How and to what effect does Mahfouz employ stream of consciousness narration in the novel?
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 also allowed for the audience to see a transition in Said's focus -- from his daughter, to purely revenge. Chapter 7 initiates Said's knowledge of his first murder. Said's interior monologue allows the audience to understand that he is not upset about the murder, but rather that Ilish is still alive. The reader can interpret this reaction as Said being a ruthless character who is blinded by his desire for revenge. Therefore, not only does stream of consciousness show the character's identity, it also portrays changes in thoughts and feelings as the story progresses.
Another use for stream of consciousness is for the author to give more information to the audience through the style of the text. Mahfouz writes any stream of consciousness in italics in order for the audience to differentiate between the narrator and Said's stream of thoughts. In chapter four, Said goes to rob one of his betrayers. In doing so, he is faced with 'random associations' in his thoughts. There is constant repetition of his feelings of betrayal, which emphasizes this feeling, allowing the audience to be aware of the great extent that the betrayals impact Said. The long pauses within the thoughts represent his thoughts getting deeper, and in other words more crazy or psychotic. This betrayal comes from the reason that Rauf simply got rich, which indicates that Said is so caught up in betrayal that he sees it in places where it is not. The audience sees this again at the end of the book, when Said becomes paranoid that Nur betrayed him by turning him in to the police. Stream of thought, in this case, is used to enhance feelings and emotions, and also to express change and progression through continuous use and repetition.
Lastly, Said's stream of consciousness can be seen to reveal information about and relate to Maufouz's context of production. For example, when Said expresses through is stream of consciousness how he feels betrayed by Rauf for becoming rich, the audience can get a sense that in Maufouz's context there was some conflict between the rich and the poor. Another connection of the betrayal can be reflected in Maufouz's feeling of betrayal towards Nassar during the Egyptian revolution in 1952. By making a personal connection, Mahfouz links the novel with his context of production. Maufouz was very familiar with Cairo, where he grew up, and it is known that he knew every small street. His passion towards his home creates a deeper connection between real life and life portrayed in the novel. In addition, Mahfouz wrote The Thief and The Dogs when psychology became popular in literature, and was the first Arabic novel with stream of consciousness. People became more interested in reading about character's feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Moreover, with Mahfouz's connection to Egypt and the time period where stream of consciousness began, the novel can be defined as psychological realism, as the audience experiences both of these aspects within Said's head.
Overall, Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness in order to allow the audience to understand deeper meaning in the text, and does this by using techniques such as repetition and specific diction in order to enhance the effect. Stream of consciousness doesn't just allow for characterization, but it also enhances it consequently. The audience already knows some features of a character through the third person narrator, but learns more through the use of interior monologue as the information is coming from the character themself. There may also be deeper emotions that a narrator could not communicate effectively enough for the audience to fully comprehend. Mahfouz repeats phrases in different sentence structures in order to communicate with the audience how much the situation impacts the protagonist. Also, in terms of context of production, stream of consciousness reveals links to Egypt and events of the time period. In conclusion, Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness effectively to the purpose of creating further meaning.
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 also allowed for the audience to see a transition in Said's focus -- from his daughter, to purely revenge. Chapter 7 initiates Said's knowledge of his first murder. Said's interior monologue allows the audience to understand that he is not upset about the murder, but rather that Ilish is still alive. The reader can interpret this reaction as Said being a ruthless character who is blinded by his desire for revenge. Therefore, not only does stream of consciousness show the character's identity, it also portrays changes in thoughts and feelings as the story progresses.
Another use for stream of consciousness is for the author to give more information to the audience through the style of the text. Mahfouz writes any stream of consciousness in italics in order for the audience to differentiate between the narrator and Said's stream of thoughts. In chapter four, Said goes to rob one of his betrayers. In doing so, he is faced with 'random associations' in his thoughts. There is constant repetition of his feelings of betrayal, which emphasizes this feeling, allowing the audience to be aware of the great extent that the betrayals impact Said. The long pauses within the thoughts represent his thoughts getting deeper, and in other words more crazy or psychotic. This betrayal comes from the reason that Rauf simply got rich, which indicates that Said is so caught up in betrayal that he sees it in places where it is not. The audience sees this again at the end of the book, when Said becomes paranoid that Nur betrayed him by turning him in to the police. Stream of thought, in this case, is used to enhance feelings and emotions, and also to express change and progression through continuous use and repetition.
Lastly, Said's stream of consciousness can be seen to reveal information about and relate to Maufouz's context of production. For example, when Said expresses through is stream of consciousness how he feels betrayed by Rauf for becoming rich, the audience can get a sense that in Maufouz's context there was some conflict between the rich and the poor. Another connection of the betrayal can be reflected in Maufouz's feeling of betrayal towards Nassar during the Egyptian revolution in 1952. By making a personal connection, Mahfouz links the novel with his context of production. Maufouz was very familiar with Cairo, where he grew up, and it is known that he knew every small street. His passion towards his home creates a deeper connection between real life and life portrayed in the novel. In addition, Mahfouz wrote The Thief and The Dogs when psychology became popular in literature, and was the first Arabic novel with stream of consciousness. People became more interested in reading about character's feelings, emotions, and thoughts. Moreover, with Mahfouz's connection to Egypt and the time period where stream of consciousness began, the novel can be defined as psychological realism, as the audience experiences both of these aspects within Said's head.
Overall, Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness in order to allow the audience to understand deeper meaning in the text, and does this by using techniques such as repetition and specific diction in order to enhance the effect. Stream of consciousness doesn't just allow for characterization, but it also enhances it consequently. The audience already knows some features of a character through the third person narrator, but learns more through the use of interior monologue as the information is coming from the character themself. There may also be deeper emotions that a narrator could not communicate effectively enough for the audience to fully comprehend. Mahfouz repeats phrases in different sentence structures in order to communicate with the audience how much the situation impacts the protagonist. Also, in terms of context of production, stream of consciousness reveals links to Egypt and events of the time period. In conclusion, Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness effectively to the purpose of creating further meaning.
Strong understanding of stream of consciousness and its various situations within the story. Solid parallels established between the story and the contextual events as well a the significance of certain representations within the story itself. Could add a bit more examples of how stream of consciousness shows the reader Said's motivations such as, his confidence in himself, his caution and paranoia and his justification of his actions which all convince him to continue forward. You seemed to have touched on the escalating recklessness of his revenge, so that does not need more inclusion.
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