Mass Graves

Introduction The book falls into seven short stories entitled “The Life of No”, “The Iron Collar”, “A Mass Grave”, “My Mom and I”, “Granny”, “Specks on the Water” and “Sandy Cinderella”. “The Life of No” relates the lack of democracy in Iraq. “The Iron Collar” offers a dramatic depiction of the relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. “A Mass Grave” revolves around an actual person whose disappearance leads to a discovery: He is found in a mass grave –a landmark of the dictatorship under the regime of Saddam Hussein. The moment of one soldier’s arrest for having arrived at the warzone late marks the beginning of this narrative, which continues with his ensuing incarceration. How he, along with his prison mates, is subjected to severe punishments under corporal order, his prosecution after an unfair trial and the ensuing brutal tortures he endures prepare the story for its end, when he is buried alive in a mass grave together with other prisoners. “My Mother and I” is a short story where reality and fantasy meet. “Granny” presents a drama about a set of Siamese twins in their teens: A male and a female whose mother is deceased while giving them birth. When their father is killed in action, their poor and illiterate grandmother raises them. She has only her narrow worldview and rather limited life experiences to offer to them. The siblings thus grow up incapable of integrating into their environment and are socially alienated. With its portrayal of dual-gender conjoined twins, this short story symbolizes shared but dysfunctional lives, within which men and women often confine themselves in any society of the world. “Specks on the Water” uncovers interlocking events. In the first, an object –a brick is personified. It narrates its harsh life; beginning with the moment it comes out of brickwork and arrives in the hands of a bricklayer, to be used –as done customarily in Iraq for the construction of an army checkpoint. The actual checkpoint, presently a prison had been destroyed after the regime of Saddam Hussein was toppled. In the story, the brick’s life ends when one of the prisoners removes it in his attempt to escape. The wall is then demolished, and the brick is thrown into the river. The second event circles around an educated woman who is suffering from her husband’s illiteracy. In pursuit of an option to further her studies, she travels to Baghdad –a city of educational opportunities. She is kidnapped there. Her abduction is only the first among the series of dangers she faces. She has a close call with a vehicle-borne IED. The narrative ends with her looking down from a section of a destroyed bridge. Underneath, dead bodies, which she takes for specks, drift away atop the river. “Sandy Cinderella” narrates a scene from the daily life in al -Najaf, Iraq. Faleeha Hassan