Novel Character Analysis: Deniro's Game

Character Analysis
Part One, Bassam
Over the course of this graphic novel, Bassam often expresses his opinion through rants of insulting descriptions towards others, especially that of the wealthy. He is quoted with lines such as “husbands who imported cigarettes, containers and car parts, who coughed in Swiss banks at wooden mahogany desks occupied by nephews…” that remain within his own thoughts and refuse to escape to the hearing of those around him. With a chip on his shoulder and a dream of peace in Rome he is seen in part one as a happier, lighter man than that of part two to follow. My favorite line of the book to describe Bassam, and George, states “we were aimless, beggars, and thieves, horny Arabs with curly hair and open shirts and Marlboro packs rolled in our sleeves, dropouts, ruthless nihilistswith guns, bad breath and long American jeans.”
The whole of the book tells of the relationship of Bassam and George and I therefore assume that the author opens the book for that very reason with “ten thousand bombs had landed, and I was waiting for George.” This is somewhat of a humorous line as Bassam, when killing metal capsules are falling from the sky, is anticipating the arrival of George to ride the motorbike. The relationship between the two reckless Arabs, in my speculation, can be related to two burglar partners because, in essence, that’s exactly what they are. In the Hollywood movies, there is almost always a smart responsible robber, when a break-in takes place, who oversees the operation and ‘cracks’ the code of the vault. In the novel, this is Bassam. Of the two, Bassam is the “calm man,” dreaming of peaceful streets in another country and keeping George appropriate when he is drunk. Dodging intoxicated punches from George and handling the money in the poker money scheme at the casino, it is Bassam who is the better man and oversees the ‘bank job’ and keeps smart while George keeps the victim terrified for their lives. I therefore...