"Nomad and Viper" by Amos Oz

 by Leslie Ragland

This is a story that describes the prejudice and injustice suffered by a tribe of nomad refugees forced to relocate to an area neighboring a Kibbutz. It is not told what hardships these people had to face but the resulting condition of the people is described in vivid detail. They and their livestock are described as being half starved. One could feel the people’s desperation. "A persistent stream pressed northward, circling the scattered settlements, staring wide-eyed at the sights of the settled land" (78). The people seem to be yearning for what they didn’t but perhaps at one time had.

They seemed to be wishing for their own beloved homes that they had to leave to survive. Oz describes these nomads as being among the Israeli’s out of necessity and for no other reason. They know they are not welcome. The description given by the author is evidence to that fact. He writes "If you passed them on a noisy tractor and set billows of dust loose on them, they would courteously gather their scattered flocks and give you a wide passage, wider by far then was necessary. They stared at you from a distance, frozen like statues."(78) The nomads, however unwelcome they may have been, seemed to serve one very big purpose for the Israelis. They were blamed for every negative event that occurred. Disease, theft, and crop damage was all blamed on the new neighbors. It didn’t matter that no one ever witnessed any wrongdoing. The newcomers were different and had to be responsible for the negative things experienced on the kibbutz.

I found it interesting to note that the narrator of the story, while trying to be fair and impartial with regards to the nomads, couldn’t keep his racism from seeping through in his speech. He says, "We are no believers in forbearance or vegetarianism. This is especially true of our men. Decency constrains me not to dwell in detail on certain isolated and exceptional acts of reprisal conducted by some of the youngsters whose patience had expired, such as cattle rustling, stoning a nomad, or beating one of the shepherds senseless."(79) He admitted this was poor behavior. His excuse was that the shepherd in question "had an infuriatingly sly face. He was blind in one eye, broken nosed, drooling, and his mouth was set with long, curved fangs like a foxes"(80). I think the author is poking fun at the intolerable nature humans exhibit. This, on a lesser scale, can be compared the Nazi’s in Germany’s history or segregation in our own recent past.

The members of the secretariat held an audience with the elders of the nomad tribe to try to rectify the hostilities. Polite, courteous exchanges were made and then the topic of the thievery was brought up. The nomad admitted that their youths had participated in petty thievery and promptly produced the stolen goods. He promised it would never happen again. At the close of their meeting the Israeli leader said he hoped this was the beginning of a new, better relationship between the two nations. "Our children would doubtless enjoy and profit form an educational courtesy visit to the Bedouin encampment, the kind of visit that broadens horizons. And it went without saying that the tribe’s children would pay a return visit to our kibbutz home, in the interest of deepening mutual understanding"(81). I am reminded of a similar situation concerning Indians and whites. The Indians were assured that they would be left alone if they would just "sign on the dotted line." It is said that history repeats itself and although Nomad and Viper is a fictional story, one wouldn’t have to dig too hard to find a similar incident.

The discontent of the Israelis continued until they decided to have a meeting so they could discuss what was to be done. While the meeting convened, Geula, a resident of the Kibbutz had gone for a walk. She had promised to bring coffee to the meeting but she felt she needed to get some air. While on her walk she ran into one of the Nomads.

They had a short conversation and shared a cigarette. He then got down on his knees and began his evening prayer. She interrupted his prayer with questions. He responded in his Arabic tongue. He got frightened by her behavior and ran away. For some reason unknown to me she screamed and ran home.

When she got home she took a shower. While in the shower she fantasized that the nomad had tried to rape her. She decided to go tell the men at the meeting and have them go crush the nomads. Discussion at the meeting was two sided. One side said they needed to teach the nomads a lesson. The other side argued that nothing had happened that warranted physical force. After all, "There had been no rape or murder"(89). Meanwhile, Geula was walking to the meeting. On the way she decided to lay down and take a rest. She lay down in broken glass so when a poisonous snake bit her, she assumed it was a piece of glass. As she lost consciousness she regretted her previous attitude toward the nomad and decided to make peace with him. Meanwhile, the men were going to confront the nomads.

The story is left open ended. We can assume that Geula died. We can only wonder what happened next. If history were any indication the death would be blamed on the nomads and the Israelis would have an excuse to go massacre the Arabs. Such is the stuff wars are made of. I found this story to be a mirror reflecting the nature of mankind.

Throughout our history we have persecuted people for no better reason than being different from ourselves. Perhaps one day we will change that reflection.

WORKS CITED

Geok-Lin Lim, Shirley, and Norman A. Spencer. One World

   Of Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company,

   1993.