Laura's Blog

Mahfouz illustrates events of fate as benchmarks in a character's life. This is portrayed in 'The Thief and The Dogs' to either have a positive or negative outcome, whether it is immediately or a gradual cline. Fate refers to occurrences in life, that are out of a character's control. It refers to something that is meant to happen, and can't be changed. For example, Said's upbringing plays a huge role in the way his life plays out. His father died, and his mother was sick, then denied treatment at the hospital. Neither of these events can Said control. Said has to learn to steal things to survive. It seems this is fate, as he heads into the direction of a career in thieving. This fate lead Said to enjoy his career, working alongside his wife, showing the audience that he was happy in these days. However, this quickly turns around due to the actions of others. For example, when Said planned his revenge on Ilish, Ilish moved away and hence Said murders a stranger...

This passage depicts elements of the tragic hero archetype within the protagonist of Said Mahran. It reveals his feelings towards his betrayers whilst in the act of satisfying his desire for revenge, which creates a psychotic mood. In doing so, the passage characterizes the protagonist further. The tragic hero archetype is reflected through the portrayal of Said's hamartia and pride. His tragic flaw is his inability to adapt to change. He felt betrayed by Ilish, and how his wife left him to marry Ilish. This change included losing his daughter to rejection. Said's tragic flaw lead his mind to become saturated with the thought of revenge, and his focus changed from being on his daughter to purely getting revenge on his betrayers. This ultimately lead to his downfall as he became so obsessed with revenge that murder made him a wanted man, then he was eventually found and killed. Another aspect of the tragic hero is pride, which is clearly noticeable in Said. In this passage, ...

Stream of consciousness refers to a character's conscious thoughts -- memories, feelings, random associations. Without this technique, the text would consist of only unexplained actions. Mahfouz uses this narrative technique in The Thief and The Dogs in order to inform the audience of deeper meaning. This meaning can be in terms of characterization, style, and the author's context of production. Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness in order to replicate the protagonist's interior characteristics. For example, throughout the novel, the audience is shown through Said' stream of consciousness how he feels obligated towards fatherly responsibilities. In chapter one, Said is seen to have interior rage towards his betrayers. Yet his thoughts are continuously interrupted by the thought of his daughter, “And Sana? What about Sana?” This change of thought depicts Said as a caring father who feels the responsibility to care for his daughter. The stream of consciousness technique...