I Am Pilgrim

In what ways is Zakaria al-Nassouri/the Saracen a sympathetic figure?

How does Murdoch use musical lyrics in the work, especially in relation to his own emotions and opinions?

What is the role of the Holocaust in the novel?

In what ways is the text a series of arguments about the nature of love and loyalty?

How does Hayes establish similarities between Murdoch and his various adversaries, especially al-Nassouri and Ingrid Kohl, and why?

In what ways does the novel’s structure and Hayes’s use of short chapters and cliffhangers make the text resemble a film? How does this narrative structure enhance his arguments about the themes of the novel?

Consider the character of Leyla Cumali. Is she a sympathetic figure, redeemable morally? Or is she simply a pawn in a man’s world?

How does Hayes use action sequences to establish character and build suspense? To what end and for what purpose?