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The young Sudanese woman is one of the two narrators of Foreign Soil’s opening story, “David.” At the beginning of “David,” she has just bought a red bicycle that bears the name “BARKLY STAR” and is walking it along the streets of Melbourne. The woman doesn’t have a lot of money and struggles to get by as a single mother (she broke up with Ahmed, her son Nile’s father, sometime before the story’s present), but she thinks that being able to ride the bike alongside Nile as he rides his tricycle makes the purchase worth it. As the woman walks, she hears her elders’ critical voices in her head. First-generation immigrants like Ahmed’s mum believe that, as a second-generation immigrant, the woman doesn’t adequately value and uphold important Sudanese traditions. Fixating on these criticisms primes the young woman to be defensive when Asha, an older Sudanese woman whom she crosses paths with, starts asking her questions about her bike, child, and marital status. In reality, Asha isn’t trying to attack the younger woman—she’s only curious about the bike because it reminds her of her son, David, who used to love riding a bike and who died tragically during the Sudanese Civil War. Though the young Sudanese woman doesn’t know what Asha is going through, she pushes aside her own reservations about Asha and lets Asha ride the bike, and this leads the women to have an unspoken moment of understanding and connection that transcends their cultural, personal, and generational differences. At the very end of the story, the young woman reveals that she’s renamed her new bike David, in honor of Asha’s son.
The Young Sudanese Woman Quotes in Foreign Soil
The Foreign Soil quotes below are all either spoken by The Young Sudanese Woman or refer to The Young Sudanese Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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David Quotes
These children, born in this country, do you think they feed their babies the aseeda for breakfast? Do they drop it on the little one’s tongue to show them where is it they come from? Do you think they have learned to cook shorba soup? I tell you: no! They feeding them all kinds of rubbish. McDonald’s, even. They spit on their grandmothers’ ways. They spit in our bowls, in our kitchens.
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I felt awkward, had no idea what she was talking about, but felt like I was somehow supposed to. Auntie took up her grocery bag from the ground, smoothed some dirt from her skirt, walked away slowly, down toward West Footscray Station.
I stood there for a minute, staring after her. The rain had stopped. A small puddle of water had settled in the baby seat. Nile would be getting testy. It was half an hour past when I usually collected him. I threw my leg over the bike, started pedaling down the street. The Barkly Star was a dream to maneuver—smooth gliding, killer suspension, sharp brakes. Felt like I was hovering above the wet tar, flying. Like there was nothing else in the world except me and my wheels. David. I slowly rolled her brand-new name around in my mouth.
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The Young Sudanese Woman Character Timeline in Foreign Soil
The timeline below shows where the character The Young Sudanese Woman appears in Foreign Soil. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
David
The narrator ( the young Sudanese woman ) sees a beautiful red bike in the Ted’s Cycle’s window display. When she and...
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The young Sudanese woman buys the bike, which has BARKLY STAR engraved on a bronze sticker along its side....
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As the young Sudanese woman walks the bike down the street, an older Sudanese woman (Asha) stares at her in...
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The older Sudanese woman (Asha) again asks the young Sudanese woman if the bike is hers. The young woman recognizes the older woman as Sudanese, interprets...
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The narrative switches to the young Sudanese woman ’s perspective. Inwardly, she berates Asha—and older Sudanese women in general—for judging her for being...
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The narrative returns to the young Sudanese woman ’s perspective. As the rain grows heavier, she plays back Asha’s insults in her head....
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The narrative returns to the present. Asha is heavy, and it’s difficult for the young Sudanese woman to keep her steady on the bike’s seat, but they manage. Asha eventually catches on...
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The narrative returns to the present. The young Sudanese woman watches in horror as Asha suddenly loses her balance and falls to the ground. She...
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