The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams

Content Warning: This section contains discussion of death and violence.

Samir’s stories, which are typically full of lies and exaggerations, are a central part of the narrative from the very beginning, and Monkey is consistently annoyed at how much he stretches the truth. Although Samir is often “lying” in a technical sense, Monkey slowly learns that the truth is not black and white but more fluid, and Samir’s lies often benefit the audience as much as they benefit him. The setting of the Silk Road and the centrality of assassination to the plot also contribute to the development of this theme, since stretching the truth is often needed for survival, further complicating the black-and-white morality Monkey claims to uphold at any cost. However, the novel pushes this idea further to suggest that storytelling ensures survival not just through lying and evasion but also through creating human connections and a vital support network to survive the harsh world of the Silk Road. 

Through Samir’s stories, the novel illustrates how manipulating the truth can be strictly a matter of survival, as Samir lies to keep them both alive. Rasseem’s hatred of Samir’s stories is one of the reasons he has hired assassins to kill him, but Samir’s fluid truths save Monkey’s life and his own on multiple occasions.