Beneath the Lion's Gaze

Mid way through Maaza Mengiste's "Beneath the Lions Gaze", Hailu is working in his office when Almaz urges him to check on one of his patients he seemed to be avoiding. After reflection on the experience of caring for Selam in the hospital, he offers his assistance and goes to see the young tortured girl brought in by the two soldiers. While evaluating the patient, the two begin to take a different view of her. “’She’s the same age as my Alem. God take care of my girl,’ she said as she crossed herself. ‘Has she said anything else?’ Hailu asked. He stood near the window and wondered how he didn’t recognize Selam in the girl earlier.” This conversation and personal refection between the two characters stood out to me because both Almaz and Hailu are able to see their loved ones in this character and allow themselves to do so. In most instances in the novel, Hailu’s work at the hospital seems to be a neutral place for him where he does not become connected on a personal level to those he treats. Even when Selam was sick he found it difficult to remove himself from the role of doctor and allow himself to be a sympathetic husband. Though in this instance, something is different. Hailu is not only allows himself to see his own wife in the young girl but he puts himself in her situation and considers letting her die. This is compelling because it symbolizes the promise Hailu made to Selam and gives him a second chance. Also in this moment, the personal and political come together. Neither Almaz nor Hailu know the young girl personally but they each are experiencing some form of grief from the ongoing revolution. The young girl is very clearly a victim of the revolution’s violence yet they allow her story to affect them more deeply than just treating her wounds. This scene is symbolic of the way the political violence on the outside is becoming intertwined with the personal lives of the characters leaving everyone affected by the tragedies.