The book “Silence and the Roar” was written by a Syrian author known as Nihad Sirees in 2008. The initial version of the book was written in Arabic, but it was later translated into English by Max Weiss in 2013. Silence and the roar is a novel that gives an account of a typical day in the life an author that had resisted making false publications in favor of the dictatorial regime. The setup of the novel is in a Middle Eastern nation though Sirees intentionally decided not disclose its exact location. When the novel begins, tyrant’s subjects had gathered in the streets and had broken down into song and dance as they celebrated the twentieth anniversary of their leader's tenure in office. The celebrations that were going on coupled with the high temperatures in the city made life unbearable for Fathi who opted to go see his mother and girlfriend. On his way, Fathi saw a student being assaulted by police officers and in a bid to rescue him, his identification documents were taken and he was required to go to a police station before dusk. As soon as he complies with the directive that he was given he starts being harassed by the officers who toss him from one department to another. In light of the foregoing, it is evident that Sirees sought to display what it means to endure, to be happy and to maintain one's conscience during a period that is marred by a lot of anarchy and impunity at the hands of a despotic leader. Moreover, even though there is no mention of Syria in the novel, it is almost certain that the unnamed city was Aleppo and the country was Syria. The author seems to have been giving his account of how despotic regimes run their affairs. It is also evident that Fathi’s narration is analogous to the trials and tribulations that Sirees had to contend with at Syria and which ultimately forced him to go into a self-induced exile.
Nihad Sirees is a qualified engineer who, for a long time, has explored and developed a passion for writing (Sirees n.p). Siree has written a number of children dramas, TV drama series, plays and has also published about seven novels. Some of Siress’ major works include The North Winds-1917, The North Winds-Small Market, The Cancer, The Pastoral Comedy, and A Case of a Passion, The Silk Market and The Silence and the Roar (Sirees n.p). Throughout his publications, Sirees depicts himself as a realist. Most of the writings attempt to address the socio-political issues that face the vast majority of middle-class people. The underlying feature of Sirees' literary works is that they portray his experiences while living in Aleppo, Syria. The novel "Silence and the Roar" was banned in Syria and it almost replicates the silence that Fathi depicts in the story (Sirees n.p). Furthermore, in 2012, Sirees decided to leave Syria for Egypt after pressure started mounting from the Syrian government (Sirees n.p). Sirees’ outspoken nature when highlighting the despotic nature of the Syrian government is one of the main reasons behind the banning of his book and being branded a government opponent. Sirees' writings bear a close resemblance to the ones that were written during the romantic revolution. It might be possible that Sirees was influenced by the American transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau’s piece, Civil Disobedience that asserted that people should not allow the governments to overrule their consciences in order to promote injustices (Thoreau n.p).
The title that the author chose for this novel is very symbolic and serves to depict how dictatorial regimes work. Sirees had the option of choosing another sound such as “bark” or “howl” as an antonym to the word “silence” but went for “roar” instead to highlight some authority. The lion is often deemed as the king of the jungle and when it roars, everyone listens. Likewise, in the novel, the celebrations marking the twentieth anniversary of the leader's tenure portrayed the kind of authority he had over his subjects. This is because everything came to a standstill and the crowds that were shouting “R...R...Our leader” could be heard all over the city making life unbearable for people like Fathi who are not interested in the celebrations (Sirees 14).
Silence, on the other hand, is portrayed by the solitude and distant calls for resistance by characters such as Fathi who is the protagonist in the story. Dealing with a despotic regime is depicted as a very tasking affair and people who are not willing to abide by the directives given, are secluded from the funfair and forced to live in isolation. Fathi in the story was banned from publishing his books after refusing to write propaganda in favor of the government and this inadvertently gagged his freedom of expression. Since the despots did not see that this was enough, the government through Mr. Ha’el, threatened Fathi with “the silence of the grave” in case he opposed the idea of Ha’el marrying his mother or turning down the proposal to become the propaganda minister (Sirees 143). Other than silence representing resistance, it is clear that it also represents threats of death, torture or of the unknown. Furthermore, Sirees uses silence to shed light on the heightened level of impunity that was witnessed in Syria. Lama, at one point, told Fathi "They don't want you to be silent. They want you to talk, only in a way that benefits them” (Sirees 81). This statement also indicates that despots thrive on being ‘idolized’ and the leader in the story was irked by the fact that Fathi did not want to do so.
In the novel, the people had allowed the government to brainwash them and overruled their conscience. The roar that Sirees describes is slogans that “are arranged into lines of rhyming poetry” (Sirees 13). The government used these slogans to control the vast majority of people and Fathi’s publications were considered works of a traitor who wanted to go against the grain. In the same way, Thoreau urges people to embrace individualism and self-reliance, Sirees attempted to convey the same ideology through Fathi. This is because Fathi was able to control his silence and ensure that it gave him an edge over other people in the city. Embracing individualism enabled Fathi to forget "the annoying sounds that constitute the roar" which in turn helped him not fall prey to the brainwashing tactics that the government had set up (Sirees 111). Sirees highlights these tactics when he states that “Nothing can be heard out of that noise except for the sound of military brass bands, as the instruments of the Arabic orchestra get lost in the shuffle. They have no place in our present. […] The nay is insignificant, reactionary and unpatriotic because it drives the listener to contemplation and sorrow, befitting the silence of the grave, whereas the horn renders people more awake and enthusiastic, more patriotic because they will be ready to sacrifice spirit and blood on behalf of the Leader” (Sirees 53). Furthermore, regarding the Syrian war, Sirees (2013) preempts events that happened years after his works were published. This can be seen when he stated that “There is another kind of roar that this author never thought the leader would ever be capable of using: the roar of artillery, tanks and fighter jets that have already opened fire on Syrian cities. The leader is levelling cities and using lethal force against his own people in order to hold on the power. We must ask, alongside the characters in this novel: what kind of Surrealism is this?” (Sirees 152). It is therefore evident that the despots, such as the one in Syria, tend to thrive on political fanaticism in order to advance their selfish agendas. The leaders know that people would do anything they say and that is one of the main reasons that led to the war in Syria.
Works Cited
Sirees, Nihad. Biography. 2012, http://nihadsirees.com/en/biography.html
Sirees, Nihad. Novels. 2012, http://nihadsirees.com/en/novels.html.
Sirees, Nihad. Silence and the Roar. Pushkin Press, 2013.
Thoreau, Henry David. “Civil Disobedience.” Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, https://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/WALDEN/Essays/civil.html.b
