The Ancestors and Successors Hexagon - Part VI: Southwest of Troy...Southeast of Carthage

VI: Southwest of Troy...Southeast of Carthage
“Real life is but a moment of freedom, and the moment of freedom is a moment of bravery.”

Al-Koni sets the stage for the final book in this hexagon in the nineteenth century, focusing on the initial confrontation between his simple Sahara people and the major colonial powers. He parallels this historical struggle with the rise and fall of individuals, groups, and institutions, drawing insightful connections to events of modern times. Through an epic narrative, the novel vividly depicts naval and land battles, celebrating freedom as 'the wellness of the soul, just as wellness is the freedom of the body’.

In this part, Al-Koni reaches the end of the Al-Qaramanli family's journey, a dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Tripolitania for over than a century. He portrays the conflicts that brought issues such as alienation, exile, betrayal, hatred, famine, deprivation, retaliation, revenge, humiliation, and abandonment. Al-Koni addresses these themes in sperate chapters, meticulously documenting the harsh and complex realities where multiple crises intertwine, revealing the tragedy of the human condition. Here, Al-Koni excels at blending the fertile imagination with the documentary aspect of political, social, and historical transformations.

Believing in wars as most authentic parameter to record and analyze the actions of rulers and their henchmen, Al-Koni attempts to capture the moments of contact between different peoples and civilizations, including Native Americans, at the pivotal moment when an old world fades and a new one emerges. The novel touches on various issues, such as the role of women in power struggles and the curse of the offspring. Al-Koni reflects that while a son can kill his father, a father is completely unable to kill his son.

Al-Koni ponders how one could care about wealth when water is present, and through his characters, he continues to reflect on life and humanity. He presents his interpretation of human nature, which denies beauty and craves spite and revenge—two corrupting qualities against which wisdom cautions us. Humanity, according to Al-Koni, is like a dark, haunted store, drawn to what destroys it, hiding behind a mask that only brings calamities. And when people grow accustomed to these calamities, they choose to live recklessly.