Season of Migration to the North

The narrator wrestles with his feelings, noting that he has begun “from where Mustafa Sa’eed had left off” (111). He felts untethered to his village and confused by his own violent actions. He realizes that while Mustafa at least made a choice to act violently, he himself failed to act and save Hosna, thus leading him into his situation almost against his will. As he contemplates this, he finally goes to look in Mustafa’s locked room. He finds a room covered floor-to-ceiling with book, none in Arabic. The narrator is disgusted with this discovery. He considers Mustafa “a fool” (112) for failing to hide or let go of his past. He also finds pictures of Mustafa’s mistresses and wife. As he looks at these pictures and paintings, he remembers Mustafa’s confession, quoting parts that have not yet appeared in the book. First included is the information that Isabelle Seymour’s husband testified on Mustafa’s behalf, arguing that she killed herself because of her terminal cancer rather than because of her lover. Next, the narrator remembers Mustafa’s description of Ann Hammond: She came up to him at one of his lectures and immediately began to cast herself in the role of his “Sausan,” his slave.