Apples from the desert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Apples from the desert - Essay Example What is strange here, and made me curious if this really happens in Israel, is the fact that despite the divorce, the man remained in the house of mother and daughter – with Hannah continuing to support the needs of the man she divorced. In â€Å"Hayuta’s Engagement Party†, Bella, the mother of Hayuta, is a daughter of a concentration camp survivor, Grandpa Mendel. The horror and trauma that Grandpa Mendel experienced during the war remained hidden in his heart for a long time, until six years ago. The impending wedding of Hayuta was feared to be another venue for Grandpa Medel’s expression of Holocaust stories. The family’s efforts to silence him created tensions between the older generations and the new generations of Israelites. What is striking in this story is that despite the probable embarrassment that Grandpa Medel could create during the party, the family recognized the importance of his presence in an occasion like this. They are willing to go through all the trouble of trying to silence him against all odds. In â€Å"Apples from the Desert†, Victoria, the mother of a rebellious daughter, only recognizes the depths of her own marital misery when she sees the loving relationship Rivka has formed outside the legal bonds of matrimony. This story presented that older generations still believed and practiced arranged marriages without knowing the desperate consequences both man and woman experience during their married life. This is a sad plight if, indeed, it still happens in Israel today. The universal issues eminent in the stories are: (1) the unconditional love that a mother has for the child (or daughter, specifically) in her stories; (2) the value one gives to one’s family and (3) the option of divorce for unhappy marriages. These issues are considered universal because they encompass people from all cultures. Definitely, there might be differences in