The Starving of Saqqara by Micheal Cisco

 I listened to Dr. Bowers read this story during his Saturday session on Discord, and I wanted to share a few reflections.

The statue in the story is real, which is interesting, and it exists exactly as Mr. Cisco described. While the statue takes center stage as the object of obsession for the narrator, its presence raises a question: who is the true protagonist? Typically, a protagonist drives the narrative, determines the plot points, overcomes obstacles, and resolves the story. Does the human character fulfill these requirements? I would argue he does not. Throughout the story, the man is merely reacting. In this case, the statue is the protagonist.

The statue represents the true nature of the human character; it is an embodiment of truth and a mirror that reveals his depravity. Although the human character is an upstanding member of the city government and the upper social caste, the statue strips away this veneer. It drives his every action. The truth refuses to be silenced, leaving the man with no choice but to react to its revelation.

You see this in the way he orbits the statue at the exhibit, glancing at it from the corners of his eyes. He is repelled by the depravity it depicts, not because it feels alien to him, but because it threatens his social standing. Yet, he is drawn to it because it validates his inner nature. He steals glimpses to revel in his darkness while maintaining a distance to protect his reputation.

When the statue is stolen, his search for it is elaborate. The hunt serves as a metaphor for the lengths he will go to keep his true self hidden from society. Even in his fevered dreams, the truth will not stay buried. It is his lust for his dark nature revealed by the haunting image that overcomes his fear of exposure. By the end of the story, he seems to fully embrace that darkness by what he imagines the statue says to him.

There is a disturbing implication in the story that you might have missed. The human character in the story isn’t much different than the others in the upper class. What does this say about these others? The story is an illustration of the old adage that you can paint over rotten wood to make it look fine, but the rot remains beneath the surface. It only takes a bit of peeling paint to reveal the decay to the world.