Imagery In The Bond Of Nightmares By Rafi Mustafa

The Bond of Nightmares by Rafi Mustafa, a gripping and touching email that later was published as a short story. Though, the story is written with simple language and short sentences, it entices it's readers with its captivating imagery. Mustafa's vivid imagery helps put the reader into his shoes. IN the beginning he tells us his experience living in India and Pakistan. There he faced people who felt indifferent about him and his family due to their religion. But even after leaving Pakistan and moving to Canada, he felt tired of being oppressed for being himself after hearing someone say, “These Muslims are cancer for the humanity.” For the author, Canada was supposed to be a land of freedom and equality, but yet he still faced the same hatred.
Rafi is able to effortlessly manipulate simple words into striking picture. On page one hundred and sixty eight, he says “Then I remember the face of an Iraqi woman running on a deserted street in Baghad during a bombing run. Her mouth wide open and her eyes are bulging with terror”, puts the reader in the situation through the descriptive words. On the very same page, another image appears, “Does she have the same nightmares as that little Vietnamese girl with napalm burns, running naked on a street in Saigon, crying for help?” Again, Rafi paints another powerful in our minds. Rafi also talks about his his nightmare on page one hundred and sixty seven. He says, “It is always pitch dark and I am running away from rioters. Somtimes I am on a runway, chasing a plane that is leaving us behind.” This quote from Rafi pulls us closer to get better understanding of his constant fear. All these images in his short story help emphasizes how these types of events haunt him every