"She entered my bedroom a .
chaste virgin and when she left it she was carrying the germs of self-destruction within her" (35). He .
claims it is self-destruction, yet Mustafa describes his meeting of Isabella Seymour: "Suddenly my eyes .
came to rest on a woman. Yes, this was my prey" (36). The word "prey" implies his active role in her .
destruction. He says, "The city has changed into a woman" (39). For Mustafa, in order to quell his desire to .
travel, he has to feel as though he has conquered the world. In order to feel he has conquered the world, he .
has to "conquer" the women who symbolize it to him. .
What are Mustafa's motives for this attempt at revenge against European ideals, and women in particular? .
His childhood could certainly be a source. As a child, he lacked needed guidance. No one was there to tell .
him what was right and wrong. In a way no one was there to enculturate him, for he did not seem to spend .
any time with people in his culture. Mustafa was always attending school, which seemed like a very sterile .
environment. So he got to create his own morality and set of beliefs. It is even possible that morality was .
never created inside of Mustafa. This absence of morality seems to correlate with Corruption. Mustafa .
never seemed to feel bad about what he did to the women, and it almost seemed like Mustafa blamed them .
for what happened. They were weak, and because they were to blame for their weaknesses they deserved .
whatever they got. .
Whenever Mustafa came in contact with something he seemed to change it or have some kind of influence .
over it. Everyone Mustafa comes in contact with seems to start roaming in dangerous or uncertain areas. It .
seems like the narrator fears the secret room in Mustafa's house. I got the impression that if the narrator .
sees what is in that room he will never be able to forget it. It's as though just walking into that room will .
corrupt him and make him lose his innocence.
