Sheikh Al-Junaydi

In The Thief and the Dogs, it is difficult for the reader to formulate opinion about the unique characters in the novel, due to the fact of how Mahfouz uses the stream of consciousness technique; thus giving somewhat of a bias view on those said characters. With that in mind, most of the characters that are portrayed through Said’s eyes are viewed as negatively. Thus for most of the novel, making us view them in the same way that Said does. For instance: Ilish and Nabawiyya are viewed in a negative light by the audience, because the only insight they receive on these characters are what Said believes, making it hard for the reader to create their own judgements about the characters. Therefore in this case; those two characters are viewed as negatively due to the fact they betrayed the protagonist.

Although it was mentioned that most of the characters in the play are viewed as badly, there are a few that Said actually likes; Sana, Nur, and Sheikh Al Junaydi. Said seeks guidance and comfort from the Sheikh, due to the fact that the Shiekh is his late father’s spiritual advisor. However the part that ties in to why this character is crucial for the advancement of the plot is that the Shiekh is a Sufi Muslim. Suffism, a sect of Islam that combines more of a mystical approach to God, from a point of view of peaceful reflection. Sufi principles contain the main facet of dedication to worship of God, and have a disregard for material possessions, rather make prevalent what is more important in life. That being said you can see these kind of characteristics throughout the novel, where the Shiekh is compassionate in his speaking whilst being heavily influenced by God. This can be seen through Said’s first encounter with him after stepping out of prison, “peace and God’s compassion be upon you,”, “You seek a roof, not an answer,”. The reason this is important for the plot is because the Shiekh was one of the closest characters that could have had an influence on the outcome of the story. Considering that if Said found refuge in homage from himself through the Sheikh’s guidance and wisdom, then the story might not have ended in such tragic consequences.

Through the indirect characterization of Said that was made by the Sheikh, the reader begins to question whether Said has somewhat of a moral agenda or if he is actually just seeking revenge. If Said did change his ways and found some sort of redemption for his actions in the house of the Shiekh, after the accidental killing of the man outside Illish’s old apartment, then the reader would have been able to identify that there may be some good left in Said, rather than completely alter their views based on his negatively driven actions. If Said had listened, and not been so blind, to the people that were trying and willing to help him through his struggles, then Said would not have had the downfall that he did nearing the end of the play.

Thesis Statement

Through the eyes of a tragic hero, Mahfouz exemplifies Said’s drive for revenge using the stream of consciousness technique, thereby displaying us the biased nature of humanity in general. 

The Thief and the Dogs

Thief and the Dogs is a very fast paced novel, especially in the way it was written. Throughout the book there are abrupt shifts in narration between third person and the thoughts of the main character, Said. Being able to be so connected to a character, is another way of writing called Stream of Consciousness. It is a concept in writing that allows the reader to be so in tune with the character, that the reader is fully invested in the character’s life and how they view the world. This is a very prominent concept in the novel “The Thief and the Dogs” because of the direct link between Said and the reader.

The thing that I found most interesting about this novel was that although I felt a connection to Said, near the end I felt distanced. This, one could say was due to the Stream of Consciousness, because as the novel progresses it is hard not to question Said’s sanity. In addition, throughout the extension of the novel I started to move further and further away from Said, and became to be more aware of how his mind works, and if his fueled revenge and bottled up anger are really the right direction that Said should take. Overall, a very complex, yet interesting way of writing a novel, but I believe Mahfouz did it justice, giving a different outlook on a controversial topic.

When the reader is able to understand all the complexities of the narration and begin to question the mind of the protagonist, they begin to understand why the author chose to write the novel the way he did. In the novel a lot of Said’s internal struggle was drawn out of his external experiences. For instance: when his best friend and wife betray him, he is fueled with a lot of anger internally. The reason this idea of external implications to one’s internal struggle is important to the plot of the novel is because the same can be said about the author, and Said’s hardship could be debated as to being a parallel to Mahfouz’s reality.

Being able to grasp this concept it becomes clear in the reader’s mind as to why Mahfouz chose to write the novel the way that he did, and it was because of the post-revolutionary censorship that constricted Mahfouz’s writing. Therefore, Mahfouz had to find a way to explain the corruptness of his country without being caught through “The Thief and the Dogs”, but more explicitly through Said’s thoughts about the world he lived in. This in turn, I believe, is another reason why the author took the reader on a journey from viewing Said as a sane character to a more corrupt one. And the reason I, as a reader, began to feel distanced from the protagonist through the use of Stream of Consciousness; because it became clear to me that Mahfouz used Said and his fictional life in a way to depict his own cultural adversities that led to his own internal struggle that took place in his country at the time.

            Lastly, although Stream of Consciousness does have a lot of advantages and does play a crucial role in the development of the plot in this novel, there are limitations to the technique as well. When an author decides to use this technique it is very easy to continue the plot but keep the characters thoughts linear, which is incorrect because the beauty in writing with this technique is the realism of it. But humans do not think linearly, we think in a jumbled fashion, not one thought at a time. Thus, using stream of consciousness the author has to be aware of more than one thought at time to keep the complex realism of it, or else the main purpose of the technique is gone, and the reader begins to lose interest. Another obvious disadvantage in using this way of writing is that the readers are only subject to one character’s thoughts at all times and are not able to make their own judgements on situations themselves, but are forced to have the same opinion as that character because it is the only option available to them.  

            In conclusion, Mahfouz was able to create a controversial novel at a very difficult time, using an extremely complex style whilst still maintaining to keep the interest of the reader. 

Word Count: 733

Literature in Translation

When one translates a literary text one is creating a connection between the languages it was written and the language it is translated into. Thus creating a link between the language’s ideas, beliefs, and traditions. Being a translator is more difficult than just translating words into words, because they have to understand specific idioms, proverbs and metaphors and create literal substitutes into the new language. For me personally (being a bilingual speaker of languages) it is easier to understand what I mean by translating is difficult, because often times when I want to translate words that I know from Arabic to English or vice versa, I can never find the exact meaning to fit what I am trying to say. For example: When one uses the word inch’allah in Arabic, they use it in the context of ‘I wish’ or ‘hopefully’, but when it is translated to English the literal meaning means ‘if God wills’. That being said it is easy to understand why translating literature is a very demanding task on anyone, because they not only need to fully know another language they have to understand the way the text is written, the context, the specific way of writing etc. This creative translation involves synthesizing a series of elements, such as rhythm, punctuation, syntax, mood, and meaning (or, in other words, content and form). In conclusion, it is an extremely hard task to be able to translate literature, however it is a very beneficial task considering the people that want to learn about someone else’s culture and history, or just wanting be able to read a specific text in the language they understand.