Ashkar

Nadine El Ashkar
900120189
SMR 111
Comparison Paper
27 April 2013
Prompt: The Spiral Staircase, a chapter from On Identity (Modernity and the Other) and
I am not my hair.
This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
The three works The Spiral Staircase by Karen Armstrong, Modernity and the
Other from Maaloufs On Identity and I am not my Hair by India Aire discuss issues that
make us humans; issues of identity, us versus the others and how everyone is a stranger in
his own way. Although each narrator comes from a different background and is in a
different situation, they are peculiarly similar in the way they feel about identity. The
three of them take a philosophical journey of self-discovery through their experience with
cultures that are foreign to them. The three speakers talk about identity and self-discovery
through their own experience. The difference however lies in the fact that Armstrong is in
the very early stage of the cultural shock, while Amin Maalouf is in the process of
speculating and postulating about it while Aire has already taken a step of establishing
her identity. Maalouf defines the stages that Armstrong and Aire are going through in his
chapter as he says that the finding ones true identity is the primary cause of one to return
to his religion and tradition as an attempt to chop all the more tightly to tradition is to feel
grounded in a Utopian simpler time, to avoid the seeming sensory chaos of a globalized
world where Armstrong felt she was an alien trying to fit in and where Aire was expected
to look in a certain way or else she would be ugly.
The three works are different in a way that Maalouf, was torn between his
Lebanese and French identities and was generality postulating psychological and even
philosophical opinions on the matter of identity as a global issue while Armstrong was
almost pouring her heart out to her diaries, how she saw people, and how she felt and
finally India Aire was reflecting and projecting her opinion, not to justify, but to motivate
people to follow her lead and be proud of their identities. Of the three works, I am not my

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Hair has the strongest voice as the use of first person is genuine because Aire reflects on
an action she already took like how she says See, I can kinda recall a lil' ways back,
Small, tryin' to ball, always been black, then Maaloufs because even though his
experience is in first person, he is always saying things like My aim is different
(Maalouf, 46) and It is hard to claim... (Maalouf 46) Which shows some hesitance in
his voice. Finally, Armstrong gave us her experience for us to reflect on, there was no
outlook.

Although the three works have a similar topic, each is tackled from a different
point of view. For instance, Amin Maalouf has a sociological, intellectual tone where he
is almost dictating his readers his viewpoints. Maalouf tackles heavy topics but he is
always trying to simplify his reasoning to make sure he is not misunderstood as his
thoughts and views are controversial. His critical yet very careful tone makes his book in
general and the Chapter Modernity and the Other where he actually discusses the taboo
topics of religions in specific a pleasure to read and reflect on. Armstrongs tone is
melancholic and personal. The tone of loneliness can be detected through her over
observation and analysis her peers Jane, Mark and Fiona. This also makes us deduce that
she had nothing better to do so she felt as an observer and also that she wanted to fit in
and that is why she was closely observing her peers to copy them in their actions. Karens
melancholic tone is also detected in her description of the moon as a dark celestial object
in the peak of the time where the moon symbolized the human races advances and goals
achieved. Karens tone is more judgmental than those of Maalouf and Aire as she called
peoples action Unabashedly Sexual and had nothing to do with her (Armstrong 3).
Finally, Aires tone is overwhelmingly confident. Her repetition of a sentence with the
same form Hey, I am not my hair, I am not this skin I am not your expectations.
Stresses her argument and her confidence. Her directly speaking to a you also
strengthens her argument.
The three works are encapsulations of the journey of mankind and self-discovery.
The whole course is a journey of quest and self-discovery and these three works are no
exception. I am not my hair made me relate to Guns, Germs and Steel especially when

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Jerald Diamond was describing the indigenous people of New Guniea and how their
definition of beauty is different from the modern world. Arie clearly states that her
success depended on embracing her real identity through being proud of her African
heritage by saying I hate to say it but it seem so flawed 'Cause success didn't come till I
cut it all off. Although a lot of people can relate to the symbolic aspect of I am not my
Hair, a lot of Egyptians would relate to it literally. Unfortunately, in Egypt beauty is
defined by straight blond hair and a lot of girls abandon their natural beauty and go to
hair saloons frequently to fit in the criteria that the society has set for beauty. My own
mother was pushing my younger sister to do Keratin to her beautiful curly hair but my
sister refused because she said she liked her hair the way it was created. As for On
Identity, the chapter named Modernity and the other is mainly about religions, especially
Islam and Christianity; the main two religions of my country. Maalouf has said a couple
of quotes that really touched me like No doctrine is free of blood, nobody has a
monopoly on human values (Maalouf 44) and The text doesnt change, our perception
changes. The second quote defines what we are going through in Egypt right now with
the rise of Islamist political parties who believe they have a monopoly of human values
and only adhere by their shallow explanations of the Quran and Sunnah.
I connected with three texts in so many ways that are too many to mention. As for
I am not my Hair, I personally have always been criticized because I usually wear my
hair up. I wear it up because I am a sportive person so I cant wear it while I am
practicing and I wear it up because I keep playing with it and lose focus in class if I wore
it down. People usually tell me you have nice hair, wear it down. Although I appreciate
their comments, wearing my hair up doesnt make me any less of a girl. So if Arie say
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?, Id Say :Does the way I wear
my hair make me a better girl? As for Amin Maalouf, he mentioned something that I
have been thinking of before I even read his book. He discussed not how religion affects
people, but rather how people affect their religion (Maalouf 51). I had always thought of
how the world would have been had Europe been Muslims and the Arabs Christians?
Would the Arabs still claim that Christianity is the better religion and the problem is in
their execution of it? Would America stereotype that all Christians are terrorists? I have
always thought also of why Islam is only correlated with Arabs while Indonesia has the

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largest Muslim population. Speaking of Christianity, Karen leaving the convent is just
almost everybody leaving his comfort zone. Karen is freshmen in universities; Karen is
emigrants world wide that Maalouf dedicated a whole chapter in his book. Karen is every
one feeling a stranger, she is everyone feeling lonely.
As for the conclusions of the three works, I am not my Hair, puts the conclusion
in the last sentence very simply I am the soul that lives within. She stresses what she
had been trying to explain throughout the whole song. In a way, she is concluding the
conclusion that had reached earlier: she should wear her hair the way she wants to. Amin
Maalouf on the other hand concludes his chapter by vigorously attacking the west. He
started asking questions like Why is it when European civilizations took the lead, all
others began to decline? (Maalouf 61). He also mentions that The West doesnt want
the East to be like it, just follow it.( Maalouf 62) and his final conclusion is asking
whether religions affect society or the other way around? As for The Spiral Staircase,
Karen ends the excerpt by a symbolic demonstration of the way she vies the world. She
described the moon as dark and empty, while Armstrong, who shares her last name, had
just landed on it, astonishing the world with the great leap of mankind. This last morose
soliloquy of hers showed the readers how divorced from reality she is.
The three works, together, show the complex mechanism of identity. Arie is proud
of hers, Armstrong is discovering hers and Amin Maalouf is speculating the concept in
general and supporting his postulations by personal experiences (Candevra). Although the
voice, presentation and form of each is different, they all affect the reader in a way that
makes him willing to dig deep for his identity. The reason each of the works is written is
different; On Identity (Modernity and the Other), is a reflection on Maaloufs dual
citizenship and diverse identity backed up with his knowledge and deep speculation of
the world. I am not my Hair, is written and sung for two reasons, the first is that Arie is
saying that she is proud of her heritage and the second is that she speaks about her
struggle with breast cancer. She pointed out that if hair is seen as a symbol of beautythose without hair shouldn't make them ugly. The song speaks for itself. I am not my
hair. I am the soul that lives within. And Breast cancer and chemotherapy
Took away her crownin' glory. As for The Spiral Staircase, Karen wrote the book as an

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autobiography. She wrote the autobiography to tell people about her journey of self
discovery.
Finally, I would personally recommend the three pieces of work along with
several others that we have read in this course due to their great aesthetic appeal and
prodigious touch with the human soul. These pieces of work touch the compassionate
side of each humans journey if life. The three writers come from different backgrounds
yet their texts seem universal because deep inside we all speak the same language. In
short, their passion and influence is not based on their extensive knowledge, existing
stories or people sympathizing with their commotions but rather upon their deep
commitment to their works, their honesty in telling their story and most importantly their
boldness in speaking their stories up; their stories that all the human race can relate to.

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Works Cited
Caindevra. "The Anatomy Lesson." The Anatomy Lesson. N.p., 23 Mar. 2009. Web. 27
Apr. 2013.
"India.Arie I Am Not My Hair." SongMeanings. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Maalouf, Amin. "Modernity and the Other." On Identity. London: Harvill, 2000. N. pag.
Print.