Leslie Terebessy

Author and the Thief: Two Faces of Professor Parrott Leslie Terebessy

Parrott was expected to be a reformer. He had a reputation of being a knowledgeable person. He wrote and published books that became references at Harvard, where he was even offered a job. But he could not do what he was tasked with. Subscriptions to the Institute's flagship journal went from thirteen in the first year to none seven years later. The reason he could not succeed is because he followed tradition. He could not do what he was asked to do. He was a reincarnation of Faust and Fagin. A person could not carry on a conversation with him. After a few sentences, he would run out of things to say. He responded with ready-made phrases, like a parrot. That was "world renowned" professor Parrott. He suffered from a paralysis of mind due to the unquestioning following of tradition. He reminded the Apprentice of Sid, the brother of Tom Sawyer, in the well-known book by Mark Twain. Sid was always ratting on Tom. Sid was the conformist; Tom was the authentic person. The "two faces" of Parrott reflect the two faces of Islam. There is Islam as the religion of peace, and there is militant Islam, the religion of war by the "abode of peace" against the "abode of war."