The Muslim male in Vathek embodies evil, deviance, and child murder combined

Evidence

One of the interesting complexities in this text is that Vathek, identified as an Arab Muslim, is persuaded to reject Islam and follow the path of Satan. Beckford’s treatment of the Muslim male is predicated on the idea that he is essentially evil, a homosexual, a pedophile, and a child murderer. The culmination of evil is expressed in the immolation of 50 young boys, who are stripped naked and observed by Vathek and the Indian, who display both “demonic powers and physical monstrosity.” — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 511

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth noting: this is a Muslim-authored figure (Vathek is an actual historical caliph) being used by a Western author to encode specifically Western fears. The reader’s ‘fear without object’ thesis gains texture here.