Rumors: A Deadly Disease

Within our assigned readings that which has interested me most has come from chapter two; primarily after Aunt Safiyya has been married. Admittedly I felt as though Harbi reacted in an overly excited manner when he heard the news of his uncle’s son Hassaan, but I do not believe that he reacted as such because he now had some one to kill. Insight into who started and why these rumors of Harbi’s desire to murder Hassaan came about is not greatly divulged but even so their destruction of family ties is immense. These rumors were even believed by Safiyya who had grown up knowing Harbi, though that is not to difficult to understand because it is her child she separated herself from the family she grew up with. Our narrator tells us that many were jealous of Harbi because he was so close to the Bey, but then why would the Bey believe these rumors?

For the majority of his life the Consul Bey was a soft spoken man who was kind and giving but even the rumored threat of the death of his son drove him to unspeakable crimes. Because of his beliefs in these rumors he found Harbi one day and ordered men strip him down and to tie him to a palm tree. The men were then instructed to pull the ropes so that Harbi moved up, down, left and right along the tree, needless to say he no longer had skin on his back. The Bey even stated that he would make Harbi beg for death but would not be merciful and do so. He did not want to have to answer for his death. Because of the change in his uncle, as demonstrated by this action, Harbi with the strength of his pain ripped himself from the tree, grabbed on of the rifles held by a guard and shot the Bey in the chest. His shock was so grand and his pain was so fierce that Harbi no longer saw this man as his uncle, his father, and therefore had the ability to shoot him to save his own life.

Another major change that was created by these rumors was one that is probably more shocking. This change occurred in Safiyya. Our narrator, who wept in jealousy when his aunt was married, after a few months of mourning saw nothing left in his aunt except her

green-gold eyes. After the death of her husband Safiyya made predictions, ones than many people could have made, that created the idea that she had a second sight and Bey visited her in her dreams. After this Safiyya was no longer who all men desired but one whom all villagers feared. Even the gypsy woman, Amuna el-Baida was afraid of her, and gypsies are know as the ones who instill fear. Finally the greatest danger that these rumors caused was the fear Safiyya put into her own child. The narrator states that he feared the way she played with him and saw that he was being scared too.