The effectiveness of the religious character in Ali Badr’s novels

Abstract

This research aims to explore the depiction of religious characters in Ali Badr's novels, focusing on how these characters are constructed, the roles they play in the progression of events, and their impact on moral and philosophical issues within the narrative. Through the analysis of a selection of texts that address various religious themes, this study highlights the ways in which authors utilize religious characters to explore both internal and external conflicts. The analysis reveals how religious characters in the novel reflect the complex relationship between religion and society, and how these characters affect readers' perceptions of religious issues. Moreover, this research delves into the symbolic functions of these characters within the text, including their representation of moral authority and religious belief in the narrative, as these elements are crucial in character development and the unfolding of events. Given the significance of religion in delineating character boundaries, revealing patterns, and meanings, and its coordination with other narrative elements, this study emerges from the importance of the social, cultural, religious, and political issues addressed by Ali Badr through his novels. It seeks to investigate the nature of character affiliations in the depths of these texts as a means to encapsulate character content, aiming for an approach that highlights two important dimensions in the human mind: personality and religious belief. Both are central to the author's vision in his novels, where the Iraqi novel stands as one of the most prominent literary mediums reflecting human experience with the religious aspect, a concept whose features have become complex in Iraq due to a long history of wars, political unrest, ethnic, and religious diversity. These challenges have directly influenced Iraqi literature, especially the novel, as writers have sought to explore and present diverse representations of the Iraqi religious character amid the political, social, and cultural transformations the country has undergone.