In the World of Suleimen’s Childhood, Is There a Place for Innocence

Hisham Matar’s ‘In the Country of Men’ shows the obvious loss of innocence that occurs within a harsh environment with plenty of conflict. Matar proves that it is human nature to stumble upon life’s expected struggles through the character Suleiman, who is confronted by adult needs at a young age, consequently leading to a subconscious resolve to grow up. The author explores the disappearing of Suleiman’s childish and fantasised views of the world he lives in through his contact to the truths of conflict. Therefore, Matar makes the reader understand the severe impact of observing conflict on a child’s innocence. Matar further establishes the effect of witnessing conflict on a child’s innocence through Suleiman’s growing tendencies towards violent behaviour in the later stages of the text. Hence, ‘In the Country of Men’ emphasises the delicateness of innocence through the character, who is forced into manhood as a result of his world that is seemingly filled with conflict.

Matar demonstrates the withdrawal of Suleiman’s childish views of the world upon Ustath Rashid’s execution in which he appreciates that ‘good things’ did not always happen to ‘good people’ and that ‘the rug’ could be pulled ‘beneath his feet’ at ‘any moment’. Suleiman’s childish expectations is seen to be completely destroyed, along with his ‘illusions’ that ‘I or Baba or Mama’ were immune from being ‘burnt by the madness’, signifying that he has truly grabbed   the cruel and dangerous nature of the world he lives in. The author presents the final damage of Suleiman’s make-believe of an easier life in which he offers his father the mulberries which he states were brought by ‘angels from heaven’ to make life ‘easier for us’, only for his father to refuse and point to his temple where ‘they’ put out ‘the cigarettes’. Thus, Suleiman is confronted by his father’s struggles in which he was unable to accept Suleiman’s innocent hopefulness which in turn, indicates the absolute end of Suleiman’s own...