Reflections on Relationships: Between Tradition and Self-discovery In A Trumpet in the Wadi, the unnamed female narrator reflects on how she and other girls were raised not as individuals in a.
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This guide provides a deep dive into writing reflections on relationships for the English exam, using a model answer that compares 'A Trumpet in the Wadi' with 'A Doll's House' to show you exactly how to move from a simple summary to a nuanced, analytical comparison that earns top grades.
In the course of your studies, you may have worked with literary texts, television series and/or films about relationships.
Read the text below.
Write a text in which you reflect on what the character in the text says about relationships and compare her insights with what another character learns about relationships in a literary text, film or television series you have studied.
In my bed that night I hugged my knees in distress. We girls were raised and trained to get married. They didn't bring us up as people who live in a community, but rather as soldiers trained to carry out a mission. Plotting, cunning, booty, triumphs, defeats and false morale – all were legitimate in the struggle for the coveted goal, a husband to support us. That was the essential happiness, as our forebears saw it. But we live in a different age, one in which love has become a kind of new religion. The trouble is that in this religion there are no priests or prophets, no divine revelation or scriptures. Individuals must find their own gods, interpret the omens and make their way through life without any clear guidelines. We all go out into the desert in search of this love, and most of us get lost in the wilderness. I felt so tired. The empty roof weighed on my chest. If Wahid had enfolded me with the same fervor with which he enfolded Mary… I shudder to think how I’d have reacted. I, who rejected Bahij…
From: Michael, Sami (2002). A Trumpet in the Wadi, translation from Hebrew by Yael Lotan. Simon & Shuster, English language translation 2003
Reflections on Relationships: Between Tradition and Self-discovery
In A Trumpet in the Wadi, the unnamed female narrator reflects on how she and other girls were raised not as individuals in a community, but as soldiers in a battle to achieve one goal: finding a husband. She describes marriage as a kind of "mission" they were trained for—where plotting, strategy, and even manipulation were seen as legitimate tools. This perspective reveals a deep frustration with traditional gender roles that reduce women to competitors in the so-called "marriage market." Her words convey both exhaustion and disillusionment. She feels caught between the expectations of her upbringing and the confusing, modern ideal of romantic love.
She compares love to a "new religion"—something sacred but without clear rules or guidance. In this view, modern relationships require people to navigate alone, interpreting their own emotions without tradition to lean on. This metaphor powerfully captures the confusion and vulnerability many people feel in love today. The character yearns for something more meaningful, but feels lost in a world that promises freedom without offering direction.
This emotional struggle reminds me of another female character who questions the nature of relationships: Nora Helmer in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. At the beginning of the play, Nora appears to be the perfect wife—cheerful, obedient, and devoted to her husband, Torvald. But as the story unfolds, she realizes that her marriage is built on control and illusion. Torvald sees her not as an equal, but as a kind of child or possession. When Nora finally understands that she has never been treated as a a full person, she makes the radical choice to leave her husband and children in search of her own identity.
Like the narrator in A Trumpet in the Wadi, Nora experiences a moment of awakening. Both women realize that their value has been defined by others—by family, society, or tradition—and that they need to redefine love and happiness on their own terms. Nora leaves everything behind to find herself, even though it means going into the “wilderness,” just like the narrator describes in her metaphor of the desert.
However, there is also a difference. Nora reaches a point of clarity and takes decisive action. The narrator in Trumpet in the Wadi seems stuck in a moment of reflection and confusion. She questions love and tradition, but she also feels lost, longing for emotional connection. While Nora chooses independence over a hollow relationship, the narrator seems to crave love, but not at the cost of self-betrayal—as seen in her decision to reject Bahij.
In both stories, we see women trying to balance societal expectations with personal truth. Love, once presented as the ultimate goal, becomes something far more complicated. These characters show us that real relationships require honesty, equality, and self-awareness—not just fulfilling roles or chasing ideals.
Ultimately, both texts highlight how relationships can be both fulfilling and limiting, depending on how they are shaped. They encourage us to question the systems and beliefs we inherit, and to search for connection that respects who we truly are.
This type of task, often labelled 3C, is a cornerstone of the English VG1 exam. It tests your ability to perform a comparative literary analysis, connecting an unseen text to familiar material from your coursework. The key verb "reflect" signals that you must go beyond summary. The task requires you to identify a central theme—in this case, relationships and identity—in the provided excerpt and use it as a lens through which to analyse another text. This demonstrates higher-order thinking: you are not just recalling information about a book or film, but actively making connections and constructing an argument about how different works explore a common human experience.
Examiners use this task to assess several key competencies:
Past exams have featured similar tasks, such as comparing a poem about social injustice to a film about the same topic, or analysing a short story about immigration and connecting it to a novel you read in class. Mastering this comparative and reflective approach is therefore essential for success.
To write a strong comparative essay, you need a firm command of several key literary terms. Using these precisely will elevate your analysis from simple description to academic discussion.
| Concept | Definition | Application to This Task |
|---|---|---|
| Thematic Comparison | Identifying and discussing a shared central idea or message (a theme) across two or more texts. | The core theme here is the conflict between societal expectations for women in relationships and their personal quest for self-discovery. You compare how this theme is explored in both texts. |
| Character Arc | The transformation a character undergoes from the beginning to the end of a story. This includes their change in perspective, values, or actions. | Nora Helmer has a dramatic character arc, moving from a submissive "doll" to an independent woman. The narrator in the excerpt is presented mid-arc; she is in a state of reflection, indicating a change has begun but is not yet complete. |
| Figurative Language | Language that uses figures of speech, such as metaphors, similes, and personification, to create a deeper or more vivid meaning. | The excerpt is rich with this. Key examples are the military metaphor ("soldiers trained to carry out a mission") and the religious metaphor ("love has become a kind of new religion"). Analysing their effects is vital. |
| Literary Context | The social, historical, and cultural background of a text. This context influences the story's themes, characters, and reception. | A Doll's House (1879) is a product of 19th-century realism and the 'woman question' in Europe. Criticising marriage was scandalous. A Trumpet in the Wadi (2002) is set in a modern, multicultural Israel where traditional values clash with globalised ideas of romantic love. The context explains why Nora's choice is revolutionary, while the narrator's dilemma is one of modern confusion. |
To build a strong comparison, you first need to perform a close reading of each text individually. Identify specific passages and devices that articulate the central theme.
The power of the provided text lies in its dense and evocative figurative language, which reveals the narrator's internal state. A top-grade response will unpack these devices. …