Death, Ghosts, and the Afterlife: An Analysis of Guantánamo Diary Kristyn Rethaford College

Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s book Guantanamo Diary is a work that deals heavily in complex themes. Questions of morality, accusations of terrorism, and descriptions of torture abound in his story, but it is the subtle undercurrent of death throughout the book that I find most intriguing. Slahi uses references to both death and the afterlife as a metaphor for the trauma that those imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay have suffered.

Slahi wastes no time in drawing upon this sort of imagery in his writing. At the beginning of the first chapter, he says, “. . . I gave all my tears at the beginning of the expedition, which was like the boundary between death and life.” (5). In this passage, Slahi begins by comparing his journey toward captivity with a state of limbo. It parallels the idea of purgatory, in which one who has passed from their life on earth is forced to hang in the balance, unaware of what lies ahead. This is exactly what has happened to Slahi; the life he knew has been ripped from him, and he does not know what fate awaits.

The second portion of the same passage connects to concepts of death and the afterlife as well, but in a different way. Slahi states: “I wished I were better to people. I wished I were better to my family. I...