Compare and Contrast Martin Amis in the Palace of the End with Latif Yahia The Devil's Double - Essay Example

Compare and contrast Martin Amis in the Palace of the End with Latif Yahia The Devils Double The stories, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis and The Devils Double by Latif Yahia compares to a large extent. This is because; the two books majorly advance the story of political detractors who are established by the dictatorial regimes. Such individuals serve as personal doubles for the purpose of saving the loyal families from a possible political assassination by their enemies, considering the fact that the members of such families, most especially the next heir to the throne is always under the risk of assassination. The story, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis presents the story of Old Nadir who was the powerful dictators preparing his son, the Next Nadir, for the inheritance of the throne (Finney, 2013:33). On the other hand, the story, The Devils Double by Latif Yahia is based on the ruling regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, who is also preparing his son, Uday Hussein, for the inheritance of the throne (Yaḥyá, 2011:2). Thus basically, the two stories follow a similar style of narration, since they center on the lives of the anticipated heirs to the throne, and the vigorous process of inhumane lives they live, mostly characterized by torturing the perceived enemies of the throne. The plot of the two stories has similarly followed the lives of these heirs to the throne, though not mostly centered on their personal lives, but the lives of their personal body doubles, who are meant to act like them in every way, so they can take the risk that such heirs are exposed to, at the expense of the heirs themselves. Latif Yahia is the personal double of Uday Hussein in the story The Devils Double, and he is the narrator of the story. Similarly, the story In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis is narrated by an unnamed character who is the personal double of the Next Nadir (Greaney, 2008:21). Thus, the fundamental comparison between these two stories is that they apply the same style of story narration, which is first person narration. The stories are narrated by the actual individuals who are participating in the activities of impersonating the heirs to the throne, and every aspect of the narration is their own account of what they have done or what has happened to them, in the process of living as the real heirs to the throne (Keulks, 2006:47). The application of this style of narrating the story by the authors of the two books is simply meant to show the real situation of dictatorship in the countries such as Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein as experienced firsthand by the characters (Cilano, 2009:27). The heirs are exposed to dangers of assignation, since the dictatorial ruling of their fathers has caused much suffering to the people, who have eventually become their enemies. With such dangers, such heirs have to devise the means of surviving, which can only be realized through exposing others to the risks that they themselves should face. Thus, the stories have been written to demonstrate the selfish nature of the dictatorial rule, which exposes others to the risk of assignation and death, while safeguarding the members of the royal family from experiencing such harm. The most disturbing accounts about the political decoys that are applied to impersonate the heirs to the throne, is that they do not go find it easy living like the heirs (Yaḥyá & Wendl, 1997:36). While they are exposed to numerous risks from the enemies externally to the throne, they are also exposed to much more torture and inhumane treatment from within the throne itself. While living as a personal double of Uday Hussein, Latif Yahia is faced by inhuman treatment from none other than Uday Hussein himself, whom he is meant to protect (Roberts, 1979:36). Thus, despite the fact that Latif Yahia gains access to most of the privileges and prestige that the heir to the throne is entitled to, he lives a life of much suffering both physically and psychologically, until he opts to run away from the responsibility of serving as a decoy of the heir, having been unable to stand the suffering any more (Greaney, 2008:55). Similarly, the unnamed character who serves as the political decoy of the Next Nadir enjoys the privileges of the heir initially, but as time goes by and the intensity of the enmity against the throne increases, he is also faced by the challenge of joining the other personal doubles in torturing the victims, where the torture mooted on the suspects is far worse than death (Amis, 2003:n.p.). Torture is another theme that compares both the stories, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis and The Devils Double by Latif Yahia. Torture is the common denominator for all the perceived enemies to the dictatorial regime, and the torture experience undergone by such suspects is far worse than the pain of death (La Coctelera, 2008:2). According to the story, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis the suspects used to have their tongues cut during the process of interrogation, when he failed to confess as required by their torturers. However, the case is now different; because the suspects now have their teeth smashed and pulled out immediately they enter the reception to the interrogation wing (Amis, 2003:n.p.). The worst thing is that 99% of all the suspects who enters the interrogation wing are hanged, while the one percent that is released has a few days, probably two or three days to live, and the tongues of such suspects who are released are no cut, so they can give their tales for the few days they remain with, to live (La Coctelera, 2008:2). The account of torture on the story The Devils Double by Latif Yahia is not any different. Latif Yahia himself, who is the personal double of Uday Hussein is not spared the torture, and he is constantly whipped by the real Uday Hussein simply because he had attempted to escape to go and see his family who believe that he is already dead (Yaḥyá, 2011:77). The extreme of torture and inhumane treatment that is undergone by the people under the authority of Saddam Hussein is demonstrated when the anticipated heir to the throne, Uday Hussein, takes out a knife and butchers one of his bodyguards in front of the guests at a party to celebrate the wife of the Egyptian leader (Roberts, 1979:22). When Latif Yahia finally succeeds to run away from the captivity of Uday Hussein and the Saddam Hussein ruling regime, Uday Hussein tortures his family, and threatens to kill his father if he does not return back to Iraq. Thus, torture is a main weapon that is being applied by the dictatorial regimes like that of Saddam Hussein, in order to exert forceful authority on the people, and make the people fearful of raising any resistance to the authority of the regime (Keulks, 2006:62). Subjecting many people under the process of plastic surgery in order for such people to impersonate the members of the royal family and other important government dignitaries so that such important personalities can avoid being assassinated is a terrible form of torture. In the story The Devils Double by Latif Yahia, Latif is forced to undergo plastic surgery in order to resemble Uday Hussein, and his attempt to refuse being made a personal double saw him threatened by death (Yaḥyá, 2011:54). In the story, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis, there are always at least 30 doubles in the palace, while there are many others in the towns and provinces. Sexual immorality is yet another theme that compares both the story, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis and The Devils Double by Latif Yahia. Women are merely treated as subjects of sexual satisfaction, and no human respect is accorded to women in the dictatorial regimes presented by the two stories. On a daily basis, after taking breakfast, the unnamed personal double in the story, In the Palace of the End proceeds to make filmed love with selected beauties in the recreation section of the palace (Amis, 2003:n.p.). The same happens in the story and The Devils Double, where Uday Hussein can take any woman that he feels like having a sexual relationship with, including a 14-year old girl whom he picked to escort him in a party regardless of his father’s cry for justice, and his bodyguards are later seen dumping the body of the girl when she is partially naked and beaten to death (Yaḥyá, 2011:72). Rape is also common place in both the stories, with the powerful personal doubles and the heirs always having sex with whichever woman they please, since the dictatorial regime is one where female discrimination is the order of the day. Even Uday Hussein accuses his body guard of having been responsible for bringing another woman to his father, Saddam Hussein, with whom he cheated on his mother causing his mother to be hurt (La Coctelera, 2008:2). Therefore sexual immorality is a key characteristic that identifies with the position of authority in the dictatorship regimes such as the one in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Nevertheless, while the two stories are closely similar, there is one major point of contrast for both stories. In the story, In the Palace of the End by Martin Amis, there are many personal doubles, who resemble each other so much, such that they cannot be differentiated from one another, while there is only an account of Latif in the story, The Devils Double by Latif Yahia (Yaḥyá, 2011:12). The extent of torture mooted in the story In the Palace of the End are also by far extreme, considering that there is an account of very many suspects who are tortured and killed on a daily basis. Therefore, the story In the Palace of the End has presented a very intense negativity portrayal of the dictatorial regime, as opposed to The Devils Double, possibly due to the fact that The Devils Double is an account of a true participant, thus paints a true and believable picture, as opposed to the fictional-oriented story in the In the Palace of the End, which may have exaggerated the dictatorial experiences (Amis, 2003:n.p.). The story In the Palace of the End also contrast with The Devils Double by Latif Yahia, because it presents a very deep and comprehensive account of the activities of the personal double, while emphasizing more on their sexual roles. This paints the dictatorial regime in this story as more sexually immoral than the one in The Devils Double, whose account is more politically immoral. References Amis, M. (March 4, 2003). The palace of the end. The Guardian. Accessed < http://www.barcelonareview.com/35/0,3858,4617572,00.htm> Cilano, C. (2009). From solidarity to schisms: 9/11 and after in fiction and film from outside the US. Amsterdam [etc.: Rodopi. Finney, B. (2013). Martin Amis. London: Routledge. Greaney, M. (2008). The Novelist on Holiday: Martin Amis and the Short Story, in Alisa Cox (ed) The Short Story 2008 Keulks, G. (2006). ‘W(h)ither Postmodernism: Late Amis in Gavin Keulks Martin Amis: Postmodernism and Beyond. La Coctelera (January 2, 2008). My Digest - Martin Amis: In the Palace of the End, 1-7. Roberts, W. D. (1979). The devils double. New York: Popular Library. Yaḥyá, L. (2011). The devils double: The first installment in the true life story of the man forced to become the double for Saddam Husseins eldest son. Glasnevin: Arcanum Publishing. Yaḥyá, L., & Wendl, K. (1997). I was Saddams son. New York: Arcade Pub. Read More