Celestial Bodies

The existence and eventual abolition of slavery in Oman feeds into the narrative of the book. There are characters who are slave owners, those who are former slaves, and those who cannot rid themselves of a slavery mindset. The material wealth of several characters is built on a foundation of slavery, while certain character dynamics are informed by the strange relationships formed between slave owners and the slaves themselves.

In terms of characters, slavery is best represented by three characters: Sulayman, the slave owner; Zarifa, the former slave who struggles to come to terms with the idea of freedom; and Habib, the angry slave who fights back against the system. That Sulayman can force Zarifa into a marriage with Habib as a form of punishment is a demonstration that theirs was never a marriage of equals. No matter what, the brutalities of slavery shines through, even when there is a loving bond between slave master and slave.

Much of the material wealth that filters down into the village of al-Awafi was earned through the propagation of slavery: the marriage of Mayya and Abdallah is built on a foundation of riches earned from his father’s activity in the slave trade.