In this specific passage, Said has just killed one of the new tenants that have just moved in Ilish’s building, however he thought he had killed Ilish. After shooting his gun and threatening who he thought to be Nabwawiyya telling her that she would never be safe again, Said escapes from the police. After his escape he heads to Nur’s house where he hopes her to shelter him.
In this passage Mahfouz utilises inner monologue right after a very high tension moment, however this specific inner monologue of Said is not so much a flashback, however it is a realisation. After killing someone he realises that now he is a murderer and once he has crossed that line it will be extremely hard for him to be able to ever go back to his normal life again. Said realises that after doing such thing, his destiny is marked.
Relating to the context of the novel, during the Egyptian Revolution, ti was a very violent time and this is a perfect reflection where innocent people are being brutally killed. Although Said did not intend to kill an innocent man he did, and even so, Ilish was never guilty of anything, for betraying is bad but not a crime. Therefore Said would still kill an innocent man.
In this part of the book, Mahfouz intentionally puts this realisation that Said has right after he does something very brutal in order to evoke sympathy between the readers and Said. Furthermore the passage contains very explicit language where he calls himself bad names such as “murder” and he says that from now own his fate is set.
The passage is relevant because relating back to the Hero’s Journey, this is one of the instances that he realises that because of his own errors his fate is set and his destiny is on the line. This is the first realisation that Said has throughout the entire book because up until now he genuinely believes that everything that he has done is justifiable and not wrong.
In conclusion, this passage is important because it demonstrates pat of Said’s Hero journey ciharacterteristics as Mahfouz aims to create sympathy between the protagonist and the reader.
My killer sentence-
ReplyDeleteIn this part of the book, Mahfouz intentionally puts this realisation that Said has right after he does something very brutal in order to evoke sympathy between the readers and Said.
"In this part of the book, Mahfouz intentionally puts this realisation that Said has right after he does something very brutal in order to evoke sympathy between the readers and Said." - I believe this is your killer sentence.
ReplyDeletePunch Up Sentence:
Furthermore the passage contains very explicit and disturbing language where the protagonist calls himself undesirable names such as “murder" and the "devil". The line "Your turn will come, Nabawiyya. There is no escape from me. I am the devil himself" depicts an inhuman way for thinking. It is clear that the protagonist has still not come to terms with his past and is self-driven to gain revenge.