Theft, Abdulrazak Gurnah, author; Ashley Zhangazha, narrator
First off, I loved the book, I loved the writing, but I was confused. There are so many characters that while I listened to the audio, I also needed a print copy to keep the story straight. While there arr an abundance of characters, the novel revolves largely around only three.
Secondly, I have to confess that I was not very familiar with Zanzibar and I had to look it up to comprehend a bit of the geography and the landscape and the type of people that lived there. I love the fact that the book introduced me to a whole new part of the world and its customs, with its people and lifestyle, and illustrated how it contrasted with the more modern world. Still, no matter where one is, the human being is subject to weaknesses and strengths, honor and dishonor, loyalty and disloyalty, and the class distinctions that were very much in evidence as the characters Geraldine Bruno and Maria Caffrey interacted with Badar and Karim.
Karim, Badar and Fauzia are from Zanzibar. They are young and just setting out in life. Zanzibar is an Archipelago, or group of islands. It is part of the United Republic of Tanzania. The book guides us through their lives as they navigate opportunity and disadvantage, deprivation and abundance and the contrivances and circumstances that life threw at each of them. Although they experienced similar events in their lives, they each dealt with the travails quite differently. They each faced similar as well as different challenges and rose to the occasion with their own unique approach. What caused such differences as their three lives converged, as their characters developed and their needs were revealed? What caused their strengths and weaknesses?
In the case of Karim, around which much of the narrative revolves, we learn that his mother, Raya, was married to a much older man, Bakari Abbas, in an arranged marriage. She followed custom and respected her father’s wishes. When her husband became too difficult to live with, however, she left him, and took her son Karim with her. She returned to her childhood home to live with her parents. Raya did not enjoy motherhood. She leaned on her parents to help raise Karim who saw little of his father. He was often teased in school. She was often absent from his life and he yearned for her affection. Finally, one day, she actually moved out of the home and left him in the care of his grandparents. When his grandmother died, and his grandfather was very demanding and also ill, Karim’s half-brother Ali, a decade older, rescued him and took him into his home.
Ali had a different mother, Mamkuu, but they had the same father. Mamkuu had divorced Bakari Abbas before Raya became his second wife. Ali’s wife, Jalila, was very kind to Karim. She was not much older than him, but she took him under her wing, stepping into his life in place of his mother. Meanwhile, his mother had been having an affair with Haji Othman. When they got married, Haji, a jovial man, took to Karim as if he was his own son. Karim was rarely surly then and was successful in school. When he returned home from university, he obtained a good job, was upwardly mobile and everyone was so proud of him, but not as proud as he was of himself. His self-confidence was growing, and perhaps, he was growing a little smug, as well. Would this smugness grow into arrogance?
Then we have Fauzia. When she was an infant, she suffered from the falling sickness. It never recurred, and today she has no episodes. Her mother, Khadija, is still always wondering if it will return or if it can be passed on to future children. She is, therefore, overly zealous about Fauzia’s welfare and always has been. Khadija and Musa, her father, dote upon her. Fauzia has one really close friend called Hawa, who is her confidant. Surprisingly, they are not alike. Fauzia is quiet and Hawa is very outgoing. Fauzia loves school and wants to become a teacher. Hawa thinks she is foolish because she could be so much more, but she is determined to teach.
When Fauzia and Karim pass each other, they discover that there is a magnetic attraction. Hawa notices it too. Soon, they find ways to meet often, and they fall in love. Because of her previous illness, Fauzia’s parents are relieved that someone wishes to marry her. However, her parents truly want her happiness, above all, and Fauzia seems ecstatic, as does Karim. Hawa, her dear friend, is not so certain that she should marry or have children, since she views it as a prison of sorts. Will Fauzia discover that Karim has a selfish side prone to anger? Will it be a prison?
Now enter Badar Ismail. He was not raised by his real mother and father. His mother died of cholera and his father abandoned him with her relatives. Mohammed Rashidi went to see the Othman’s who were relatives also, but Uncle Othman would not take in the child because of what his father, Ismail, had done. He had turned him out of his home, when he had stolen from him. So, Uncle Othman made an arrangement to pay the Rashidis to raise Badar. It was a difficult environment for Badar, and he was often treated cruelly by other members of the family. However, he was of good temperament and was obedient. He accepted whatever life threw at him with a good nature, even when falsely accused. Although he was often bullied, he never became a bully. The years passed. When Badar was almost 14, his “father”, Mohammed, said he could no longer afford to send him to school, and he brought him back to the home of Raya and Haji Othman, Karim’s mother and step-father. Badar Ismail, who was Haji’s distant relative, was now to be a servant in their home. His “father” left him there with no explanation and never looked back. Still, Badar remained respectful to him and those around him. He held his tongue when necessary and did as he was told. Raya and Haji were kind to him, but Uncle Othman, Haji’s father, could not forgive him for being Ismail’s son.
The story moves on when Karim meets Badar. He takes to him right away. Eventually, when Badar is falsely accused of stealing and is being sent away again, Karim, remembers what his brother Ali did for him. He offered to rescue Badar, and he brought him into his own home.
Karim and Fauzia were very kind to Badar but they lacked privacy, and it was not easy. Soon they found a place for him to live and he also got a job. He was content, in his own way and made the best of his situation. He proved to be very trustworthy. He remained close to Karim and Fauzia. Then Fauzia had a daughter, Nasra. The atmosphere in their home changed. Karim was impatient and unable to stand the noise or demands of a child. Badar, however, had a natural gift and could often calm the crying child simply by picking her up and cradling her in his arms, softly cooing to her. This did not go unnoticed. Karim grew more and more disenchanted with his life. He was no longer the center of attraction for Fauzia, and he had little peace or affection. Their relationship began to change along with his growing discontent and anger.
In the novel we witness selfishness and arrogance, compassion and kindness, tolerance and intolerance, fidelity and infidelity, smugness and humility, elitism and egalitarianism, and a host of other character traits along with the behavior that goes along with them. The class divide was front and center in the lives of all of the characters, minor and major, as some stations and positions in life were admired and some looked down upon.
As the lives of the characters converged and as they faced each challenge and outrage that confronted them, they reacted in different ways to solve similar problems or handle their moments of success. What was it that led to a particular reaction, for instance, to bullying, to children, to abandonment, to cruelty, to lies, to temptation, to failure, to success, to disappointment, to love, to suspicion, etc.? Musa’s reaction to a difficult child and Karim’s reactions were polar opposites and one has to wonder why? Ali’s kindness remained constant, in contrast with Karim’s, to the needs of a “brother”. Why did Karim’s personality so drastically change from what he seemed at first? Did he grow to think his success made him better and more deserving than others? Did Fauzia change? Did marriage become her prison?
Theft was a recurring theme in so many of their lives. In addition to the common idea of theft, what about the theft of the possibilities in life that circumstances cause? The lack of an education robs one of a certain kind of future. An unhappy marriage robs a child of two parents, an accident sometimes robs one of life as does a serious illness, a lack of opportunity robs one of future prospects, and these can all be considered theft. Badar’s father was a thief who was forced out of the Othman’s home. Then Badar was falsely accused of thievery and forced to move from there as well, though they knew he was innocent. Karim was falsely accused of theft but he was guilty of infidelity which robbed his child of his presence in his life. Geraldine’s behavior robbed Fauzia of her husband. False accusations rob those who are accused of their dignity and respect.
In the end, who is better off, the character who learned not to be afraid or the one who learned to endure? Who was better able to cope? Who was happier, the one driven by material success or the one driven by personal success? Are any of us better than another by virtue of anything other than character?
This author has painted a picture of these characters so well, that they existed in the theater of my mind. I could see them as clearly as if they were on stage in each scene, playing their roles.