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Re: Verne's suttee

From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 00:03:46 +0100
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

The question is, why is a Parsi woman, from a wealthy and rather
Europeanized family, was married against her will to this old radjah?

Garmt.

2009/12/5 Rick Walter~at~comcast.net <rick1walter~at~comcast.net>:
> 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 - 01:03:54 IST

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