Violence and Chaos

The book depicts mob violence, religious massacres, and personal brutality, showing how societal order can collapse into chaos and how individuals participate in or fall victim to it.

Soldiers violently take Saïd's donkey, and he is struck with a carbine butt, illustrating the brutality of the time.

The chase and the physical confrontation between Saïd and Cassim, including biting and cursing, highlight the violent struggle for survival.

Mustafa's explicit curses wishing rape, murder, and butchery on the family, and his vision of a coming storm of Islamic wrath, foreshadow violence and chaos.

Mustafa's vow to kill all non-believers and the lawyer's call to rise against the heathen reflect the potential for communal violence.