Violence was a common element in the Eleventh century Muslim countries. In Maalouf’s Samarkand, violence culminated public life, whereby the public condemned liberal thought. Any person who went against the socially accepted way of life, in these Muslim countries, faced a probable risk of violence. The authority, including the public condemned Omar Al Khaiyyam, and subsequent labeled him an infidel because, in his Rubaiyat ridiculed Islamic faith. In Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk explores the theme of violence through chaotic events. One of these events is fighting, which the author links to one’s identity. The men who take part in fight club, they believed fighting would help them reclaim their identity. In addition, the men believed that violence would subvert society’s gradual domestication of men. …show more content…
Although the two books present violence in different contexts, the author’s appear to comment on social deficits, which people continue following without questioning them. Violence plays a crucial role in the development of politics, social constructions, knowledge and beliefs, most of which erode with time (Elizabeth Grosz 8). Violence in Samarkand points to a time when Muslim countries were trying to remain conservative, and avoid any influence from the west. The countries perceived education, among others as going against socially accepted norms; thus, people who welcomed education faced violence. In Fight Club, Tyler realizes that Project Mayhem was not a story about a revolution, but rather an organization, which caused harm to people through violence (Olivia Burgess 276). Regardless, Samarkand and Fight Club examine the theme of violence, and one evident conclusion from the texts is that, violence takes two forms, good and