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.