Missing Out

 Plot

The story talks about a Sudanese man, Majdy, who is a PhD student in London. At the beginning of the story, he has failed the qualifying exam for the PhD. 

He talks to his mother on the phone, and she would have none of his nonsense. She has had to make several trips to the Central Post Office in Khartoum just to encourage him to continue with his quest to secure a PhD. 

She's a very staunch believer in his prowess in academics. She remembers how he's always done well in his high school days. In fact, he had  shaken the president's hand for doing excellently in his secondary school exam. So, she cannot fathom how he could become a dunderhead all of a sudden. 

His mother embarks on a campaign to get him a wife. She believes this may help his son change his attitude and pass the exam. To her, loneliness is the cause of his resigned attitude. So, she organizes a marriage between him and Samra. 

Majdy embarks on a serious redoing of his studies and, in July, receives news that he has passed the exam after another attempt. He receives this news while in Khartoum, to where he had flown back in June. 

He comes back to London at the end of summer with his new wife. 

Samra is a person he knew from his early days. They, however, never had any teenage romance but they get married anyway. He even remembers her University days, particularly, when she and other University students were demonstrating against the planned execution of an opposition leader, who was eventually executed. 

On this particular day, Majdy was looking for professor Singh, a professor in topology, to write him a reference letter. 

In London, Majdy and Samra quarrel over his lack of enthusiasm in religion. He has no prayer mat and has not even been praying.

 To pacify the situation, he takes her out to the Central mosque, where he buys her a prayer mat and a compass direction to help her know the direction of Mecca. She also acquires a book that indicates the time to pray. 

According to Majdy, praying is a distraction and interruption. He always has to rush against time and praying has no time on his busy schedule. 

Majdy is surprised that Samra does not appreciate him for 'saving' her from the backwardness of Khartoum. Instead, she loses her enthusiasm in the continuity in London very fast and prefers being back in Khartoum. 

He has grown to have a seriously condescending attitude towards Africa. He believes it's very difficult for one to excel there because the continent is rife with problems. 

He has a lot of disdain for the coups, new laws and long queues in petrol stations in Khartoum. He argues that such issues hinder the building of one's life. 

On the other hand, Samra imagines him getting a job in Sudan, where they would bring up their children together. He rubbishes these imaginations, calling them hallucinations. 

He asserts that the meagre pay for lecturers cannot afford them a good life and that he would have to take bribes or steal in order to give her the life she dreams about. He also cites the lack of petrol and electricity as other reasons for his contempt for Sudan. 

He decides to enrol her to a word-processing course in order to help her secure a work permit. She, however, loses interest in it because of her teacher's insensitive attitude. She goes back to Khartoum, where she is supposed to stay for a few months.

Meanwhile, Majdy's PhD is materializing. However, he's lonely in the house. Samra had folded her prayer mat and put it in the cupboard because she did not need to carry it to Khartoum-there are many mats with telltale signs of frequent use. 

Looking at the prayer mat in the cupboard, he's reminded of his 'missing out' on matters of religion. He realizes how important the five daily prayers Samra had been making had become to him. 

Setting

The story is set both in London and Khartoum. Leila Abouela deliberately chooses these two settings to help him bring out the contrasting kind of life in the two places. 

 In Khartoum, we read about many problems that make it impossible for development. Among them are power interruptions, long queues for fuel in petrol stations, bribery, the killing of opposition leaders and meagre pay for workers among other serious issues.

 The opposite is true in London. Here, there is nothing to stop the continuity of life. In fact, Majdy jokes that not even the death of the queen will stop life from moving on because she will die on a Sunday. 

Character and characterization 

Majdy

He is a pessimistic individual, especially when we first encounter him when the story unfolds. He has failed the exam he needs to pass before being allowed to enrol for his PhD and believes that's all he could do: "Can't you understand I've failed my qualifying exam?" (Please. 109).

He is also not willing to participate in demonstrating against the killing of Mahmoud Muhammad Taha because he knows that he will eventually be executed inspite of the demonstration: "And the next day, as he predicted, the futility of their action was exposed. Mahmoud Muhammad Taha was hanged..."(p. 110)

Majdy is a remorseful person. This is evident when he regrets his being rude to Samra and decides to make up for it by taking her out to the Central mosque. He then buys her a prayer mat and a compass direction to show her the direction of Mecca. Before taking her out, he takes her in his arms as a show of love. 

He is also critical since he pokes holes in how everything is done in Sudan. He criticizes the so-called Sudanese intellectuals for taking too much time discussing politics.

 Apart from this, he also complains about poor pay for lecturers, the lack of both petrol and electricity and promotions that are based on political inclinations. 

He has always passed his exams and is, therefore, hardworking. He has even sat his PhD qualifying exam for yet another time and has turned every stone to pass it:"  After banging his head against books, working the proofs again and again, copying curvaceous lambdas, gammas and sigma's from the blackboard into the whirling mass of his dreams...he received the good news that he had passed..." (P. 109).

Samra

She is a very religious person. The moment she gets to London, she questions Majdy's faith. This is after noticing that he has no prayer mat and never prays. 

Apart from this, she commits herself to the daily five prayers as is expected of a serious Muslim. 

She is also conservative. Majdy thought that brining her to London would change her way of behaviour and make her to start liking London but this does not occur. Instead, she's only enthusiastic for a short time then suddenly dislikes the way things are done in London. She wishes to be back home in Sudan. She even wishes her husband would get a job in Sudan so that they would stay together and bring up their children together.

She's also portrayed as an understanding woman. When she tries to convince her husband to embrace religion and he shows his resentment for it, she avoids bringing up this topic again. Henceforth,  she prays on her own. When she leaves for Sudan, she files her prayer mat and keeps it in her side of the cupboard because she has accepted the fact that Majdy will not use it.

Majdy's mother

She is very determined. She believes that her son has the ability to pass his qualifying exam since he has always passed exams. She determinedly talks him into resitting this exam and passing it in the end. 

Her determination is also seen when her campaign to get Majdy a wife bears fruits. She manages to convince Samra to marry her son. She's not even worried that Majdy may turn the offer down. 

She's also daring. On her way back home from Khartoum. She stops a car that is not on her way and persuades the driver to take her home, and he does. 

Style

Contrast 

Aboulela contrasts London with Sudan. This contrast brings out problems that are rife in Sudan while also bringing out the comfort and continuity of life in London. Whereas the Londoners are busy with education and developing their nation, the Sudanese are busy killing the opposition, demonstrating for justice, discussing petty politics, whining about the lack of power and petrol among many other problems. 

Flashback 

Through flashback, Majdy remembers how he encountered his wife in their early ages. When she was young, he had known her as his sister's best friend's cousin. He also remembers encountering her during the demonstration against the proposed murder of the opposition leader: "She was crying when she and her friend came running..." (P. 110).

Majdy also recalls Samra narrating how her mother had stood in the middle of the road and stopped a car, opened the door and got in without bothering to know whether it was going to use her route or not. This was after she had lost hopes for getting a bus or a taxi. 

Humour 

Samra wonders whether the lectures in London ever get cancelled or whether the lecturers ever get sick or their wives give birth. She also wonders whether a holiday is given when the queen dies. This is a light moment in the story. Majdy's answer is even more humorous: "She will die on Sunday."

Vivid description 

The description of Samra as a cousin of Majdy's sister's best friend is "a teenager in a blue dress with her hair in a single braid holding Pepsi bottles..." (P.109).

Samra is said to have come "running with her friend and stood underneath the carpet of the house adjacent to the professor's. Crying from the gas and laughing." (P.110)

Themes

Education

This theme is mainly advanced by Majdy. He is in London for his PhD in mathematics. He fails his qualifying exam and is on the verge of giving up. However, her mother, who proves to be a strong believer in education, talks him into resitting the exam. He finally passes. Towards the end of the story, he's expecting his PhD. 

His entire life and dreams show the importance of education in the contemporary society. Through education, he has managed to leave his poverty-ridden country and go to London, where everything runs smoothly. He has put aside his culture and religion and devoted all his life to education.  

Religion 

Religion is something that's taken with a lot of seriousness back in Sudan and Samra is the embodiment of this religious culture in this story. When she arrives in London, she's surprised that Majdy has been there for a whole year without praying. She prays five times each day like every Muslim should do. 

Marriage 

There is a marriage between Majdy and Samra. This marriage, however, is not between people who have been in love. On the contrary, it's simply organized by Majdy's mother. Majdy had only known Samra while they were growing up and that was all. 

Justice

The university students demonstrating when Majdy encounters Samra are demanding for justice for the leader of opposition. However, justice is not served since he is eventually executed. During their demonstration, the students are teargassed, implying that they have no right to a demonstration. 

Alienation 

Majdy is alienated from both his culture and religion. Lately, he resents Sudan and wishes to be associated more with London. He only talks ill of Sudan. He points out the lack of electricity and fuel, meagre pay for lecturers, intellectuals wasting their time discussing politics, promotions based on one's political inclinations and bribery as the main reasons for his resentment for Sudan. 

With regards to religion, he has completely freed himself from any religious obligations. He never prays and is not ready to discuss how he would rediscover his religious ways.