Chapter 13
the Thief and The Dogs.
Chapter 13- Sense of Place.
Takes place in the vicinity of Tarzan’s Cafe, a place where Said feels safe in the knowledge that the cafe owner is his ally. It is late, “a little after midnight” (p.243) and the night is dark as only a quarter moon is shining faintly. It is a “wasteland” (p. 243) that he has to cross to reach the cafe, but is not able to get too close to it, for fear of being seen, and waits to meet his friend “100 yards or so from the cafe”(p.243). The scene progresses to a grove, or “clump of trees around the wells” (p. 243). It is described a “desolate, lonely place” (p.244). In this chapter the feel is clod and tense, for all of Said’s actions are on close watch and in major rush, after Said killed the wrong man the police are after him and his time was cut short.
Chapter 13, Themes
This chapter highlights Said’s obsession with revenge. It is his primary thought and his justification for his life, ruined by those he believes responsible for his downfall.
Desperation
The character’s need for information, searching for the person who can provide it, who may turn up at the cafe, once able to confront the person who may have the information he seeks, “If you want to live, tell me where Ilish Sidra is hiding” (p.245) and the extraction of it by way of threats and force for the desperate need of information and lack of time. Then, “Said slapped him again, harder than before” (p. 245)
Truth or Lies
“I’ll swear on any oath you like”(p.245). As the questioning develops, Said realizes the man, Bayaza, is telling the truth. “God damn Sidra, wherever he may be; is he my brother or my father that I would die on his account?” (p.245)
Life Purpose
Said seeks revenge, on, if not all the traitors (dogs) responsible for his misery, at least on one, as his only hope that “you won’t make me lose my life in vain” (p.246) and the only way he feels he can get his life back is to take it back from the on who took if from him.
Impatience
Said’s need for revenge has made him take risks and make mistakes that have made him not only desperate, but also a wanted man who has to move fast to accomplish his quest, losing the luxury of time and planning. “If only he wasn’t a hunted man, wanted for murder, he would bide his time and wait patiently for the proper opportunity!” (p.246).
Chapter 13 – Characterization
The three characters in this chapter, Said (the protagonist), Tarzan (the cafe owner and friend) and Bayaza (an acquaintance)
The characterization of Said portrays a desperate man in a desperate situation. He needs to obtain information regarding the location of his enemy, Ilish Sidra, and is willing to risk being discovered by the police (for at this point in time are looking for him). Said’s life’s purpose has become death by his own hand to those who betray him, this providing him with meaning and value to his life, even if this means he must die as a consequence of his revenge.
Said by this chapter he is a man who refuses not to see that his actions are only making matters worse, and choosing to blame everyone but himself.
This way of thinking, an “eye for an eye” is particularly prevalent in Middle Eastern cultures, and Said’s sole purpose of exacting revenge on his betrayers highlights the extent to which this way of thinking will influence the life of a person. “He pondered the chance that might now be at hand, to bear down on his enemy and achieve his long awaited goal. And then death, a final resting place” (p.244)
Tarzan on the other hand, is a peripheral character who provides support to a troubled friend, yet is cautious not to be identified as such in worry that he will get tangled into the mess Said is in. he’s a good man and is loyal to Said.
Bayaza is an old acquaintance of Said. he is only really mentioned once before in the earlier chapter, he plays a minor role in the book.
Chapter 13 – Imagery
Only one instance of imagery occurs, at the encounter between Said and Bayaza, when Bayaza is struggling to recognize Said, having the use of animal imagery he yells, “You don’t recognize me, Bayaza you dog!”(p.244) a derogatory expression, indicating his negative feelings toward any person associated with his enemies. He also describes the area around him as a “wasteland” giving us the idea how he sees the world around him, that there is not good to be seen.
Chapter 13 – Plot Development
Said is looking for the person who is responsible for his misfortune, and most of all, the cause for the loss of his family. He risks being caught by police, to confront Bayaza, in the hope he would be able to lead him to Ilish Sidra who has so far, escaped his efforts to kill him. He finds Bayaza is unable to do so, and turns his thirst for revenge on another betrayer, Rauf, as justification for his life, and ultimately, his inevitable death. And now has no time and his desperation becomes more apparent. In this Chapter, Sad’s obsession with revenge takes him back to Tarzan’s cafe, risking being caught by police (since in the earlier chapter he shot the wrong person and now is a wanted man), in the hopes of finding information as to the whereabouts of Ilish Sidra (the man he wants to kill), who he sees as the primary cause of his incarceration, the loss of his wife and child, and the misery his life has become.
Tarzan meets Said some distance from the cafe and tells him that one person associated with Sidra, Bayaza, has turned up at the cafe and is there completing a deal. He informs Said which route Bayaza will take upon leaving the café. After which Said goes looking for Bayaza in search of information, to find that Bayaza does not have it. And once again he is left with nothing to act on.
