By the Sea

The narrative shifts to the perspective of Latif Mahmud, an academic in London. While he is walking, a man shouts a racial slur at him. The incident prompts Latif to reflect on the word and its origins, and he takes strange satisfaction in a dictionary entry that traces its use through the work of writers like Shakespeare: “It made me feel that I had been present in all those strenuous ages, that I had not been forgotten, not rooting and snorting in a jungle swamp or swinging naked from tree to tree, but right there, grinning through the canon for centuries” (91). Around this time, he follows up with a refugee council about a Zanzibari asylum seeker he was asked to translate for, though the council later told him his services wouldn’t be required after all. When Latif himself calls back, the legal adviser, Rachel Howard, informs him that the man’s name is Rajab Shaaban—the same name as Latif’s deceased father. Rachel adds that the man claims to know Latif.

Latif denies recognizing the name but privately recalls his childhood in Zanzibar. He remembers his family: his father,