Sheikh Al Junaydi

In the start of the novel, Naguib Mahfouz begins the story with Said Mehran walking out of jail after four years. From there, Naguib Mahfouz portrays Said as a man desperate to find redemption and to find himself in a corrupt and changed world in his eyes. In the novel we see Said constantly believing that the innocent tend to be unsuccessful whilst the guilty flourish.  In the novel Said  seeks guidance and help from Sheik al Junaydi. The Sheikh seems to be one of the only characters who are responsible for helping with Said’s lost sense of ethics during this quarrel that Said has with society  and repression. Not only does he represent fate and the will of God because of his social position in the mosque, but he is also seen  as Said’s righteous guide which as we know he obviously needs. Throughout The Thief and The Dogs, there are numerous cases of Said not truly understanding the meaning behind Sheikh Al Junaydi’s words of wisdom. This shows how Said is confused about the path that he must take in his life and how his internal conflict is affecting his decisions in every thing he does or thinks of. 

In the novel we see how Sheikh Al-Junaydi incessantly warns Said Mehran that retribution is not worth the consequences and he must let it go and therefore contributes to the theme of how vengeance leads to the eventual fall of the Said Mehran in the novel. In  the novel, Said is constantly told to go “wash and read” to which he only responds by blaming everyone around him.  By that the Sheikh is trying to get Said to forget the past and look towards religions and seek redemption through religion and of course move on with his life. Only on the second read, will readers understand that Said was given these opportunities to redeem himself but he just them due to his heavy thoughts of vengeance which cloud his mind with his excuses to not look for peace. A common trend within the novel is that Said justifies his decisions by blaming his circumstances. Towards the end of the chapter he reveals that he is on a trajectory that approaches hell rather than heaven. This means that Said had already accepted his fate as a criminal and had no intentions of saving himself. 

Through this indirect characterization of Said, we realize how Mahfouz brings in the Sheikh to go against Said’s doubting attitude and acts as a safe guard on how much we commiserate with him. Sheik al Junaydi plays a major role in the  theme of fate vs. free will as he unifies the free will piece in the novel. Through providing a contradiction between environments, the audience being to become aware of the main characters actions and begin to question. Said was so focused on  revenge and seeking retaliation He believes that this is the only way that he could finish his mission. Sheik al Junaydi introduces the reader with a different idea of ethics and morality as he provides a positive and more spiritual path.

Thesis Statement

• In the novel, Mahfouz uses  Saids experiences to represent the experiences of most of the Egyptian people as if they feel betrayed by the country they love. He uses Saids conflicts and as well his struggles to represent the conflicts and struggles that the Egyptian people felt at the time

Passage Analysis (Chapter 14)

The Thief and the Dogs is a novel written by Naguib Mahfouz, which interprets the story of Said Mahran, a thief who is betrayed by his wife Nabawiyya and friend Illish which then leads to him going to jail and losing his daughter. Throughout the novel Said has a desirable thirst to kill them both as well as his ex mentor,  Rauf Ilwan. As the story progresses we see how Said starts to  develop in to a complex character who struggles to deal with himself and the outside world. The complexity of Said’s character and his ego is intriguing and makes the novel an interesting read.

In this passage from chapter 14 of The Thief and dogs, we see how Said , who at this point in time is a broken man incapable of controlling his impetuous emotions. He tries to escape from Rauf’s compound at which point he comes to a realization that the time is nearing when he has to enter ‘one last battle’ which foreshadows a tragic death for the protagonist. Said then hails a cab which he describes as a safe haven. Mahfouz employed this style of writing where he compares Said’s pain from the wound being nothing compared to the relief of being safe again. This could indicate that Said might have been going through the same thought process as the reader that the metaphorical wound in his heart is nothing compared to the peaceful life he could have led.

Later when he gets to Nur’s flat he feels the wound on his leg and identifies it as a possibly caused by a bullet grazing him without penetrating. This draws the attention of the readers to the fact that Said had escaped death so many times before just as he did right now but as all cycles have it there is a peak and a trough and the reader might foreshadow a trough where Said won’t be so lucky. The text catches a glimpse irony when Said says “You’ll get away all right.” The style of writing then shifts to indirect internal monologue where Said questions whether he might have killed Rauf Ilwan. Mahfouz integrates the possibility that another innocent person might die to foreshadow the fate of Said’s wasted life.

Said ponders over the thought of how the bullet that killed Rauf Ilwan would destroy his sense of loss but little does he know that he has committed a grave mistake again of killing an innocent man. His actions will eventually lead to his death that has no meaning to it which is something he did not want to happen to him. “A world without morals is like a universe without gravity” 

Establish how Said is a tragic hero

• What is Said's tragic flaw? (harmatia)

Said's constant desire for revenge can be interpreted as his main tragic flaw. Another of Saids tragic flaw would be the fact that he seems to be very hypocritical and tends to not look as both sides of the story, he also seems to go with his actions not thinking about the trail of trouble that he is leaving behind. This is one of the main characteristics that had ,later on in the novel, lead to his downfall. An example from the text would be a quote from him, "“To kill them both Nabawiyya and Illish at the same time, would be a triumph”, his constant expressing of hate towards other characters in the play is considered as his main tragic flaw, since it lead to him getting shot at towards the end of the novel

• How does he display excessive pride? (hubris)

 Throughout the novel, Said tend to blame other characters for being the ones held responsible for  al the trouble and struggles that he is going through, never having himself to blame. He even blamed Sana for not recognizing him "I have no faith in all her sex", the previous line shows how his thinking is that of a 3 year old boy, blaming Sana when she hasn't seen him for all these  years. This shows how excessively his character displays pride, as he sees that he himself is flawless and never to blame to what is happening between him and the other characters in the novel.

• When is his reversal of fortunes? (peripeteia)

Said's reversal of fortunes occurred at the moment when Rauf rejects him for who he truly is, “If I set eyes on you again,” Rauf bellowed, “I’ll squash you like an insect" that is the quote that Rauf said from the text,  This tells us  how Said is now on his own and knows that no body has his back due to the fact that Rauf once used to be his mentor and close friend, but now he is just another upperclass individual who Said attempted to steal from. 

• At what moments in the text does he recognize that the reversal was due to his own actions? (anagnorisis)

There were many moments in the text where he does recognize the reversal was due to his own actions. One of the main moments in the text was when he begged Rauf to not call the police on him. He then realizes that his actions were wrong.  Said deliberately broke into his house in the evening  when Rauf was sleeping. “Yes, I do, but please don’t.” Said says that after Rauf said, “No? Don’t you deserve it?". This shows how Said acknowledges his mistake , and begs Rauf not to call the police, showing that he knows that the reversal of fortunes is due to his own actions.

• Is his fate greater than he deserved? (nemesis)

 In Said case I indeed do believe that his fate was not greater than what he deserved. He deserved everything that got to him due to the fact that he took a path which would eventually lead him to his own destruction. What goes around comes around and everyone must go through life reporting to their own actions. If their actions are good then they must be rewarded, if they are bad then they must suffer the consequences of their actions. Said had to suffer the consequences for his own actions no matter his intentions whether he believed his actions were right or wrong. 

Stream of Consciousness ---- Thief and The Dogs

   Stream of consciousness is a writing technique used by the author in order to show the inside of the main characters mind. In The Thief and the Dogs, the readers are given the opportunity to view ideas and certain opinions about certain situations through the  mind of the main character, Said. Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness as a way to develop the main character and the overall theme of the novel swell as help the audience relate to the main character in a more efficient way. When the novel gives us an insight on what is going on  inside the main characters head, the audience is able to understand the theme of revenge and hatred on a level that could not simply be understood through simple narration. Mahfouz wanted to give us a greater insight on the main characters hunger for vengeance as well as his eagerness to see his daughter an also the pain he feels and all the thoughts going through the main characters mind through the main characters point of view. From the first page of the novel, the change in text to italics tell the audience that the main character is thinking and that we are now inside the main characters head. Throughout the novel, italics are used to go inside Said’s head. Being released from jail marks his quest for hate fueled revenge. It is important to know that the original book in Arabic did not have italics. The English translation then used the italics to switch from indirect to direct monologue, thus zooming into the stream of consciousness that is present in the novel. Through being able to go in his head, the reader is able to relate to Said better. The stream of  consciousness technique used in the novel by Mahfouz is generally different then Naguib Mahfouz’s other work which tends to be grounded in a more realistic fiction idea.

In the novel "The Thief and the Dogs", Naguib uses this narration to express Said's thoughts as mentioned before. By shifting and changing between different styles, it allows the audience to dive deeper into the main characters thoughts and significantly bring them back to the reality of his situation. This develops Said as a character due to the fact that  several traits and emotions are clearly expressed in a more efficient manner. It also allows the readers to relate to the main character with his position and his situation in the story. For example, Mahfouz uses this type of narration during Saids first confrontation with his daughter as a free man. His daughter's rejection brings to him the feelings of humiliation and anger. Another example would be every time Said think about his betrayal, which brings back Saids intentions for revenge and retaliation, and serves as an elucidation for these motives. moreover, it creates a larger significance on the reader as they are exposed to Said's distinctive situation. This technique is successfully exposed throughout the whole novel. Through the use of internal soliloquies  and sudden drifts to different types of third person narration, the main characters story is revealed in a circular plot. There is a clear line  presented between past and present, which aids the reader to sense that Said can possibly be in a certain state of remembrance especially during the start of the novel. Saids choices and motives are highly influenced from past events, so it was critical for Mahfouz to include the shift to the past in order to show us the root to all of Saids troubles as well as where all his ideas originate in order to relate to Said and help develop Said's character more efficiently. 

Literature in Translation

Literature in Translation

  Recently there has been a significant increase in the study of literature in translation from languages that were previously unrecognized on a global scale. There are many reasons as to why one must study literature in translation and its importance and the effect it could have on an individual. Studying literature helps us discover and indulge in different cultures and explore a different style of thinking as well as different ideologies than the ones we own. Translating a text requires an ideal amount of studying due to it being a very difficult task due to various reasons. In order to be successful at the task, one must indulge in different cultures and become proficient in the understanding of different beliefs and values. Reading a translated book could be more difficult and complicated than is seems, due to the fact that some meanings and certain characters could have a significant meaning in a certain culture, and another meaning in another culture. This then cause significant meanings to be lost due to a difference in the way certain aspects of the stories are perceived and distinguished. In certain languages, some words cannot be translated word for word, this causes a mass confusion in certain meanings within certain texts/novels/stories. 

Paper 2 - TFA (Thesis + Outline)


Thesis Statement

Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" portrays Africa, particularly the Ibo society, right before the arrival of Europeans. Things Fall Apart analyzes the destruction of African culture by the appearance of the white man in terms of the destruction of the bonds between individuals and their society. Achebe, who teaches us a great deal about Ibo society and translates Ibo myth and proverbs, but most importantly, he emphasizes on how social status plays a big role in the culture.The Ibos rely on one's successes to determine how much one should be respected. In Umuofia, it appears that the big factors in success are the amount of wives and barns that a man has as well as a man social status. Social status plays a big role in characterization, especially with Okonkwo. 

Outline:

Body 1

• The role of social class in Umofia

Body 2

The importance of social class to Okonkwo 

Body 3

How Achebe uses social class as a major contribution to characterization.