Page 33- "Then, returning to my lies, I gave her such terrifying descriptions of how I had lost my parents that I saw the tears well up in her eyes. I told her I was six years old at the time when my parents were drowned with thirty other people in a boat taking them from one bank of the Nile to the other."
This quote is telling a story of how a guy tells a girl something true but dramatically changes how the truth came about in order to gain her sympathy, empathy, or pity. In this case, Mustafa is telling a girl that his parents died when he was young, which is true, but tells her a dramatic story of how they did. This dramatic story and is false. So even though he is telling her the truth about his parents dying, he is lying about how they died.
Plenty of stories include guys telling girls the truth of how something terrible came about in order to gain their sympathy, empathy, or pity. The true process in which the terrible thing came about, in itself, does enough to make the girl feel sympathy, empathy, or pity for the guy.
What makes the lie work for Mustafa is that this lie is not totally unbelievable. It is possible that his parents died when he was only six years old. Since he is from an area near the Nile River, it is very possible that his parents did die in such an accident. It is possible that a boat did sink on the Nile River and that many people drowned. So the girl has no reason to expect that he is lying to her.
Mustafa's made up story is effective by showing that a lie can make a girl feel sympathy, empathy, or pity for a guy. True events aren't the only things that could evoke these emotions into a girl. False events, that are entirely possible and not outrages, are also effective in making these emotions come about.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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This was an interesting quote and I really liked how you used it as a counterstory. When I read this line the first time I did not give it a lot of time and thought, but you produced an interesting opposing story. I think this also happens in The Good Person of Szechwan when Shui Ta lies to people about his true identity to save Shen Teh’s reputation.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the way you unpacked these sentences. I did not think about how the lie Mustafa tells as a counterstory. The lie he tells her adds to the facade that he puts on for people. The tragic story of the mighty Nile River sweeping away people is very compelling. Once you pointed out this lie Mustafa made to the girl it makes me wonder about what lies he might have told the narrator. I know we can't believe everything a character says but this is a good example of Mustafa exaggerating to peak someones interest. It makes me more suspicious of what he tells the narrator about his life. Maybe Mustafa is just playing another role for the narrator like he was playing a role for the girl.
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