Fated Happiness

How does Mahfouz illustrate how fate is a major determiner of one’s happiness in life?

Mahfouz outlines the role that fate plays in determining one’s happiness in life through depicting a spectrum of characters who experience varied happenings spurred by fate. In the case of the protagonist, the manifestation of the critical nature of fate and its concomitant implications is witnessed in how Said is born into a family belonging to a lower socio-economic status in society. For instance, Said lost his father at a very young age, followed by his mother falling sick. When he took his mother to a “luxurious” hospital, she was denied treatment solely due to the financial disadvantage that Said’s family was at, which leads to her death. It is during the time that his mother is sick that Said commits an act of theft for the very first time. In this fashion then Mahfouz is commenting on the economic injustice that certain disenfranchised sects of Egyptian society encountered in pre-revolutionary Egypt. It is Said’s fate of being born into an impoverished family that dictates the turmoil he has to face as a young man, negating any happiness for him during his youth. When Said is caught during stealing, Rauf Ilwan is introduced into his life in the form of a literal savior. It is fated that an encounter between the two individuals takes place, and it is Rauf who encourages Said to pursue education and burglary: “isn’t it justice that what is taken by theft should be retrieved by theft.” Taking into account the actions of others, Nur is presented as an atypical female character who is symbolic of a marginalized and often socially condemned group in society being a prostitute. While Mahfouz does not explicitly delineate the central reason that Nur chooses this occupation, it can be inferred that Nur, like Said, may also descend from a financially disadvantaged background, which has led to making the choice of becoming a prostitute. In Said’s life, Nur’s affection for him can be deemed as a conduit for escape from the vicious cycle of gaining vengeance. Yet, it is too late before he appreciates her love and she disappears. It is both Said and Nur’s fate that Said is inextricably tangled in his insatiable lust for retaliation to Nabawiyya’s ostensible betrayal, ultimately leading to Said’s unfortunate downfall at the end of the novella.

Passage Analysis (Chapter 10)

Chapter 10

Passage:

You used to stand at the entrance to the students' hostel and wait for her after work, staring up the street until her fine form with her adorable gait appeared in the distance. As she stepped closer and closer, you'd glow with anticipation. She was like some lovely melody, welcomed wherever she went. As she slipped in among the dozens of women standing at the grocer's your eyes would follow her drunk with ecstasy. She'd disappear and reemerge again, your desire and curiosity increasing all the time--so did your impulse to do something, no matter what, by word, gesture or invocation--and she'd move off on her way home, to disappear for the rest of the day and another whole night. And you'd let out a long, bitter sigh and your elation would subside, the birds on the roadside trees would cease their song and a cold autumn breeze would suddenly spring up from nowhere.

But then you notice that her form is reacting to your stare, that she's swaying coquettishly as she walks and you stand there no longer, but with your natural impetuosity, hurry after her along the road. Then at the lone palm tree at the edge of the fields you bar her way. She's dumbfounded by your audacity, or pretends to be, and asks you indignantly who you might be. You reply in feigned surprise, "Who might I be? You really ask who I am? Don't you know? I'm known to every inch of your being!"

"I don't like ill-mannered people!" she snaps.

"Neither do I. I'm like you, I hate ill-mannered people. Oh, no. On the contrary, I admire good manners, beauty, and gentleness. And all of those things are you! You still don't know who I am? I must carry that basket for you and see you to the door of your house."

"I don't need your help," she says, "and don't ever stand in my way again!" With that she walks away, but with you at her side, encouraged by the faint smile slipping through her pretense of indignation, which you receive like the first cool breeze on a hot and sultry night. Then she had said: "Go back; you must! My mistress sits at the window and if you come one step more she'll see you."

"But I'm a very determined fellow," you reply, "and if you want me to go back, you'll have to come along with me. Just a few steps. Back to the palm tree. You see. I've got to talk to you. And why shouldn't I? Aren't I respectable enough?"

Analysis:

This passage serves the purpose of allowing the reader a glimpse into the initial blossoming of the relationship shared between Said and his former wife, Nabawiyya, prior to Said’s prison sentence. Illustrated in the form of a flashback, this passage successfully satiates the reader’s curiosity regarding Nabawiyya’s character whilst simultaneously arousing in the reader a sentiment of sympathy for Said as he reminisces on his shattered relationship. More importantly, the reader is invited to observe an unfamiliar romantic facet to Said’s characterization, which is a sharp deviation from the otherwise embittered and jaded persona that pervades the remainder of the text in pertinence to Said’s character.

Through the use of direct interior monologue, Mahfouz demonstrates Said’s deep admiration for Nabawiyya at the onset of their relationship: “As she stepped closer and closer, you'd glow with anticipation.”// “She was like some lovely melody, welcomed wherever she went.” These lines communicate the fondness that Said experienced for Nabawiyya, urging the reader to abandon the image of brooding Said to conjure in the reader a more realistic and emotionally sensitive portrayal.

Mahfouz goes on to elucidate on how Said audaciously bars Nabawiyya’s way “at the lone palm tree at the edge of the fields.” The reader then goes on to be acquainted with the charismatic eloquence that Said employs in appealing to Nabawiyya as he expresses his admiration for “good manners, beauty, and gentleness,” followed by proclaiming that, “all of those things” are Nabawiyya. Said’s bold articulation and expressive demeanor stand in stark contrast to the image that the reader has built up until this point.

Through the flashback, Said’s multidimensional character is developed as one with traits of patience and perseverance who is even attracted to Nabawiyya’s “faint smile slipping through her pretense of indignation,” showcasing characteristics that the reader would not naturally associate with Said’s character on the premise of the events that have previously unraveled in the novella.

The last line of this passage is significant as Said poses the rhetorical question, “Aren’t I respectable enough?” This line is particularly ironic in the context of this point in the plot as the reader has established Said’s character to be a contemporarily condemned thief in society, however the aforementioned quote insinuates that Said was once a respectable man in Egyptian society. In a larger essence, Mahfouz could be connoting the tranquility and stability that prevailed in Egyptian society prior to the July Revolution that adversely impacted members of the lower socioeconomic status.

In conclusion, this passage attains the purpose of granting the reader an insight into Said’s character through the use of the stream of consciousness narrative technique; thereby eliciting in the reader a commiseration for Said as the ordeals and betrayals he has endured has drastically distorted his perception on the many facets of life. 

Stream of Consciousness

In his novel, "The Thief and the Dogs," Naguib Mahfouz seamlessly weaves in the literary mode of stream of consciousness as a ubiquitous element that amplifies the characterization of the protagonist, Said Mahran. Through the use of this uniquely modernist narrative technique, Mahfouz effectually invites the reader to indulge in the illusion that the reader is privy to Said's innermost thoughts and impulses, therefore establishing a dynamic rapport between the reader and the protagonist as the plot progresses. The reader specifically is enabled to comprehend Said's responses to his external realities as the access to his personal thoughts and emotional surges act as a medium of important revelation to the reader. One such moment in the text is evident in Chapter 4 when Said attempts to break into Rauf Ilwan's ostentatious mansion: “Hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark?”// “I wish I could penetrate your soul as easily as I’ve penetrated your house”. It can, hence, be gleaned that Said views his act of breaking into Ilwan's house as one of deserved vengeance for dissociating with the ideology he goaded Said to embrace. In a purely linear and descriptive narrative, the reader would jump to the conclusion that Said is an incorrigible thief who has returned to his ways as soon as he got out of prison. Yet, with the integration of the stream of consciousness style, the reader witnesses the internal conflicts that fuel the external conflicts that ensue.

In the wake of the context of production— post-revolution Egypt— Naguib utilizes the stream of consciousness style as a conduit to express his own perplexities vicariously through Said who epitomizes a tragic hero grappling with the paradigm shift in Egyptian society under Nasser's regime. Naguib particularly employs direct and indirect interior monologues and soliloquies as a means of executing the stream of consciousness narrative, which manifest from the very onset of the plot. For instance, forming a part of the exposition of the plot in Chapter 1, immediately following Said's release from prison, an interior monologue is presented in which Said muses, “Nabawiyya. Ilish. Your two names merge in my mind...You'll be watching now, but I won't fall into the trap. At the right moment, instead, I'll strike like Fate.” Through this quote, the reader is acquainted with the protagonist's sense of animosity towards the characters of Nabawiyya and Irish without even being introduced to them. While this instigation of the stream of consciousness technique serves the purpose of foreshadowing the development of conflict within the plot, it also creates an atmosphere of suspense and excitement that urges the reader to further engage in the thrilling nature of the text. Thus, in incorporating the stream of consciousness narrative, Naguib abandons the normative linear narrative to adopt the modernist tradition of "breaking away from the old technique of meticulous details and panoramic narration." In doing so, Naguib also pioneers the genre of psychological realism, the first of its kind in Arabic literature, as the complexities of Said's motivations elicit in the reader a sense of sympathy  for the tragic hero and his fate. 

Another facet intrinsic to the stream of consciousness narrative adopted in Naguib's novel is the subtle inclusion of non-chronological flashbacks in his writing, which further enhances the reader's commiseration for the protagonist. In chapter 11, Said recounts his father's encounters with the Sheikh, his mother's death, and his initial relationship with Rauf Ilwan through the use of flashbacks, granting the reader a greater understanding of Said's situation. 

While the stream of consciousness narrative style is crucial in Mahfouz's novel, the former style is coupled with a third person omniscient narrative that provides a more objective and stable relaying of the events in the novel. A similar narrative style is employed in China Achebe's, "Things Fall Apart," a colonial counter-narrative. Like Mahfouz's, "The Thief and the Dogs," Achebe's, "Things Fall Apart," is penned as a response to shifting political spheres in the nation. Both these novels shed light on the complexity of the human experience to psychologically adapt to societal changes. Subsequently, both these novels then also act as important socio-political commentaries that highlight the importance of subversive literature.