Essay Questions

Which fallacy does the Frenchman employ to rationalize Musa’s death?

Harun writes, “A man who knows how to write kills an Arab who, on the day he dies, doesn’t even have a name, as if he’d hung it on a nail somewhere before stepping onto the stage. Then the man begins to explain that his act was a fault of a God who doesn't exist and then he did it because of what he’d just realized in the sun and because the salt obliged him to shut his eyes. All of a sudden, the murder is a deed committed with absolute impunity.” Blaming God for his murder is an outright Appeal to Authority which insinuates that God sanctioned the murder. The Frenchman exploits God’s name to validate his depraved deed. Moreover, God unambiguously prohibits murder; hence, his validation is flawed.

How does Harun uphold User Involvement throughout his narration?

Harun discourses with the reader unswervingly through the voice “you”: “ I maintain that when you’re investigating a crime, you must keep in mind its essential elements: Who’s the dead man? Who was he? I want you to make a note of the one who’s still being killed to this day. I insist on that, because otherwise, we may as well part right here.” The overt discourse summons the reader to be part of the inquiry which Harun is undertaking. Harun sways the reader about his deductions through the apparent user involvement. Additionally, posing rhetorical, thought-provoking interrogations promotes the user’s engrossment throughout the text.

Provide a psychoanalytic exposition of Musa’s mother’s “never-ending period of mourning.”

Harun expounds, “Musa’s passing destroyed her, paradoxically, it also introduced her to the macabre pleasure of a never-ending period of mourning. For a long time, not a year passed without my mother swearing she’d found Musa’s body, heard his breathing or his footstep, recognized the imprints of his shoes.” Harun’s mother’s perceptions of Musa are attributed to her unconscious reminiscences of Musa. Perceiving them mollifies her unconscious yearning to perceive Musa although he is departed. Unconsciously, she is convinced that her son is immortal resulting in the recurrent, imagined detections.