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Re: Verne's suttee

From: Tom McCormick <jambuvijaya~at~yahoo.com>
Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2009 11:35:45 -0800 (PST)
To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~gilead.org.il>

Precisely. Why is a raja marrying a Parsi woman anyway? Parsi women ordinarily marry Parsis, not Rajas. And there are no Parsi rajas as far as I know. Tom ________________________________ From: Garmt de Vries-Uiterweerd <garmtdevries~at~gmail.com> To: Jules Verne Forum <jvf~at~Gilead.org.il> Sent: Sat, December 5, 2009 5:03:46 PM Subject: Re: Verne's suttee 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 Thu 10 Dec 2009 - 22:43:17 IST

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