The Sympathizer

It is unclear exactly how long the narrator’s sleep deprivation has gone on, but it is clear that he is close to complete madness. In this state, he leaves his body, looking down on the people and spirits (Sonny and crapulent major) that occupy his torture chamber: “While those below were human and ghost, I was the supernatural Holy Spirit, clairvoyant and clairaudient” (355).

The novel’s text shifts format in this chapter, and the final stages of his interrogation are written in the format of a screenplay. The characters are listed as Myself, the Commandant, the Commissar, and The Doctor. The narrator reveals that he wanted his father dead; and, according to Man, it is this wish that leads to the actual killing of his father, which pleases the Commandant, as the narrator’s father was a colonizing Catholic priest. After this admission, the Commandant and the Doctor leave the room, leaving Man and the narrator alone for a moment.

Man weeps and begs the narrator to kill him with his gun, “I’m crying because I can hardly bear to see you so afflicted. But I cannot save you except to have you afflicted” (362). At this, the narrator laughs.