# The Dowry of Democracy explained — The Book of Khalid

> Chapter companion for The Book of Khalid by Ameen Rihani.

## What happens

Khalid, having returned from a period in Bohemia, is persuaded by a letter from Mr. Hoolihan to become a political canvasser for Tammany Hall. Despite Shakib's misgivings, Khalid accepts the position, becoming a 'Tammany dray-horse'. He is used by the political machine, gives speeches, and is ultimately dismissed, leading him to brood on the experience as a failed marriage with Democracy.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Modernity

The chapter critiques the corrupt and vulgar nature of American urban politics, contrasting it with the idealism of the immigrant.

### Alienation and Identity

Khalid's experience as a political canvasser highlights his alienation from both his own ideals and the American political system.

### Individual vs. Institution

Khalid's individual aspirations are crushed by the institutional machinery of Tammany Hall, which uses and discards him.

## Character check-ins

### Khalid

Returns from Bohemia and becomes a political canvasser for Tammany Hall, an experience that ends in disillusionment.

### Shakib

Narrates Khalid's encounter with the Boss and expresses his own moralizing and nostalgia for home.

### Mr. Hoolihan

Writes to Khalid offering him the position of political canvasser for the Syrian District.

### Boss O'Graft

The Tammany boss whom Khalid and Shakib visit; he is depicted as vulgar and powerful.

## Key lines

> And how could one with that mara upon him, write of the ethics of life and religion?

How could someone so haunted by his experiences write about the ethics of life and religion?

_Khalid's time in Bohemia has left him unable to focus on the 'text' of his life._

> For though the purse be not his own, he was paying dear, and even in advance, in what is dearer than gold, for his experience.

Even though he wasn't spending his own money, he was paying a high price, in something more valuable than gold, for his experience.

_Khalid is paying for his experiences in Bohemia with his innocence or well-being._

> But you must shear that noddle of thine, and straightway, for the poets are potted in Tammany Land.

You must get rid of your romantic ideas immediately, because poets are not valued in Tammany Hall.

_A warning that Khalid's idealism will not serve him in the world of politics._

> For was he not, in creaking boots and a slouch hat, ceremoniously married to Democracy?

He was symbolically married to the Democratic political machine, complete with the appropriate attire.

_The metaphor of marriage is used to describe Khalid's commitment to the political cause._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se/chapters/i-the-dowry-of-democracy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_book_of_khalid_se/chapters