50 pages • 1-hour read
The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother)
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section contains discussion of anti-gay bias and abuse.
Raja’s Apartment
Although one of the novel’s primary settings, Raja’s apartment is also a key symbol of The Complexity of Familial Relationships. Raja does not conform to traditional standards of gender and sexuality, which makes his life in the family home difficult for him. Initially, to Raja, his apartment symbolizes independence and becomes a kind of refuge: In it, he is free to express himself, to spend time alone, and to live life away from the prying eyes and bigotry of his family members.
Raja does not remain alone in his apartment forever. First Zalfa, and then Yasmine and Nahed move in. When Zalfa joins him after returning home from Farouk’s, Madame Taweel also becomes a fixture in Raja’s space. Raja finds that he is no longer in control of his home at all times and that his mother and Madame Taweel do not always respect the boundaries that he sets. He loses further control when his aunt and cousin move in and is initially furious that his mother would agree to allow his childhood bullies to live in his own home.
The end result of all of this cohabitation, however, is that Raja develops new relationships with each of his family members. He and his mother establish a closeness that he did not always feel during childhood. Although Raja still finds his mother’s extroversion perplexing, he learns to respect her independence and develop a sense of gratitude that, after her many repressive years of marriage, she is now able to live life on her own terms. He forgives Yasmine and finds common ground with Nahed. As a reflective individual, none of this processing and change is lost on Raja. There are still moments during which he would appreciate solitude or control, but overall, he is happy to have the chance to know his family members in new ways and to rewrite the old, limiting narratives that prevented him from appreciating them for so many years.
Nahed’s Barbie and Raja’s Matchbox Cars
Nahed’s Barbie and Raja’s Matchbox cars are gendered toys that symbolize gendered socialization and normative masculinity and femininity, invoking Navigating Queer Identity Against Familial and Societal Judgment. Both Nahed and Raja are queer, and both are the target of judgment for their failure to conform to normative standards of gender even as children, before they have come out as gay.
Nahed is given Barbie dolls, one of the most conspicuously gendered toys for girls, to play with in hopes that she will develop an interest in activities deemed acceptable for “young ladies.” Nahed prefers neighborhood adventures and roughhousing to playing with dolls, and she readily agrees to give one of the Barbies to Raja. Nahed’s parents are never able to successfully mold her into the shape of a traditionally feminine young lady, and eventually, as an adult, she lives semi-openly as a lesbian. She does not dress modestly, and because of her bare arms and fitted clothing, her muscular physique is visible. Even Raja notes how “unfeminine” she looks, but Nahed is confident as an adult and chooses not to conform to societal standards of dress, behavior, and body type for women.
When Raja is discovered with Nahed’s Barbie, he is given Matchbox cars to play with in hopes that he will develop more acceptable interests for a young boy. He instead assigns each car a personality and organizes them all into a tea party, infuriating his father but also displaying Raja’s early lack of interest in conformity and unwillingness to submit to gendered socialization. His early refusal to live life by his father’s terms foreshadows the kind of confidence and comfort in his own skin that will, as it does for Nahed, come to define Raja as an adult.
The Beirut Port Explosion
The Beirut port explosion, although one of the novel’s most important events, is also one of its key symbols. As one of the century’s most obvious manifestations of Lebanese corruption and governmental ineptitude, it symbolizes The Impact of History on Individuals and Communities. Raja is often enraged by his government’s lack of concern for its citizens and, especially after the port explosion, is ashamed to be Lebanese. Raja is an educated, well-traveled man, and he understands that the kinds of issues that plague Lebanon are the result of corruption rather than circumstance: They are engineered and utterly avoidable.
Raja is embarrassed to be from a nearly failed state and even breaks down in tears after viewing the bomb blast site. Much more so than his extraverted family members, he experiences Lebanese corruption as the source of emotional pain. What he feels about the port explosion, the banking crisis, and other national disasters is akin to grief, and the way that he processes that grief becomes just as much of an existential task as grappling with bigotry and discrimination.
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