Genre
Personal memoir
Setting and Context
Written in the context of Slahi’s personal experiences in Guantánamo Bay.
Narrator and Point of View
First-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Horrific, terrifying, vicious and ferocious
Protagonist and Antagonist
The main character is Mohamedou Ould Slahi
Major Conflict
The main conflict is when the U.S. military arrests Slahi to have links with the terrorist organization, Al Qaeda. During the investigation, Slahi was questioned and tortured.
Climax
The climax is when Slahi is found not guilty because no charges are pressed against him. After fourteen years, he is shortly freed.
Foreshadowing
Slahi’s arrest by the U.S Army is foreshadowed by Al Qaeda's attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11.
Understatement
The suffering of innocent victims under the U.S. Army prisons is understated. For instance, the reader realizes that Slahi was tortured and transported from one prison without any charges against him. Making the story worse, Slahi is transported from one place to another, only wearing diapers.
Allusions
The story Alludes to the suffering that Slahi went through in Guantánamo Bay.
Imagery
The imagery of sight is used by the reader when describing the conditions of the isolated cell that Slahi was locked in. similarly, the imagery is significant in helping readers to see and comprehend the suffering that Slahi and other innocent victims of terror attacks are subjected to in Guantánamo Bay.
Paradox
The main paradox is that after fourteen years of torturing Slahi, the U.S. Army does not officially press any legal charges against him. Consequently, Slahi is an innocent victim sacrificed by the U.S. Army following the 9/11 terrorist attack.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between the unprofessionalism of the U.S. Army and Slahi torture in Guantánamo Bay.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Guantánamo Bay is incarnated as heartless.
