Book Analysis: Deniro's Game

DENIRO’S GAME Deniro’s Game is a work of fiction about treachery, guilt and vengeance in the war-torn city of Beirut. It is the story of Bassam and George, best friends who grow up to become more independent as a result of the different incidents that take place throughout the novel. As ten thousand bombs land on Beirut and bullets pour like a monsoon rain on Lebanese soil, the characters betray the trust of not only their nation but even their beloved through the acts of murders, theft and adultery. Eventually Bassam’s main purpose of life becomes his escape to find a safe haven in foreign land as his death becomes other people’s mission. Hage uses setting, vivid imagery and characterization to convey the hardships Bassam and George undergo to survive the war in Beirut as well as the crime filled streets of Paris.
Throughout the course of Deniro’s Game, the war shapes the lives and personalities of the characters as their innocence quickly changes to deceitfulness as the characters get betrayed by loved ones. Bassam and George are having financial problems since they aren’t paid enough to support their families. “I was desperate and restless, in need of a better job and money.” (Hage 19) Since they needed money so desperately, they decide to steal money from Abou Nahra’s casino. “There must be a way to get a cut he once said to me when I visited him? Are you in?”(Hage 18). Even though Bassam and George know that Abou Nahra will cut their heads off if they “are caught stealing” because they “will be fucking with the militia,” (Hage 18) the childhood friends still betray Abou Nahra. Eventually Khalil, Abou Nahra’s employee, found out about the theft and threatened them that he will tell Abou Nahra about it unless he was given a cut. “As we ran toward him, I could hear him screaming, He is hit, he is hit. Khalil was flung over George’s shoulders, bleeding, dripping blood along the tips of his fingers… No, he said, and looked at me with piercing eyes. I do not kill