TTATD Stream of Consciousness Narration

In the novel, "The Thief and the Dogs" written by Naguib Mahfouz, the authors utilises a stream of consciousness as a style of narration. The book as a whole is a cathartic release release created by Mahfouz as a way of letting out all of his disturbed thoughts and confusion during the Egyptian Revolution. At the time this book was written, Egypt was going through a critical time in history where a new roller came to power (Nasser) and he was changing everything about Egypt. Many people did not agree with what was going on, and even though he was a good leader as well of caring about his people he was extremely violent towards them and had no mercy whatsoever. This aspect of not being remorseful to regretful after committing crimes is portrayed in Said Mahran’s character as throughout the novel he is constantly shutting and killing innocent people, however his conscious is never weighed down by these aspects and is it always occupied with revenge of his “enemies”, the people who betrayed him. 

Furthermore, in his novel, Mahfouz much like Said is paranoid from all that has been happening in Egypt. Mahfouz hopes and dreams must have been crashed to leave him paranoid, much like Sana rejects her father Said and that drives him crazy. Concerning specific moments in the text, “Rauf, your pupil is coming, to relieve you of a few worldly goods.”(pg. 31) Mahfouz describes Said as a projection of his confusion and perplexities. This can be linked to distaste for what Nasser’s revolution became as change attempted to benefit everyone but only changed the lives of some. It describes the struggle of power during that time and even the separation of it through the relationship of Rauf and Said as only one party benefited from the previous action of burglary, even though they were supposed to look out for each other. Chapter 1 conveys the message that the protagonist has an innate inclination to go back to his old ways of theft despite the fact that much of where he previously resided has been completely transformed. This notion could align with the understanding that Naguib himself also struggled with suppressing his perplexities in terms of adapting to the post-revolution period during which he penned his novel. The effect of it on the readers is that they are able to align Mahfouz with Said as well as have a deeper understanding of how Egyptians were unquiet during that time and period.

The passage in itself portrays how during that time and period Mahfouz was undergoing time of pressure. Within Chapter 7 in specific, the narration has many shifts between third person narration and inner narration which contributes to how society was being controlled under Nasser’s ruling. While Mahfouz was writing the novel, he was perplexed as well as feeling as he was being pursued by the government and the new ruling regime. This is then showed in Said’s characterization as well as his thoughts and actions. In chapter 7 Said is being impulsive even though he is having a thinking process before and after each event. Said is aware of what his actions will lead to and he has a “thorn” holding him back to commit homicide which is his daughter Sana. Sana in this aspect is the perfect representation of not only purity and innocence. This symbol of innocence serves to drive Said’s thoughts and Sana eventually becomes the only reason to why he chooses to spare Nabawiyya. Relating back to Mahfouz context, when Egypt was undergoing the revolution, that is the perfect representation of hope to going back to the way that things were. The disturbance that Nasser caused within the its country and people is depicted in how Said is so contradictive as well as being unstable. Said is constantly acting without thinking of his consequences and what exactly might be the effect of his actions towards the other people around him. Just like Said, the people in the country feel lost and disturbed to what to think and what to believe as someone new is coming to power and the conventions of how life used to be is now changing within their society.

In Chapter 11, it is seen that Said seeks answers to his complexities through the ‘stream of consciousness’ by having flashbacks of his father, the death of both parents, and the role Ilwan played during these desperate events in Said’s life. Said tries to find reason and explanation of what went wrong in the present by linking it to the past, but it doesn’t seem to make sense as he could only picture Ilwan in good light and could not find another reason encourage him to turn against Ilwan even more. This is reflective of Mahfouz’s confusion and perplexities as he was having trouble piecing together his thoughts during present events, and it is reflected by Said’s stream of consciousness.Additionally, the search for answers continues in this chapter as Said has the sudden urge to visit Tarzan again as he is impatient for an answer or for an action in response to help sway things in his favour. After, when Nur gets the material for Said’s uniform, this also shows Said’s motive to seek for more answers in the future with the help of the uniform to make the process easier for him. 

Specifically relying to Chapter 15, the author integrates his experiences through the time period through the character of Said. Mahfouz says “A simple crime tale became a philosophical meditation on the times!” As audience members we understand that Mahfouz, or people like himself, although might have not been criminals like Said but did face similar interior turmoil. As intellects they were censored by their ruling class, and left unattended causing them to doubt and question their circumstances, and subsequently where their values lie in response to these circumstances. This can be displayed through the character of Nur, as she challenges Said within this.

In conclusion, Mahfouz manages to effectively embed a stream of consciousness narration within the novel, through a cathartic release methods where he focusses all his paranoia, doubt and disturbed thoughts going through his head in Said’s character. 

 Extension- Comment on how Mahfouz’s narrative style or purpose shares similarities or differences with Achebe.

Achebe’s narration in Things Fall Apart is very circular as well as the whole narration fits the story of the book for it he is telling the story of Okonkwo and how he focussed so hard on not being something that he ended up being something even worse. In a sense both Mahfouz and Achebe’s narration are historically rich as well as reflected on the context of that time and period. Both narrations explore a time a chaos in their countries however one was voluntary and the other was involuntary. As both books progresses it can be seen that Achebe is trying to find the common ground between his traditional culture and the one that got introduced to him, much like Mahfouz, he is trying to find the common ground inside his head within his paranoia and thirst for vengeance. 

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