Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 58

MODERN AGE

WINTER 2016

execution to be attended by the president himself, Salim feels
"that almost nothing separated me from those men in the courtyard" (270). In other words, he has arrived at the recognition of
the insecurity of life in the absence of civilized institutions and
beliefs. After his release, Salim escapes on the last weekly river
steamer leaving the city. He cheats death, but many others do
not, and in the final analysis neither has he, since from now on
Salim must live with the knowledge of the precariousness of
civilization and of the protection it affords. In the society he is
leaving, for the time being at least, the individual possesses no
rights, not even that of life itself. As Salim's rescuer, Ferdinand,
tells him: "Nobody's going anywhere. We're all going to hell, and
every man knows this in his bones. We're being killed" (272).
At this point, as if to underline the message for the reader, Ferdinand relates a terrifying dream of being driven with a group of
men to attend an execution. No one knows who it is that will die,
but all know that it will be one of them, and the truly horrifying
part of the dream is that no one knows how he will behave at the
end. Will he accompany the victim to the execution ground and
attempt to render comfort, or will he abandon him and join in the
satisfaction of seeing another die and not himself? Will he retain
a measure of humanity, or will he accede to the general condition of violence? That choice, of course, is the dilemma faced by
Salim as well. To descend into brutality, as Salim does for a time in
his disturbing relationship with Yvette and as Raymond has in his
unscrupulous service to the president, is one choice; to participate in the perpetuation of a redemptive civilization is another. In
this regard, the "bend in the river," the novel's central metaphor,
suggests the possibility of just such a choice: either an abandonment of civilization or its restoration and safeguarding.
58



Modern Age - Winter 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Modern Age - Winter 2016

Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover1
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Contents
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 2
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 4
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 5
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 6
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 7
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 8
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 9
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 10
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 11
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 12
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 13
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 14
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 15
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 16
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 17
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 18
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 19
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 20
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 21
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 22
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 23
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 24
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 25
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 26
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 27
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 28
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 29
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 30
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 31
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 32
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 33
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 34
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 35
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 36
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 37
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 38
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 39
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 40
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 41
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 42
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 43
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 44
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 45
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 46
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 47
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 48
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 49
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 50
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 51
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 52
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 53
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 54
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 55
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 56
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 57
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 58
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 59
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 60
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 61
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 62
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 63
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 64
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 65
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 66
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 67
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 68
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 69
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 70
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 71
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 72
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 73
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 74
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 75
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 76
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 77
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 78
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 79
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 80
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 81
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 82
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 83
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 84
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 85
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 86
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 87
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 88
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 89
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 90
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 91
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 92
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 93
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 94
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 95
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 96
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 97
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 98
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 99
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 100
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 101
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 102
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 103
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 104
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 105
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 106
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 107
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 108
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 109
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 110
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 111
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 112
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 113
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 114
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 115
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 116
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 117
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 118
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 119
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 120
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 121
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 122
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 123
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 124
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 125
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 126
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 127
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 128
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 129
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 130
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 131
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 132
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 133
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 134
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 135
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 136
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 137
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 138
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 139
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 140
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 141
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 142
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 143
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 144
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 145
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 146
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 147
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 148
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 149
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 150
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 151
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 152
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 153
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 154
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 155
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 156
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 157
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 158
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 159
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - 160
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover3
Modern Age - Winter 2016 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2018winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2017winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2016winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2015fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/isi/modernage_2014summer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com