Challenge 279 Response:
“Water Rights”

by David Lipp

Challenge 279: “Water Rights”

The ending fits well enough — it is an ironic response to the characters’ lack of belief in God and yet holding out hope for a better life hereafter.

I’m not sure whether the chador itself is inevitable, but do believe that some kind of sheltering clothing is necessary in such a climate. You find similar kinds of things in Dune.

The story itself echos for me on of Howard Fast’s Zen stories about a person dreaming of an Earth spinning away from the sun and getting colder while in reality the Earth is crashing into the sun and burning up — or is it the other way around?

David Lipp

Copyright © 2008 by David Lipp

Thank you for the feedback, David. I seem to remember a Twilight Zone episode based on the very thing you say: a woman is dreaming that the world is getting hotter when it’s actually getting colder.

The point of the Challenge question was much what you say: clothing that covers the whole body and face is simply practical in a desert climate, to avoid sunburn. And in ancient times, especially, when clothing was not tailored as it is in many places today, both men and women would wear what would resemble the chador and veil.

However, “Water Rights” goes farther and imports Muslim and, in particular, Arab religious and cultural associations connected with protective clothing. Without an explanation that might exceed the limits of a short story, the leap from practical clothing to public morality seems to verge on a non sequitur.

In other words, the idea is interesting, but I wonder if we’re not asked to take a little too much for granted, especially considering the setting of the story.

Don