Essay Questions

How did Meena Alexander’s travel to Sudan and United Kingdom shape her identity?

Meena moves with her father to Sudan when she is still a young girl. Arriving in Sudan, it is evident that women have special roles in society and there are specific things that they are prohibited from doing. For instance, the dress code for women is very strict since they have to cover their bodies according to the Muslim code of dressing. She is educated in North Africa and from an early age, she starts to refuse the strict laws that are targeted on women including dressing. When she finally goes to the UK, she recalls how surprised she was to find out that women had the freedom of doing things that were the complete opposite of Africa and India.

What is the primary theme in Fault Lines by Meena Alexander?

The predominant theme in Fault Lines by Meena Alexander is family. Meena talks a lot about her family. She starts to remember her life history with where she was born and how she moved around the world while discovering herself. She explains how her parents took care of them and how her father moved the her to Sudan where he was deployed to work. She states clearly that she was the eldest child with two younger sisters. She also mentions that she could go to India to visit her extended family during family trips. Therefore, Meena's memoir revolves around her family.

What is the symbolic meaning of Alexander’s relocation to Sudan with her father?

The relocation to Sudan symbolically represents the drastic changes that Alexander is going to encounter in her life. For instance, Alexander realizes that in Sudan, women are restricted to wear specific clothes that cover most of their bodies to comply with the Islamic teachings. Her move to Sudan similarly represents her happenstance with different human cultures which in the long run shapes her identity.