Tafnet

Tafnet is a high village whose name appears on the Hennigers’ route toward Azna, but whose place in their journey remains uncertain. The road divides there and both branches seem to peter out; as the couple searches for directions, Tafnet becomes less a clear destination than a test of whose judgment will govern the drive.

A Place on an Uncertain Route

David Henniger and Jo Henniger are already lost when they consult an increasingly ambiguous map. Azna is not marked, and David guesses that it must lie along the road to Tafnet. The map offers no confirmation. He wonders whether the renovated ksour associated with Richard Galloway and Dally Margolis might be there, but their directions never mentioned Tafnet, leaving the couple with conjecture rather than a reliable landmark.

The landscape supplies few assurances: side roads run into the palmery, and the names of villages are written in Arabic, which the couple cannot read. French lettering sometimes acts as a beacon, but none of the places they find is Azna. When the road reaches Tafnet, it divides into two branches that both appear to end without leading them to their destination.

The Sign and the Disagreement

Farther along, the headlights reveal a sign with place names stacked in Arabic and French. The Hennigers make out Tafnet, and Jo rejects the turn; David insists that they have to take it. The sign confirms that Tafnet is on their route, but does not establish that it is the right way to Azna.

Their disagreement becomes physical as Jo catches David’s arm and the two struggle and scream at each other. David misses the brake pedal before finding it, but does not stop before reaching the sign; he wants to settle the issue first. Sand blows across the road and dims their view as the argument continues. Tafnet’s narrative importance lies in this convergence of an unreadable landscape and a deteriorating conversation: the uncertainty of the route gives their conflict an immediate, practical stake, without resolving which way would have been right.