Allah Is Not Obliged
llI would say that one of the key elements of symbolism in Kaspar Hauser was the narrator’s room. He only has a bed, no window, and is locked out from the other side of the door. The only thing to keep him company in the room is a mouse and that troubled me. I wondered why he never had any visitors. Even those in prison get visitors periodically. The worst part about having a mouse for company is the fact that he never actually sees the mouse, he just knows that the mouse is there. He basically described the room as the thought of being in a prison cell and I think those thoughts and views about his physical surroundings spurred from the thought that he felt imprisoned in his own life. The narrator feels as if he does not have a “fatherland” and it seems as if he has resentment towards the people who do feel like they have a “fatherland”. When he mentions Anastasia his language uses references such as “us”. I speculate that she signified the cause of why he left Greece and probably the motive of why he doesn't want to go back. I’m assuming she may have been some type of significant other and their relationship ended on bad terms. He had no desire to return home and I assume she may be the motivation to keep him far away, and for four years at that. Home may remind him of her or stir some negative feelings of rejection and he’s attempting to avoid it. He also speaks a lot about the Spanish girls as if he has a lot of experience being around them and that made me question if Anastasia was Spanish and if the girls remind him of her. Overall, the narrator does live a very lonely and seemingly sad life. It seems as if the narrator is extremely lonely and feels trapped by his own life. It also does not seem like he even wants to make relationships with others after he’s moved away from the situation. The narrator's views about his room and his life in general were related to being a prison in all areas.
When I first read “Allah Is Not Obliged”, two things stood out
When I first read “Allah Is Not Obliged”, two things stood out