Characterisation
Said’s character is further established at this point in the novel as we are exposed to a more vulnerable man through his suspicions as “Suspicion had tainted his blood to the last drop now.” (260). The perception brought upon by his past experience with infidelity is playing on his mind. The constant use of rhetorical questions throughout the chapter only fuels his doubt, “Wherever could she be?” (262), “…had Nur come back yet? Would she return at all?” (263).
This suspicion leads to the unveiling of Said’s great insecurity, the insecurity he feels within himself and in relationships, “He remembered how sure he was once that Nabawiyya belonged to him, when in reality she probably never loved him at all…” (260) making it difficult for him to trust intimacy again.
We also learn that Said does not like being lonely, “He really did not like being alone.” (263). His fear of loneliness and the thought of “lost affection and companionship” (264) from Nur is what I feel leads him to the recognition that, “[Nur] had penetrated much deeper within him than he had imagined… she had become a part of him.” (264), and that “He did love her” (264).
Said’s fear of being alone seems somewhat ironic. As it is common knowledge that the consequence for committing a crime, particularly one of murder, leads you to being put behind bars… alone. To kill, which is what he is setting out to do in order to seek revenge is another factor that makes him feel even more alone and isolated from a normal life.
In this chapter Nur displays some unusual characteristics. Her unexplained, unpredicted disappearance is out of the ordinary as in previous chapters she was always by Said’s side, “[Said] could only conclude that Nur does not want to come back, does not want to save him from the tortures of solitude in the dark.” (261). This worries Said as it is not like Nur to not tell him where she is going and then to not return. Her absence also seems peculiar to her landlord when she comes to collect the rent, “at this time of day she’s always home. And she’s never been late with the rent before.” (265).
Tags: disappearance, infidelity, insecurity, lonely, love, Nabawiyya, Nur, Said, suspicion
