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Re: Verne's suttee

From: Rick Walter~at~comcast.net <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>
Date: Sat, 5 Dec 2009 15:06:29 -0700
To: "Jules Verne Forum" <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Tom:

The two Parsis in this TdM sequence aren't practicing suttee -- they're doing what they can to thwart the ritual. Via the elephant driver, Verne names the practitioners as Brahmans, the late raja's family. Then he states that "Le sacrifice ... n'est pas voluntaire." The woman is being forced by violent means to participate and continually resists; the elephant driver is part of Fogg's rescue team and risks his life and future on her behalf.

Isn't this straightforwardly clear in chapters 12-13?

Because the drugged Aouda hasn't yet managed to escape her captors, do you honestly feel that she "practices suttee"? Do you sincerely believe that she and the driver are "allowing" it?

Surely you're not going to blame the victim.

Best,
Rick.



----- Original Message -----
  From: Tom McCormick
  To: Jules Verne Forum
  Sent: Saturday, December 05, 2009 2:20 PM
  Subject: Re: Verne's suttee





  I believe Mr. Mahendra Singh's point may be that Parsi people do not practice suttee AT ALL, which would make the entire sequence inaccurate.

  The traditional Parsi funerary practice is to place the bodies of the dead atop the so-called Towers of Silence to be devoured by vultures. The explanation given for this practice is that earth and fire are sacred elements, which should not be polluted by the bodies of the dead---hence, no burial or cremation allowed. So, Parsi people who allowed suttee would be acting contrary to their own tradition.

  Suttee was practiced mostly, if not exclusively, by Hindus of the warrior and princely castes such as Rajputs.

  Tom




------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  From: "Rick Walter~at~comcast.net" <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>
  To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il>
  Sent: Sat, December 5, 2009 1:44:10 PM
  Subject: Verne's suttee


  On Wed, 2 Dec 2009 08:11:44 -0500 Mahendra Singh wrote:



  “Verne's knowledge of India in Le Tour de monde is a bit spotty … he has Aouda submitting to suttee although she is a Parsee, a rather odd circumstance. The suttee scene is great melodrama but inaccurate in many respects.”



  Mr. Singh is being awfully rough on Verne here. Aouda hardly "submits" to this ritual cremation: she's drugged and forced to participate, very much against her will. In the same resistant vein, the other Parsi in this episode, the elephant driver, runs huge risks to rescue her.



  I'm not clear on what Mr. Singh finds "inaccurate" in this sequence. Verne presents neither Parsi as a proponent of suttee.



  All the best,

  Rick Walter in Albuquerque.
Received on Sun 06 Dec 2009 - 00:06:41 IST

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