Atdtda34: A man who would be god, 967

[Paul Nightingale]

At first sight, perhaps, there is conflict in: 'The war unpredictably
everywhere.' If the war is indeed 'everywhere' it might be considered a
predictable state of affairs: there is no time in which, or space where, war
is absent. Similarly, 'sheltered often' implies a norm and therefore
predictability. However, the emphasis is on variation, repetition is
inseparable from difference.

What follows is a description of day-to-day survival, the interactions that
take place between strangers. There is a little more detail in the
description: 'the premises' (bottom of 965) has now become 'the temporary
thatch huts of Sarakatsani ...' etc, 'the nomads of the Peninsula ...' etc
(967) as the narrative reveals more. Cf: 'They joined processions across the
plains ...' etc (top of 965). Reef and Yashmeen always seem to have what is
required: 'jars of rose preserve ... brought this far miraculously unbroken'
in exchange for the 'wooden baby-carrying rig' (967) and, at the end of the
paragraph, enough cigarettes to exchange for weaponry.

It is a question of identity: '... these people of no country, no native
town, no fixed abode ...' etc. The paragraph then concludes with 'Turkish
deserters', those who have relinquished both a master status and a planned
future, and so the section ends with a reminder that even 'the legendary
Liman von Sanders' owes his reputation to 'his murderous creatures'.