Frankenstein in Baghdad: Chapter 9 Summary & Analysis

Mahmoud opens the window in his new room in the Dilshad Hotel. Saidi has told him to move to this nicer hotel, which has air conditioning, so that the young journalist can be better equipped for complicated assignments.

Mahmoud begins to record his thoughts on his digital recorder, as he has seen in American movies before. He recalls the events of these past few days. During their chat, Hadi told Mahmoud that the Whatsitsname came to his house after multiple murders were perpetrated in the neighborhood. Hadi initially thought the creature was a dream, but when he realized this was not so, he concluded that the Whatsitsname intended to kill him.

The Whatsitsname confirmed this interpretation. He told Hadi that the junk dealer was responsible for hotel guard Hasib Mohamed Jaafar’s death: it was only because Hadi walked by the hotel that the guard was forced to leave his position. The guard could have stayed in his sentry box and would then have killed the driver from afar, instead of putting his own life at risk. Hadi, in turn, tried to convince the Whatsitsname not to kill him.

When looking around the room, the Whatsitsname saw the image of the Throne Verse on Hadi’s wall and tore it off, because part of it had come undone. The entire frame broke, leaving a large hole in the wall. Hadi later discovered what it hid.

Finally, the Whatsitsname admitted that he must kill the person responsible for Hasib’s death but that he was not sure how to proceed. Hadi argued that the culprit was the suicide bomber, to which the Whatsitsname replies that this person was already dead. Hadi mentioned the hotel management; the Whatsitsname, however, felt uncertain. He knew he must find the true killer so that Hasib’s soul could be at peace.

The Whatsitsname then recounted what happened on the night of the four beggars’ deaths. He said that these men attacked him out of hatred, because they found his face horrifying. In the confusion of the night, two of the beggars attacked and killed fellow beggars. The Whatsitsname concluded that the two surviving men were criminals. As a result, he killed them in retaliation for the deaths they caused. He was convinced that these men were planning their own suicide anyway. In this sense, he considers that he gave them the death they contemplated every night after getting drunk.

After the murder of the four beggars and an encounter with the police, the Whatsitsname, who never sought to scare or harm people, decided to avoid people. He did not want to be perceived as a violent person. He believed in the nobility of his mission. He argued that he killed Abu Zaidoun as retaliation for Daniel Tadros’s death.

At the time Hadi was recounting this story, Mahmoud asked the junk dealer when these killings would stop. Hadi said that the Whatsitsname would kill everyone who had committed crimes against the people who composed his body. After this, he would die, dissolving into individual body parts.

The day after his conversation with the Whatsitsname, Hadi told Mahmoud he gave the creature the digital recorder. Although Mahmoud initially believed that Hadi must have sold it, Hadi later gave him the recorder back, 10 days later. Back in his hotel room, Mahmoud noticed that the memory was full.

In the meantime, gunfire erupted as a result of a mistake made by the Tracking and Pursuit Department. The group succeeded in catching the Whatsitsname but forgot that the man was immune to bullets. Fighting off one of the officers, the Whatsitsname slammed his head against the wall, causing the man to lose consciousness. After this event, the Whatsitsname found refuge in Hadi’s house. Hadi found his “friend” the Whatsitsname sitting on his bed.

Although Hadi believed the Whatsitsname had come to kill him, the creature told him that he would hide at Hadi’s house while the police and secret services were in the area. He revealed to Hadi that the body parts whose death he did not avenge in time were falling off. Hadi was not disturbed by the Whatsitsname’s smell of putrefaction and sat next to him on the bed. Although Hadi agreed to help the Whatsitsname find new body parts to replace the old ones, he secretly wished that the Whatsitsname would die and put an end to so much horror.

When the Whatsitsname complained about his bad reputation, Hadi gave him the recorder, telling him that he should record an interview to change people’s minds. The Whatsitsname concluded that he would interview his own self. Then, he stepped into Elishva’s house through the hole in the wall.

The next morning, the neighborhood was surrounded by National Guard and U.S. military police. When Mahmoud tried to leave the Orouba Hotel, saying that he was a journalist, a soldier pointed his gun at him and forced him to step back inside. Through Abu Anmar, Mahmoud learned that some houses had been raided that night. Although some men were arrested, the soldiers did not find the criminal.

Mahmoud called Saidi, who told him to gather as much information as possible about what was happening. In the end, all Mahmoud succeeded in learning was that an officer had been sent to the hospital for a head injury after fighting against a terrorist the night before. Later, Mahmoud saw a group of arrested men, with their hands tied, forced into trucks. They all shared one common characteristic: ugliness. Some of them were genetically deformed, others severely burned, and others, mentally ill. This was evident because they were the only ones who seemed perfectly at peace, not scared in the least bit.

Too hot to stay in his room at the Orouba Hotel, Mahmoud headed to Aziz’s coffee shop. There, he met Hadi, who told him that the Whatsitsname was planning on interviewing his own self. When Hadi later returned him the recorder, Mahmoud was shocked to listen to the Whatsitsname speak. He found the recording disturbing. He noted that this person sounded human, and not like the extravagant being whom Hadi had described in his stories.

Mahmoud spent an entire day listening to the recording. Later, when Saidi saw Mahmoud’s disheveled state, he told him to move to the Dilshad Hotel. Mahmoud accepted. Although he assumed that Abu Anmar must have felt appalled by the departure of such a precious guest, the hotel owner behaved in a professional manner, cordially allowing the journalist to close his account. At the Dilshad Hotel, Mahmoud records his thoughts on this long series of stories related to Hadi and the Whatsitsname.

Later in the day, Mahmoud recounts the story of the Whatsitsname to Saidi. The editor tells him to write an article about this, which Mahmoud chooses to call “Urban Legends from the Streets of Iraq.” Enthusiastic, Saidi publishes the article with a modern illustration: the picture of Robert De Niro’s movie on Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. Saidi also changes Mahmoud’s title to “Frankenstein in Baghdad.” Mahmoud is annoyed that his editor has turned a serious, investigative story into an extravagant, sensational issue. Later, Mahmoud wonders if the Whatsitsname and Hadi will be upset by this article or if, on the contrary, they will be grateful for his reporting.

In the meantime, in his office, Brigadier Majid carefully reads the articles in al-Haqiqa about the Whatsitsname. Angry, he believes that Saidi has revealed confidential information, but he feels helpless given the free press that is currently allowed in the country. He calls Saidi to complain. However, the editor, cheerful as always, tells him that this is nothing but an invented story, and that Hadi is a known liar. Brigadier Majid refuses to believe that this is fiction. He asks Saidi for Mahmoud’s address and, after Saidi gives it to him, tells one of the soldiers at his service to bring Mahmoud to him.