Many of the themes in this chapter are ones that apply to the novel as a whole. However, the influence of the past on the present, and the conflict between life and death, are especially prominent.
Influence of the past on the present – Because the memories with Nabawiyya dominate Said’s interior monologue, the influence of the past on the present is especially heavy in this chapter.
Life and Death – Said uses death and life to describe the serious conflicts in his life such as Nur’s love for him as “a bad habit, getting stuck on someone who’s already dead of pain and anger…?”(p 224) and how “he’d win in the end, even if only after death”(p 226). However, he also uses death and life to describe mundane events such as the concept of “killing time”(p 219) and the observation of “a moth overhead made love to a light bulb in the dead of the night”(p 228). This use of death could be a foreshadowing of events to come.
Solitude – Nur’s character is only active in the beginning and end of the chapter. Throughout the majority we are alone with Said’s thoughts. Even upon Nur’s return Said considers himself “quite alone, separate from everyone else” claiming that everyone else “does not comprehend the language of silence and solitude”(p 226).
Betrayal and Treachery continue to drive the narrative as Said is still motivated by the desire for revenge on those who have betrayed him.
March 1, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Betrayal and Treachery –
This theme is interrelated with the images of graves. As we know, it also helps in driving the plot. “The graves speak of betrayal…they make you remember Nabawiyya, Ilish and Rauf, that you yourself are dead.” (218)
Said feels betrayed by his very own daughter as well as “[Sana's] coldness was very disquieting. Like seeing these graves…You’ll certainly never love me now” (219)
Life and Death –
The symbols of graves may also foreshadow Said’s death as “the headstones are like hands raised in surrender” (218). Similarly, because Said feels that he is betrayed, he feels that “the grabes remind him that death cheats the living” (218).
If the entire novel has not been read yet, Nabawiyya’s death may be foreshadowed as well as Said feels that “She’s rotten to the core and rotten enough to deserve death and damnation” (223).
Solitude –
Said thinks to himself that “[he] should not ask when Nur will come back. [Said will] have to put up with the dark, the silence and the loneliness – for as long as the world refuses to change its naughty ways” (224). Through this, we find that Said detaches himself from the rest of the world.