The Chair Carrier by Yusuf Idris - Minute book report

This is a story about a traveler who sees a giant chair on the streets of a city in the Middle East. The chair is gigantic, weighing at least a ton. It is moving along on the side of the street and no one seems to notice that a small, thin man is carrying the chair on his back. The traveler ask the chair carrier why he is carrying the chair and he replies that he is carrying it because he was ordered to by the king. In fact, the chair carrier has been carrying the chair for thousands of years. The traveler tells him that the king is dead and that he should put down the chair and rest. But the chair carrier insists that he can only put down the chair if he is given the order to put it down. The traveler, frustrated that the chair carrier will not listen to reason, tells him to keep walking. As the man walks away, the traveler notices a note on the front of the chair. It is instructions from the king that the chair carrier was supposed to take the chair home and enjoy it for the rest of his life. The traveler mentions the note, but the chair carrier ignores him and continues on. As a character, the chair carrier is an example of how people tend to resist change. Even if reason and logic are presented, people often need reassurance to justify their actions. In the story, this reassurance was referred to as the "token of authorization." In real life, this might be faith in a religious context or capital in a capitalist society. That even though we know what needs to be done, we tend not to act in the way that we know would solve our issues. It's often easier to give out advice than to act upon the sound advice of others. Readers also encounter a duality of perspective through the views of the traveler and the chair carrier. From the outside, the traveler sees a ridiculous man who is carrying a chair for no reason. But from the inside, the chair carrier sees a job that he was given and must fulfill until he is finished. The strange thing is that both of these realities are correct, so that one's actions can be both right and wrong, cowardly and noble, depending on perspective. Lastly, this story is about the definition of people and what defines them. It illustrates that people are defined by their ignorance, or what they don't know, rather than by what they do know - which is why in school and college, students are exposed to a variety of subjects, some of which may not seem all that important, but nevertheless self-defining.