East West
Notes on twinning in life and literature
Dr..
Kamal Abdul Malik
July 15 2022
Twins abound in myth and literature: Apollo/Artemis in Greek mythology;
Romulus/Remus, the Roman twins;
Sebastian/Viola in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night;
Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde;
Tweedle Dome / Tweedel D;
Lottie / Lisa in "The Parent Trap";
And Fred/George Weasley in Harry Potter Tales.
Twins are often depicted in myths as two halves of one being.
They may share a brotherhood, or fight as fierce rivals.
In this sense, they can be considered representations of a dual view of the world, or that one is another aspect of the same self, or doppelgänger (the shadow, or the consort, as we find in popular belief in some Arab countries).
In novels that imagine post-apocalyptic humanity, such as Francesca Haig's The Fire Sermon (2016), all humans are born as twins (alpha and omega), but they share a fatal bond: when one twin dies, the other.
In William Golding's Lord of the Flies novel, which became a movie, the twins Sam and Eric are indistinguishable, they are so alike that the common nickname Jack gives them is an amalgamation of their names "Sumneric".
And the double role of Lindsay Lohan in the movie "The Parents' Trap", which tells the lives of two identical twins separated as two children when their parents divorce.
In the case of Viola and Sebastian, in William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, the twins are separated when the ship they were on wrecks, and each believes the other is dead.
Viola disguises herself as a man to protect herself in this unknown land, but it can also be said that this is a form of keeping her dead brother alive, until he returns for their eventual reunion.
As for the cases of twinning in public life, I still remember the identical twins: Ali and Mustafa Amin, and they were wearing similar white shirts and dark-colored trousers with suspenders, so you do not know who Ali is and who Mustafa is, may God have mercy on them.
In my youth, I had experiences with twins, and I still remember the twins Ahmed and Mahmoud, who were childhood companions and playmates in our village.
Everything was double with my two friends, both in fun and in quarrels. When I laugh with one, we share laughter and fun with one another, and when I quarrel with one of them I find myself on the verge of losing the affection of the other and the friendship of both.
Their mother, Abla Fathya, often mediated to soften the atmosphere, sweeten our minds, and reconcile us by taking us all under the shower (the only one in the village), taking a shower and wearing cotton clothes with a fragrant smell, releasing our feelings, and having lunch.
And then - Glory be to God - the animosity disappears and harmony prevails.
As I recall these childhood memories, I remember my twin friends well and have mercy on a mother who did not give birth to me.
And when I came to the UAE in 2000, I met twins
They are similar in my classes, which caused me some difficulties in differentiating between them, especially when the clothes, adornment, speech, tone of voice, and first names such as: Dima, Rima, Maya and Haya, and Alaa and Walaa are similar.
I don't know why the insistence on naming identical twins with almost identical names!
And God in his creation affairs and measures.
Visiting Scholar at Harvard University
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