TE Lawrence on his Torture in Daraa Syria

excerpt from the book Hero by Michael Korda Frequently ill, hungry and sleepless, he embraced the hardship, wrapping himself in the discomfort like a cloak. In November 1917, during an illadvised attempt to reconnoiter an enemy camp in disguise, he was captured, savagely beaten and sexually abused by the local bey and his Turkish soldiers before escaping. The experience was shattering, but his own response to it shocked him still more. Korda rightly identifies this as a pivotal moment in Lawrences life, and treats it with delicacy. Lawrence felt he had failed, by giving in to pain and fear, by submitting himself to rape as an escape from the pain, and by discovering that despite himself he felt a forbidden sexual excitement. This humiliation, and the twin shame of failing to secure the promised Arab state for his friends and allies after the war, haunted Lawrence for the rest of his life. Daraa became known as the cradle of