Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Frankenstein in Baghdad, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Truth, Lies, and Storytelling
Good vs. Evil
Power, Authority, and Social Divisions
Family, Friendship, and Home
Superstition and Religion
Summary
Analysis
One morning, two police tankers arrive in the neighborhood. The soldiers, which include one U.S. military policeman, interrogate Faraj the realtor, who is walking toward his office. They ask him about an event that took place in one of the houses. Faraj is scared of the Americans, because he knows they can make people disappear at will and are accountable to no one. He nervously tells the soldiers that the house is his, and that he has been renting it. He produces some papers to support his claim.
Although Faraj is able to take advantage of lawlessness on a local level for business purposes, his fear of the Americans suggests that the lack of a fixed, reliable justice system can also harm him. This suggests that the local population is subject to arbitrary rules over which they have no power: they did not elect the foreign forces that are currently ruling over them and that can determine the course of their life at will.
Themes
Then, Faraj sees the bodies of four dead beggars. Each man holds the neck of the man in front of him, as though they were all strangling each other. Faraj feels sorry for their violent deaths and wonders who killed them. He concludes that if Hazem Abboud had taken a picture of this scene, he would have been rewarded by an international prize. As people in the neighborhood begin to gather to observe the scene, the policemen unfasten the beggars’ hands so that they can remove the bodies from the neighborhood.
This eerie, disturbing scene turns violence into a symbolic spectacle. The beggars’ positions symbolize violence in Iraq: local armed groups are intent on killing members of their own country, yet this only leads to a string of violent acts, with no resolution in sight. Faraj’s comment about photographing the scene suggests that even horror can become a spectacle, or a source of entertainment. It serves as implicit criticism: such “international prizes” might shed light on the horrors taking place in a variety of countries, but it does not actually provide a solution to their problems.
Themes
In the meantime, another beggar is watching the scene. He recalls what took place the previous night. He had been drinking when he heard screams. Fighting frequently erupted among drunk beggars, angry and desperate at the state of their life. When light from a passing car illuminated the scene, the man saw five people holding hands in a circle. Later that afternoon, he recounts this scene to Faraj, who believes that he can use this story to increase his power among authorities. However, Faraj gets angry at the beggar for being drunk, adding that the government should implement sharia law to keep people from drinking.
Faraj’s focus on turning other people’s misery into personal gain—specifically, in this case, serving as an informant for those in power—reveals his profit-oriented attitude centered on his own success rather than on the neighborhood’s well-being. In turn, his anger at seeing people drunk—despite the Islam’s prohibition to drink alcohol—reveals his desire for politics to merge with religion: sharia or Islamic law seeks to establish Islamic codes of behavior in society. Faraj’s intolerance toward other people’s religious behavior reveals his domineering attitude, as he hopes to impose his own religious beliefs on others.
Themes
Frightened by Faraj’s outburst, the beggar nevertheless tells him that one of the men was a horrific man with a large mouth. He insists that there were indeed five beggars, not four. The four beggars, he explains, wanted to grab the fifth man’s throat, but ended up killing each other. In the city, at the same moment as Faraj exclaims that this makes no sense, Brigadier Sorour Mohamed Majid inspects a file he has just received, called the “four beggars.”
The fifth beggar’s description of the mysterious man’s horrific face immediately points to the presence of the Whatsitsname on the scene. In turn, Brigadier Majid’s inspection of documents related to this murder signals the possibility for this story to acquire importance beyond the Bataween neighborhood, and to become a matter of city-wide security.
Themes
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In the meantime, in the al-Haqiqi offices, Saidi tells Mahmoud to accompany him on an errand. Saidi frequently creates suspense in this way, refusing to give more details about his activities, but taking Mahmoud to places frequented by important politicians. On such occasions, when looking at himself in mirrors, Mahmoud dismisses his reflection as insignificant. Instead of his own self, he sees Saidi’s network of contacts.
Saidi cultivates a sense of mystery around himself. This could be meant to manipulate Mahmoud into building trust in him—so that the journalist would stay loyal to his editor—but could also indicate that Saidi has certain secrets he prefers not to talk about. Saidi’s contact with politicians signals the difficult balance between independent journalism—which should be free to criticize politics—and the interests of politicians who seek to maintain a positive self-image.
Themes
Saidi tells Mahmoud that they are going to visit an old friend of his, so that they can collect information to use against the Americans and the government, responsible for so much insecurity in the city. Mahmoud is surprised to hear this, because he believed that Saidi was allied with the forces in power. Mahmoud’s friend Farid says that Saidi “believes in the future” because Saidi knows the future will bring him personal success, not because the country will be better off. However, Mahmoud prefers not to pay too much attention to his friend’s words.
Saidi’s words identify a gap between a person’s appearance and their true beliefs: ultimately, Saidi’s political affiliations remain ambiguous. Although he claims to disagree with the authorities currently in power, he also engages with them frequently throughout his journalistic work. This ambivalence makes it difficult to understand what Saidi’s true beliefs are—or, even, whether he even has a consistent belief system, beyond the desire to become powerful and successful.
Themes
In a neighborhood that Mahmoud does not recognize, Mahmoud and Saidi reach an imposing gate. They enter a peaceful, tree-lined street, far from the commotion and police sirens rocking the rest of the city. After parking next to an American Hummer, they enter a building, where they are led to a fancy office, permeated by the smell of an apple-scented air freshener. Saidi hugs a short, balding man, who shakes Mahmoud’s hand. This man, Mahmoud learns, is Brigadier Majid, head of the Tracking and Pursuit Department. Mahmoud wonders what the object of this department’s activities might be.
The tranquility of this office building suggests that not all inhabitants of Baghdad are equally affected by the violence in the city. Thanks to their powerful position—the Hummer likely indicates contact with the American military—some of them are able to stay relatively shielded from chaos. Mahmoud’s ignorance of the Tracking and Pursuit Department, despite his position as an investigative journalist, signals that the government itself is full of secrets: its own citizens are not aware of the full extent of its activities.
Themes
For two hours, the three men chat amiably, and Mahmoud discovers that Brigadier Majid and Saidi are old friends who went to middle school together. They are now engaged in a common enterprise, working for “the new Iraq.” Although Brigadier Majid had a high function in the army during the Baathist regime, he was able to avoid de-Baathification regulations and receive a special post. His goal is to serve the Americans by monitoring strange crimes and to prevent violence from erupting. The Tracking and Pursuit Department is kept secret, so that its members can stay safe.
Saddam Hussein’s government, toppled by the U.S. invasion in 2003, was ruled by the Baath Party. After the regime fell, the U.S. prohibited former members of the party and the government from working in the public sector, in a process known as de-Baathification. In this context, Brigadier Majid's ability to avoid such punishment reveals his ability to protect his own interests, probably thanks to his political savvy and network of contacts.
Themes
Mahmoud wonders why his boss Saidi trusts him to take part in such confidential conversations. He realizes that, given his editor’s wealth and power, Saidi is just as likely to be killed as any politician, and whoever accompanies him would also be likely to die. Mahmoud concludes that Saidi must be either brave or completely ignorant.
Mahmoud’s fear at being killed for staying close to Saidi reflects the intensity of the insecurity in Baghdad: any powerful person can be murdered, for relatively arbitrary reasons. Murder has become a political tool, meant to assert one’s group’s domination over a given territory or sector of society.
Themes
While insisting that nothing he tells them can be published, Brigadier Majid tells the two men that the Department relies in part on the work of astrologers and people who communicate with spirits. He does not reveal whether or not he actually believes in this, but he argues that the Department’s objective is to decrease violence and prevent a civil war. Mahmoud is terrified by this thought. Meanwhile, Saidi asks whether he should buy a printing press, to which Brigadier Majid replies that he should avoid doing so.
The Department’s dependence on astrologers and fortune-tellers of various kinds adds a note of dark humor to the text: politicians are so desperate to contain violence—which they are largely incapable to control—that they rely on any means possible, including people with alleged spiritual powers. Mahmoud’s terror at hearing discussions of a possible civil war contrasts with Brigadier Majid and Saidi's apparent nonchalance. This suggests that they might have more information than Mahmoud about the country’s current state.
Themes
Brigadier Majid tells them about the four beggars who strangled each other, which he believes is a crime meant to send a cryptic message. He notes that the department has received news about criminals who are immune to bullets and do not die or bleed. As he says goodbye to his visitors, he laughingly asks them who would even believe them, were they to publish what he has just revealed to them.
Brigadier Majid’s joking behavior signals a certain ambivalence: although he does not want to be seen as an irrational believer in fantastical events, he also seems inclined to trust that strange—and possibly supernatural events—are taking place in the city.
Themes
That evening, Mahmoud recounts the day’s events in his digital recorder. He is confused by the fact that, on the way back, Saidi mocked Brigadier Majid’s dependence on fortune-tellers yet still asked his friend whether or not he should buy a printing press. Mahmoud concludes that Saidi is trying to gather as much information as possible about the country’s political state, so that he can feel safe traveling around the city. Mahmoud is also shocked by the light tone with which the two men discussed the civil war, as though it were a movie. He concludes that he should stay close to Saidi to ensure his own survival.
As the journalist’s doubts reveal, Mahmoud is inclined to conclude that both Saidi and Brigadier Majid might believe more strongly in superstition than they want to reveal. Like other characters in the novel, Saidi and the Brigadier attempt to maintain a sense of stability as much as they can—even if this involves relying on dubious information, such as what astrologers provide. In the same vein, Mahmoud, too, seeks stability: he convinces himself that staying close to Saidi, who has so many political contacts, will be sufficient to protect him if a civil war erupts.
Themes
Mahmoud also reflects that neither Saidi nor Brigadier Majid is fully faithful to their allegiances: Saidi used to be an Islamist, while Brigadier Majid used to be Baathist. Mahmoud does not understand why Saidi made fun of his friend on the way back: Saidi said that Baathists were obsessed with apple smells and made a joke about the chemical weapons that Baathists dropped on Halabja, which also had an apple smell. Mahmoud was disturbed by this joke. Later, he decided to ask Abu Anmar about the “four beggars,” and understood that people in the neighborhood believe that the killer strangled these men before placing them in this theatrical position.
Saidi and Brigadier Majid’s oscillating allegiances reveals their willingness to prioritize self-interest over consistent, coherent beliefs: they are willing to adapt to the authorities currently in power, rather than defending deeply held convictions. The Halabja chemical attack (1988), which took place at the end of the Iran-Iraq War, was a genocide: Saddam Hussein’s Baathist government sought to eliminate the Kurdish civilian population in Iran. Saidi’s joke reveals his normalization of such horrific events—an attitude that clashes with Mahmoud’s empathetic attitude toward these innocent, murdered civilians.
Themes
Mahmoud concludes that the Brigadier was in a delicate position, spying on his citizens in the same way people spied on him, in part because of his relationship to the old regime. However, the Brigadier receives support from the Americans. Mahmoud concludes that two groups face each other: the Americans and the Iraqi government, against terrorists and antigovernment militias. Anyone who is against the first camp is immediately labeled “terrorist,” Mahmoud notes. He reflects to himself that, despite their self-promoted image as patriots, both Saidi and Brigadier Majid are collaborating with the Americans.
Mahmoud’s reflection on the political situation in Iraq depicts an intensely complicated scenario, marked by generalized mistrust and hypocrisy. Despite criticizing the Americans, Brigadier Majid depends on them for survival, because he is viewed suspiciously by fellow Iraqi politicians. In this context, political groups derive their strength not from moral worth or ideological coherence, but from sheer power. Because of their superior power, the U.S. and their allies are able to label their enemies "terrorists”—a term meant to demonize any opposition to the current balance of power.
Themes
The next day, when Mahmoud leaves his room at the hotel, he runs into his friend Hazem Abboud, who tells him that someone was killed that morning, and that the police have now taken over the neighborhood. The murder victim is the local barber, Abu Zaidoun. Someone killed the old man, who suffered from severe dementia, by stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors in his own shop. People in the neighborhood remember Abu Zaidoun’s Baathist convictions, which led him to force young men to join the war. Because of these actions, he had many enemies, although no one knows who his murderer is.
Abu Zaidoun’s murder suggests that the balance of power is no longer in his favor: although he used to be a member of the government, capable of determining other people’s fates, the fall of the Baathist regime has left him vulnerable. His murder does not signal the advent of a better, more just society, as it simply replaces one criminal act with another. Instead, it suggests that murder—and not a fair trial—is the primary form of political expression in conflict-torn Baghdad.
Themes
At the man’s funeral, people emphasize Abu Zaidoun’s positive qualities, giving him dignity by relegating his cruel behavior to the first years of the Iran-Iraq War. By contrast, Elishva refuses to forgive the old man. When Umm Salim tells her the news, Elishva realizes that Umm Salim has forgotten her promise to sacrifice a sheep at Abu Zaidoun’s death. 20 years ago, the man had sent her son Salim to war, where he was killed, and Umm Salim seems to have forgotten her desire for vengeance. Elishva, by contrast, believes that revenge will give her motivation to stay alive.
Elishva’s dedication to her son’s memory takes a sinister turn: her incapacity to forgive past harm leads her to believe in violence as a form of reparation. On a larger scale, the book shows that it is precisely this mode of thinking that fuels the violence in the city, as armed groups use murder as a form of punishment and an opportunity to achieve greater power. Elishva’s anger thus highlights her own suffering, but also signals an incapacity to express this suffering in more productive ways, for example by fostering peace instead of murderous revenge.
Themes
In the meantime, at Aziz’s coffee shop, two men turn on a digital recorder and ask Hadi to tell them the story about the Whatsitsname. Aziz gives Hadi a silent warning, and Hadi understands that these men are members of a security agency, who could arrest him. Therefore, Hadi tells them that the Whatsitsname has died and leaves the shop precipitously. Confused and angry, the two men leave the shop a moment after.
The authorities’ interest in Hadi’s stories suggests that they are taking the idea of a supernatural being seriously. Although Hadi is not implicated in any crime, he knows that the justice system is unlikely to treat him fairly. Aziz’s kind gesture to his friend reveals the solidarity between local inhabitants of the Bataween neighborhood against repressive authorities.
Themes
When Hadi returns to the coffee shop later in the day, Aziz angrily tells him to stop telling the story of the Whatsitsname. He invokes the murders of the four beggars and of Abu Zaidoun to insist to Hadi that his stories are likely to put him in danger. He says that the Americans could capture him and make him disappear at any moment. Terrified by this prospect, Hadi secretly resolves to keep the story of the Whatsitsname to himself from now on. Aziz tells Hadi that multiple witnesses have described the criminal as a horrific-looking man with a mouth that looks like an open wound. Others have described his body as covered in sticky liquid. The criminal has also been shot without showing any apparent wounds.
Aziz’s conviction that the Americans could kidnap Hadi mirrors Faraj’s earlier terror at being interrogated by the U.S. military. These fears among the population reveal the occupying forces’ lack of accountability. The book suggests that, in in this foreign territory, the U.S. is free to act with impunity, without having to go through the usual steps of the legal process. Hadi’s worry about being arrested also suggests that stories are not innocent; they can have concrete consequences in the social and political world. In this particular case, Hadi is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: the creature he was trying so hard to forget about is apparently wreaking havoc in the city.
Themes
Aziz concludes that Hadi’s stories are scaring people. Moved by fear, Hadi goes home, realizing that it might be possible for lies to turn into reality. He understands that, apart from his friend Aziz, no one would look for him if ever anything happened to him. In the evening, Hadi sees American soldiers in his neighborhood and decides to spend the night drinking alone in his home. He raises his glass to ghosts, including people who have died. Suddenly, the door opens and a tall figure approaches. His face is covered in stitches and bears a wound-like mouth.
Although Hadi does not explicitly mention this, his feeling of isolation is in part due to losing his close friend and business partner, Nahem: when he raises his glass to ghosts, it is likely that he is thinking of this beloved friend. The Whatsitsname’s appearance at this very moment serves as a reminder that this creature, too, is made of people who have died: he symbolizes the unfair deaths that have plagued the city.
Themes
