Abdulrazak Gurnah's Joseph Has a Tragic End
Gurnah Reconstructed the Story of Joseph in his 1994 Novel Paradise
Jun 11, 2009
Paradise is a coming of age novel about a boy called Yusuf, who is taken as a ‘rehani’ a slave in exchange of his fathers unpaid debts. The narrative strategy employed in telling this story is one of the most significant features of the novel. Gurnah borrows narrative elements of chapter twelve of the Koran titled Surat Yusuf. Yusuf is the Arabic version of the name Joseph and the chapter tells the story of Joseph.
Names of the Main Characters in Both Stories are the Same
By using the names Yusuf, Aziz and Zulekha for the main characters Gurnah prompts an evocation with the Koranic tale. In the Koran after Yusuf is thrown into the well by his brothers, he is bought by Al-Aziz who takes him to his wife. Although the Koran doesn’t mention his wife’s name it is popular Muslim belief that her name was Zulekha. In Gurnah's novel the man who takes Yusuf as a slave is also called Aziz and his mistress is called Zulekha.
A specific example of Gurnah borrowing from the narrative of the Koran is the scene where Yusuf’s shirt is torn by the mistress. The scene in the Koran reads as, ‘She in whose house he was, sought to seduce him and she closed the doors and said: come on oh you.' Yusuf replies, 'I will never betray my master.’ Then the scene continues as follows; ‘they raced with one another to the door, and she tore his shirt from the back.’ After this incident Aziz’s wife accuses Yusuf of indecency and wants him to be punished. To prove whether Yusuf is guilty or not Aziz decides on the following method; ‘if it be that his shirt is torn from the back, then she has told a lie and he is speaking the truth. If it be that his shirt is torn from the front, then her tale is true and he is a liar.’
This scene is reconstructed in Paradise. The mistress tries to seduce Yusuf and then accuses him of indecency. Uncle Aziz takes Yusuf to be innocent as Yusuf’s shirt is torn from the back.
Gurnah's Yusuf Doesn't Have a Happy ending
After being found innocent the Koran's Yusuf breaks free from slavery and leads Egypt out of it’s famine. In the end he is also reunited with his family. Gurnah’s Yusuf on the other hand doesn’t have a happy ending. There is an ironic twist with the Koran’s version of the story. Gurnah’s Yusuf joins the Germans, by doing this he exchanges one form of slavery for another.
By giving the story this ending it seems Gurnah is trying to portray Europe’s total terror over Africa. This is further emphasized by the way the last sentence of the book is written, ‘He glanced round quickly and then ran after the column with smarting eyes.’ The use of the words ‘smarting eyes’ to show the character’s tragic fate shows the Germans as having total control over Africa. There is no hope left.
The story of Yusuf is anchored on the Koranic story of Joseph. However the message we get from Paradise is radically different from the message of the Koran's story. The message Surat Yusuf gives is that if you have faith then Paradise is reachable. However in Gurnah’s story as there is no happy ending, the message we get is that Paradise is not reachable. We are left with an end that seems to suggest that only terror can reign over colonized Africa, there is no hope of making it possible to make Africa into a Paradise.
