Norman Hazzurt

Norman Hazzurt is the man Jack Twist identifies as responsible for the brutal attack that leaves Jenny Twist comatose. Although investigators trace Hazzurt through fingerprints and witnesses, the prospect that he might escape conviction leads Jack to pursue justice outside the courts. Hazzurt’s death becomes one of the defining acts of Jack’s return to civilian life—and an act that proves emotionally different from what Jack anticipated.

Attack on Jenny Twist

While Jack is imprisoned in Central America, Hazzurt attacks Jenny in the hallway of her apartment building as she returns from work. He forces his way into her apartment, rapes and beats her, and leaves her for dead. When Jack finally returns home, Jenny is comatose in a state institution, where the care she has received is described as abominable.

The attack is the worst shock of Jack’s life. It is also the circumstance that makes Hazzurt more than a distant criminal suspect: Jack returns to a country that has already betrayed him, only to find his wife gravely injured and poorly cared for, and learns that the man responsible may not face a timely trial.

Investigation and Death

Hazzurt has been identified through fingerprints and witnesses, but a defense attorney’s delays postpone his trial. Jack conducts his own investigation and satisfies himself that Hazzurt is guilty, citing his history of violent sex offenses. He becomes convinced that Hazzurt will be acquitted on a technicality, and makes killing him one of two immediate objectives. The other is raising enough money to move Jenny into a private sanitarium.

Two months after Jack returns to the United States, Hazzurt dies in what is presented as an accidental gas explosion. The account establishes the death as the result of Jack’s plan, which is designed to keep suspicion from falling on him. The following bank robbery supplies the money for Jenny’s transfer to the private sanitarium, completing the two-part plan Jack formed after coming home.

Consequences for Jack

Hazzurt’s death does not satisfy Jack; it depresses him. Jack distinguishes killing in war from killing in civilian life: he lacks the detachment to kill outside self-defense. The revenge that had seemed like a direct answer to the failure of the justice system therefore brings no triumph. Hazzurt’s role in the story ends with his death, but its aftermath reveals the cost to Jack of carrying military violence into civilian life.