Passage Analysis (TT&TD)

Passage: Chapter 4, pg. 47-48

“The other Rauf Ilwan has gone, disappeared, like yesterday, like the first day in the history of man–Like Nabawiyya’s love or Ilish’s loyalty. I must not be deceived by appearances. His kind words are cunning, his smiles no more than a curl of his lips, his generosity a defensive flick of the fingers, and only a sense of guilt moved him to let me cross the threshold of his house. You made me now you reject me: Your ideas create their embodiment in my person and then you simply change them, leaving me lost––rootless, worthless, without hope––a betrayal so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, I still would not be satisfied. 

I wonder if you ever admit, even to yourself, that you betrayed me. Maybe you’ve deceived yourself as much as you try to deceive others. Hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark? I wish I could penetrate your soul as easily as I’ve penetrated your house, that house of mirrors and objets d’art, but I suppose I’d find nothing but betrayal there: Nabawiyya disguised as Rauf, Rauf disguised as Nabawiyya, or Ilish Sidra in place of both––and betrayal would cry out to me that it was the lowest crime on earth. 

Their eyes behind my back must have traded anxious looks throbbing with lust, which carried them in a current crawling like death, like a cat creeping on its belly toward a bewildered sparrow.”

Analysis: 

In this passage, Mahfouz, through the use of stream of consciousness, paints Said as a tragic hero by illustrating the character’s hubris and hamartia. Additionally, the author also communicates the theme of the relationship between the “dogs” and Said. 

From line one to two, the author is demonstrating that Said’s character at this point in the novel is feeling a sense of loss as those he cared about in his previous life (before prison) have now abandoned him. In this instance, he is suffering the loss of his mentor, Rauf, of which the main character states that “Rauf Ilwan has gone, disappeared”. This diction intensifies this feeling of loss as Said paints it as if his past friend had been wiped from existence alongside his wife’s “love” and his henchman’s “loyalty”. This grievance shows that Said is a tragic hero as from line 2 to 3, he views Rauf’s present actions through a pessimistic lens of which is demonstrates the character’s inability to adapt to a new environment. By stating that, “his smiles are no more than a curl of his lips”, this is evidence of Said’s shift of perspective regarding secondary characters as he views them with hatred of which, in regard to later events, is the foundation of most of his criminal actions. Additionally, Said declares that Rauf has, “made [Said] now [Rauf] rejects [Said]” of which demonstrates a creator-and-creature dynamic that is accompanied by Said’s sense of feeling of being lost in this world due to the rejection of those in his past one. To further, Said’s rigidness is the cause of his rejection of which, as said earlier, is his hamartia. Diction such as “rootless, worthless, without hope” support this as the main character is astray in this new reality; with no connection to others to validify his existence. This loss allowed for the author to characterize Said as an angry individual as is shown in the hyperbolic language when he says that this betrayal is, “so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, [Said] would still not be satisfied. Therefore, the reader is able to interpret this betrayal as being a cause for his later desire to enact revenge, but also understand that rejection had rendered him psychologically and emotionally unstable. 

Furthermore, the author also permits the reader to view Said’s hubris. Said’s inability to accept this world is fueled by his pride to maintain his old ways of which this sense of close-mindedness has led him of viewing others as the antagonists due to their abandonment of it. For example, when Said asks the rhetorical question, “hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark?” he suggests that Rauf has betrayed himself and inadvertently questions whether this has resulted in his own internal conflict. In doing, this shows the character’s hubris as he paints Rauf’s new lifestyle in a negative light and thereby allows the reader to assume that Said sees his mentor as inauthentic in comparison. This point is solidified when Said describes Rauf’s house as being one of “mirrors and objets d’art” that suggests that Rauf has succumbed to the lavish lifestyle of which his past ideologies were strictly against; characterizing Rauf, through Said’s eyes, as having developed a hypocritical new life. Additionally, this hubris is continued when Said asserts that he wished he could, “penetrate [Rauf’s] soul as easily as [Said] penetrated [Rauf’s] house” of which he overestimates his ability to be a good robber when in fact the reader is aware that this is false due to his failed attempt in a previous chapter. This perspective of his current circumstance is continued when Said victimizes himself by describing those around him as being malicious. For example, Said employs a simile as he states that his enemies are, “like a cat creeping on its belly toward a bewildered sparrow”. By using animal imagery, the reader is able to see that Said views himself as the sparrow who has fallen under prey; thereby exercising his arrogance towards the new reality as he views those in it as villainous. With specifically referring to himself as the sparrow, this also suggests that he perceives himself as more liberated in society, whereas his adversaries are more tamed due to conforming to the new society.