he keeps forcing someone to do what the person doesn’t want to. At the beginning of their marriage (an agreement), he promised not to ask his rights as husband from Waris. But soon after that, he broke his promises by asking Waris to love him the way he loved her. He started to acting like Waris as his beloved wife and personal property. He used the dependence of Waris to him for the passport as the power for him to be more demanding.

How does the text develop your understanding of the world?

From this novel, I started to understand world better. One of the lessons I’ve learned is we cannot trust people blindly. During she’s on her way to run from home, she had a ride with the unknown truck driver and his friend. She was nearly being raped by the driver’s friend during the trip. What is worse, this incident happened twice. When she was in Galcaio, the man who pretended to show her Uncle Ahmad’s house also tried to rape her. From this, we can conclude that there are bad people in this world who are tried to take advantage on people who are weak and in desperate situations.

Not only that, via this book, I also believed that we have to grab chances in order to success. For instance, Waris and Halwu went to Malcolm Fairchild’s studio although she didn’t have the idea who Malcolm was and with no legal passport and not mastering English language at the same time. Fortunately, that happened to be the beginning of her career as a model. After that, she also went to other model agencies and casting to start making money from what she believed she could and able to do. With this reason, I think that chances are everywhere and it depends to us whether to take it or not.

Beside that, the text also showed us that true friends do exist in this world. For example, Halwu. She let Waris lived with her at YMCA, accompanied her to meet Malcolm, getting a job for her as a cleaner in McDonalds. Marilyn, Waris’s new best friend also showed the same characteristic. She helped Waris by giving her passport (although it was illegal and risky) because that would help and meant a lot to Waris. She also did that because she wanted to see Waris’s triumph and didn’t want to let her friend down. As conclusion, we really need true friends because they are willing to sacrifice, always remind and comfort each other in order to survive this challenging world.