Driss
The young Filala merchant whose desert journey becomes the title story’s central victimization.
To complete the desert journey safely with his uncles and remain protected within the family trading group.
The book
At a glance
- The Delicate Prey
- The Delicate Prey and Other Stories
- Mid-twentieth century
Who they are in the book
Spoiler-freeDriss crosses the desert with two older uncles who trade in leather. Their journey has an ordinary commercial purpose before Moungari enters it.
As the youngest traveler, Driss depends on the older men’s knowledge and protection. Their murder isolates him and gives Moungari complete control.
The story subjects Driss to sexual violence, torture, and death. A responsible account must name the brutality without reducing him to a device for displaying cruelty.
How the book draws them
- Place in the storyHe begins as a young person traveling with family and work to do.
- How power worksMoungari’s violence removes both family protection and physical autonomy.
- What Bowles showsBowles presents vulnerability without offering a moral reason that would make the attack deserved.
- What remains uncertainThe story gives less access to Driss’s inner life than to the sequence of what is done to him.
Moungari murders Driss’s uncles, subjects Driss to sexual violence and torture, and kills him; later revenge cannot restore what was destroyed.
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