Blog Post #32: Fate and Free Will

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

Through the main character, Said, Mahfouz manages to illustrate how fate may play a major determiner of one's happiness in life. Said's birth in a lower class system immediately initiates a conflict with the higher classes and society due to his lack of opportunities and interaction with other people. He had no control over his birth within society, location or family which identifies the event as a form of fate. The circumstances of his birth were left up to faith and now directly impact his happiness as he did not receive as many options as others with his Dad requiring a degree of persuasion in order to allow him to study in a school. This is continued by the uncontrollable event of the death of both his parents, leaving him as an orphan. Not only were these events uncontrollable and up to fate but also lead him to the disrespectful interaction in the luxury hospital with his sick mother. This situation leads him to experience the complex dynamic between the socio-economical classes which fuels his hatred and even drives him to steal while his mother is sick. These events determined his happiness during these time periods and are what fueled his hatred for the higher class society of Egypt further corrupting his soul of any form of happiness. Having a predisposition in society due to his birth was up to fate which is continued by the uncontrollable events which unravelled around him. 

Fate diminishing the possibility of happiness in his life is continued by the actions of others around him as he has no personal control of the behaviour of others. His childhood events lead him to seek safety, admiration and trust in others like Ilish, Rauf and Nabawiyya. However, he is betrayed by Ilish and is sent to jail further limiting his possible happiness in life as he is further constricted. This peripeteia is heightened by Nabawiyya's infidelity leading him to want revenge which prevents him from finding new happiness in love with Nur or religion with the Sheikh. 

Mahfouz demonstrates how fate as in birth or the actions of others may inherently control one's happiness as there is only so much freedom an individual has within society. He does not limit the idea of free-will playing a role but simply highlights the difficulty to determine one's happiness injunction with one's own fate.  

Blog Post #31: TATD Said Passage Analysis

 Passage: Chapter 15, Said's hallucination.

The passage extends on the tragic hero archetype associated with Said as it develops his hubris nature as well as defining the extent of his hamartia. Alongside further characterizations, underlining themes of Said's attitudes towards the government and the higher economic classes are present which heighten his external as well as internal conflicts. These conflicts reflect the context of production as Said is a projection of the author's own frustration with the political state of Egypte during this time period.

In the hallucination, an immediate conflict between Said and the jury is established with lines " "there is a personal animosity between you and them" and "they're kin to the scoundrel". Here, said establishes a separation between himself and the council announcing the mutual tension while stating their preference for Rauf. This highlights the economic social divide within his society which fuels his hatred for the new world and his hamartia resisting to adapt. Furthermore, it embodies the distrust of state and paranoia which would have been present in the people of that time period creating a relatable environment with the readers of Egypt initiating a connection with Said.

"Yes, these words will glitter: they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict..." His internal dialogue indirectly emphasizes his hubris as, even though the jury his another adversary, he believes that his speech will be able to win them over. It reiterates his stubborn ideology insisting to himself that his actions are justified as he is attempting to procure revenge on Rauf and the innocent man was simply a harmless casualty. Furthermore, the speech builds his hamartia as he refuses to accept the blame of the death on himself without even considering that he is at fault, rather, it is Rauf's fault. The rejection of responsibility reveals the extent to his hamartia as is hatred of his adversaries and the new world has skewed his moral compass which intensifies his external conflicts.

Describing his situation unveils a slight anagnorisis with, "A hunted man only feeds on new excitements, which pour down upon him in the span of solitude like rain." The metaphor and simile acknowledge how his behavior has caused his path to further stray as now he cannot turn back because of his "excitements". It even foreshadows the never-ending battle up until his death as the simile insists the lack of control he has. Further developing his hamartia, he does not fully go through an anagnorisis as he only accepts that his actions have led him to his present, however, still does not acknowledge that his form of justice may be wrong. 

Blog Post #30: TATD Stream of Consciousness Narration

The stream of consciousness narrative within the technique extremely elevates the themes and characters presented as it gives to contrasting perspectives. Juxtaposing the internal thoughts of the protagonist is a calm objective third person narrative which primarily provides description of the events, surroundings and characters of the novel. This provides the readers with all the external facts and details needed to interpret the story and the actions of characters. However, its seemingly calm and monotone narrative contrasts with the internal thoughts/dialogue of Said which is in italics for ease the reading and understanding of the novel. Said's thoughts present opinion, emotion and a first person perspective which is absent from the other narrative which almost entirely characterizes Said. His bursts of thought present his internal conflicts and how they are what fuel his actions, to some extent, reasoning them to the viewer. The internal thought expresses his hubris and hamartia which develops his character as a tragic hero as well as divulging on his negative emotion like hate and his want for revenge as well as his positive ones like his love for Sana or Nur. This is constantly evident in his descriptions of the traitors within his life as they are most commonly paired with descriptions of Sana or Nur as he decided to spare Nabbawiya's life purely because of Sana. His descriptions of himself and others aid in characterization as well as foreshadowing to his tragic hero fate as he continuously describes himself as this superior thief while the third person narrator reveals all his failures. Which is highlighted in his consciousness prior his actions like breaking into Rauf's house or attempting to kill Ilish as he describes himself using animal imagery while the third person narrator describes his failure the next day. 

Information and characterization from the third person narrator and stream of consciousness narrative technique creates a three dimensional protagonist with a number of flaws and good qualities. It evokes a sense of sympathy and frustration within the audience as they want to root for Said but disagree with his actions and methods of achieving his happy ending. The third person narrative is objective giving an unbiased description of his actions and interactions which exaggerates his internal thoughts as the viewer is exposed to the multiple positive paths he could take. However, due to the corruption of his hubris and hamartia which are expressed in his consciousness, it is as if he cannot change path no matter how hard he tries. After breaking into Ruf's house, both failed attempts at murder and Nur's disappearance, Said is not discouraged or doubts his behaviour but his hamartia continuous to fuel his external conflicts due to his resistance to change and acceptance which is constantly revealed in his consciousness. 

The stream of consciousness narrative technique relates heavily to Mahfouz's context of production as he has expressed his confusion and perplexities during the events of his time through the character of Said. Said's constant struggle with his "traitors", the government and general environment mirrors Mahfouz's struggle with Nasser's changing state as certain aspects which were promised were not fulfilled. Mahfouz cultivates his frustration and opposition through the character of Said due to the censorship of that time as Nasser's rule tended to be hierarchical in adversaries and media with the censorship of both if opposition was present. This ruling power was also described between the relationship of Rauf and Said and Rauf's rebellious spirit is lost in his bureaucratic lifestyle dividing the bond between them and mirroring the separation that occurred between certain classes. This is reiterated in Nur's description of what people thought of Said as the Taxi driver believed Said highlighted justice but was mistaken in his actions while the higher clansman envisioned him as a form of entertainment for the lower class citizens.