‘In the Country of men’ by Hisham Matar Essay

In the Country of men by Hisham Matar elicits the terminus of survival in an oppressive society. The concept of committedness and discoveral is at the heart of the novel. It hold dears the characters that fight to hold on to the people and things they value no matter the cost. The struggle among loyalty and betrayal is denoted in the novel by relationship between Faraj and Moosa, friends and family and Ustath Rashid and Faraj. The struggle between loyalty and betrayal is illustrated through the bond amid Faraj and Moosa. After Faraj returns from the torture of the revolutionary committee, Moosa says he cant bear looking at himThe betrayal in his eyes because Faraj melted like butter when interrogated by the revolutionary committee. Moosa perceives this as betrayal since so many others have died including the students closest to us for his cause. Moosa looked up to him like an older brother, and would give his life for him, but later this incident he was too ashamed to look at h is face, Moosa says his division scorches me.This is worse than death this is the blackest day of my life. Thus he cannot dish out with Farajs failure he grapples to sustain his allegiance to Faraj and soon afterwards deports to Egypt. The Relationship between friends and family further demonstrates the struggle between loyalty and betrayal. When Najwas friends salmas husband is taken away, Najwa withdraws her friendship and plain instructs her son that this is a time for walking besides the wall. On sensation hand, this can be seen as a great betrayal between the two friends, as Najawa is effectively abandoning Salma in her time of greatest need, up to now conversely it illustrates her undying loyalty to her family.Rather than compromising her family safety, she is willing to give the sack all interaction with the girl for that is described as two preoccupied sisters who had finally found each other. Ustath Rashids does not betray his friend Faraj at any cost. Ustath Rashid refuses to implicate his friend Faraj as the power and the leader of the resistance group. The Democracy Now book Suleiman rescues from the ardour was initially gifted to Faraj by Ustath Rashid. It is inscribed To my eternal friend and colleagueWith my undying loyalty and thus Rashid keeps his word as this friendship means more than his own life to him. Thus when he is publically interrogated to begin with the execution, Rashid lies to protect Faraj, saving his life even when he cannot save his, clear-sighted there is a family out there who will be losing a husband.