Selma Karamy as a Role Model of Muslim Women's Struggle against Domination in Gibran’s The Broken Wings

Abstract

Gibran's The Broken Wings embodies the encouraging and enriching ideas for Muslim women’s struggle for emancipation from the horribly exploitative empowerment in patriarchy through the historical span of time. The characters portrayed in the novel are symbolic and speak the voices of both the ruled and the ruler, in other words those of females and males, respectively. The female character Selma Karamy carries on Gibran's views and attitudes towards women and rest of the male-dominated society. The author has tried his best to represent the contemporary Muslim society and its barriers to the women counterparts. As her author’s spokesperson and activist, Selma, the protagonist tries to break down the unjust and scary limit set by her orthodox and conservative family especially the Bishop. Going to meet with her lover even after her marriage, being a member of a conservative family, in such a strict family, she reflects her exceeding courage and endurance to be successful to represent herself as a role model in the then Muslim society.