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Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Frankenstein in Baghdad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Truth, Lies, and Storytelling
Good vs. Evil
Power, Authority, and Social Divisions
Family, Friendship, and Home
Superstition and Religion
Summary
Analysis
The writer recalls meeting Mahmoud in a café in Baghdad full of intellectuals and artists. Mahmoud, in an unkempt state, was selling his Rolex and his laptop, while a digital recorder hung around his neck. Mahmoud then approached the writer and offered to sell him his recorder for 400 dollars, because the story that came with it was worth 300 dollars.
The narrative shifts to the first person. In line with the novel’s introductory chapter, which presents an official document according to which this mysterious “writer” had composed 17 chapters at the moment of his arrest, it appears that the narrative now picks up where these 17 chapters left off—allowing the writer to recount his own version of the story.
Themes
Curious about Mahmoud’s story, the writer listened to the former journalist recount the difficulties at the magazine. Mahmoud was currently gathering money to pay off workers’ salaries. Determined not to be compared to someone like Saidi, Mahmoud had resolved to pay the disgruntled workers. After the two men had dinner together and the writer listened to the beginning of the recording, he agreed to buy the recorder. After paying 400 dollars, the writer concluded that Mahmoud had manipulated him into buying the recorder. However, he accepted that everyone did this to each other out of personal interest, and that it was an ordinary part of life.
Mahmoud’s desire to use his authority for positive purposes—in this case, paying the magazine’s workers—highlights his commitment to treating others with transparency and respect, unlike his boss Saidi. At the same time, Mahmoud’s capacity to craft a compelling story, capable of convincing the writer to buy his digital recorder, recalls Saidi’s persuasiveness. This suggests that the same strategy—eloquence and effective storytelling—can be used for a variety of purposes, both positive and negative.
Themes
One day, the writer received an e-mail from the “second assistant,” who sent him confidential documents from the Tracking and Pursuit Department. Ecstatic to realize that these documents matched Mahmoud’s story, the writer listened one more time to Mahmoud’s confessions on the recorder.
Although Mahmoud seeks to present his story in a positive light, in order to sell his recorder, he does not lie to the writer about the substance of his story. In this sense, he proves committed to values of transparency and honesty.
Themes
In the recorder, Mahmoud narrated his story. After being interrogated—without any violence, unlike what he had expected—he was released. The interrogators trusted that he had no important information to relay concerning Saidi’s activities. Mahmoud realized that his current problems were the result of the excessive trust he put in Saidi.
The lack of violence in Mahmoud’s interrogation suggests that not all subjects are treated the same way. This might be the result of sheer luck, but it could also be a matter of social status: someone as poor and vulnerable as Hadi lacks any kind of external protection, whereas someone like Mahmoud could potentially complain about such behavior.
Themes
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Afterwards, Mahmoud decided to sell all of his belongings. He made plans to return to his hometown, explaining to his brother Abdullah that a civil war was bound to erupt in Baghdad. When he tried to call the number 666, convinced that Saidi and Sultan lied about Nawal al-Wazir, he reached an automatic message telling him that the number was out of service. This left him bitterly disappointed, as he hoped that Nawal would bring some hope and positivity to his current situation.
Once again, Nawal’s behavior likens her to Saidi, who also disappears from Mahmoud’s life without a word. In this context, it becomes difficult to believe either of them, since they both seem involved in possibly intertwined secrets. Mahmoud’s decision to go home mirrors that of so many other characters, forced to find greater stability—in particular, through family—than what the city can currently offer them.
Themes
The writer notes that, although he initially doubted the story that Mahmoud told him over the course of two days, he later recognized the voice of the Frankenstein’s confessions—which he listened to on the recorder—when he met Abu Salim. The writer was not certain the voices were exactly the same, but he remained curious about this story.
The writer’s belief that Abu Salim might be involved in the story of the Whatsitsname would confirm Aziz’s argument that Hadi has made the story up—for example, asking Abu Salim to play a part in the recording. However, this does not fit other aspects of the story, such as people’s descriptions of the Whatsitsname’s appearance. These interpretations open different paths toward the identification of the creature’s true identity.
Themes
In Bataween, the explosion unveiled an ancient wall that was considered to be an immensely valuable finding in Islamic archeology, leading some commentators to comment on the potential positive effects of terrorism. However, the Baghdad authorities covered the ground with earth. They argued that their goal was to protect these archeological artefacts for the future but that, in the meantime, they had to repair the street in Bataween.
The government’s actions are perfectly understandable in the context of the city’s devastation: their priority is their citizens’ well-being. At the same time, the identification of such an ancient artefact in times of political turmoil can provide a sense of unity, suggesting that beneath current social divisions lies a greater, more profound unity.
Themes
If Abu Salim soon left the hospital, Hadi, heavily burned in the fire caused by the explosion, stayed on much longer. He wondered if his house still existed and if Faraj had already taken over the territory. One night, when Hadi went to the bathroom, he saw his burned face and, in deep shock, realized that he now had the face of the Whatsitsname. When he noticed this, he screamed out in horror. Because of his sudden movements and his leg still in a cast, Hadi fell down and fainted after hitting his head against the toilet seat.
Hadi’s fear of becoming the Whatsitsname suggests that he sees the creature as an evil being, with which he does not want to be associated. At the same time, it also suggests that people’s lies can actually come true, as Hadi has suggested all along: it is possible for him to turn into the creature whom the authorities have accused him of helping. However, this is all the product of Hadi’s imagination: he is not actually an evil monster but, simply, the victim of cruel burns. His own fears render this reality all the more unbearable.
Themes
In the meantime, the Whatsitsname fought hard to survive. Worried about what would happen to him after death, he believed that he was more deserving of life than the victims who abandoned their body parts to him out of sheer terror. Each political group considered him the enemy: for the Iraqis, he collaborated with foreign groups, whereas for the Americans, he was an anti-American terrorist. Rumors concerning the Whatsitsname’s murders and special powers spread throughout the city. As a result, even the writer, who has been exploring this story for a long time, began to feel frightened.
Although the Whatsitsname’s actions do not actually target any specific group, the political groups’ use of the creature’s murders serves their own purpose. These groups aim to assert dominance and control through fear. Indeed, by teaching the population that the Whatsitsname is against their particular faction, they encourage people to join their own forces, in order to find protection against such a cruel monster. This reveals each group’s attempts to depict their enemies as monsters, for political purposes.
Themes
Although Brigadier Majid was asked to retire, he succeeded in joining police headquarters outside Baghdad. The writer visited Aziz’s coffee shop multiple times to receive news of Hadi. The last he heard was that Hadi had left the hospital without telling anyone. Later, when the writer saw a picture of Saidi, he realized that he met him once and had found him extraordinarily intelligent. In fact, he had had high hopes for people like Saidi to become politicians, in order to raise the level of political debate.
Brigadier Majid’s ability to keep on working, albeit outside of Baghdad, highlights his capacity to make the best of difficult circumstances: in the same way he avoided being punished for taking part in Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime, he now avoids being fully ostracized by the government. The writer’s admiration of Saidi suggests that intelligence does not necessarily correlate to moral worth. Indeed, Saidi’s behavior suggests that, instead of using his intelligence for the common good, he has focused primarily on securing his own interests.
Themes
The writer kept on receiving messages from the anonymous “second assistant.” The last document he received was a confession from the junior astrologer. The man admitted to controlling the mind of the Criminal Who Has No Name from afar in order to kill the senior astrologer. However, the junior astrologer emphasized that all he did was control the criminal, not create him. The senior astrologer’s refusal to assassinate the Whatsitsname caused the feud between the two astrologers.
The junior astrologer’s criminal activities again suggest that the division between criminal and innocent people is not as straightforward as it may seem. Although he was previously working to prevent crimes in the city, he has now taken part in murders himself. This suggests that evil behavior can be found on both sides of justice: within the groups in charge of policing as well as in the behavior of individual citizens.
Themes
Ultimately, the writer was arrested for penning this story, composed, at the time of his arrest, of 17 chapters. Although he was treated amiably by a committee of Iraqi and American officers, they ultimately prohibited him from rewriting his novel. The writer handed them a fake identity card, one of the many he used to pass through sectarian roadblocks in Baghdad. The writer decided to keep on writing his story. However, he received a final message from the second assistant, who warned him that the committee was planning to arrest him again. Anticipating that he would likely be treated more brutally this time, the writer quickly left his hotel room, trusting that he would never get arrested again.
Although supposedly in charge of recounting this story, the writer also exhibits some signs of duplicity, along with many other characters. Indeed, he decides to rebel against the authorities’ prohibition to write his novel. He also uses different identities in his daily life around the city. This suggests that ordinary citizens are forced to use storytelling and lies for survival, even if this involves opposing the authorities: without such precious aides as a fake identity card, the writer could have been killed for belonging to the wrong ethnic or religious group.
Themes
