[ENGLISH] The Thief and the Dogs - Characterisation
Passage
He was alone in the night. There was still some wine in a bottle, which he drank down to the last drop. As he stood in the dark, enveloped in the silence of the neighboring graves, slightly giddy, he began to feel that he would indeed overcome all his difficulties, that he could disdain death. The sound of mysterious music within him delighted him.
"A misdirected bullet has made of me the man of the hour!" he declared to the dark.
Through the window shutters he looked over the cemetery, at the graves lying there quiet in the moonlight.
"Hey, all you judges out there, listen well to me," he said. "I've decided to offer my own defense for myself."
Back in the center of the room he took off his gown. The room was hot, the wine had raised his body heat. His wound throbbed beneath the bandage, but the pain convinced him it was beginning to heal.
"I'm not like the others," he said, staring into the dark, "who have stood on this stand before. You must give special consideration to the education of the accused. But the truth is, there's no difference between me and you except that I'm on the stand and you're not. And that difference is only incidental, of no real importance at all. But what's truly ridiculous is that the distinguished teacher of the accused is a treacherous scoundrel. You may well be astonished at this fact. It can happen, however, that the cord carrying current to a lamp is dirty, speckled with fly shit."
He turned to a sofa and lay down on it. In the distance he could hear a dog barking. How can you ever convince your judges, when there is a personal animosity between you and them that has nothing to do with the so-called "public welfare"? They're kin to the scoundrel after all whereas there's a whole century of time between you and them. You must then ask the victim to bear witness. You must assert that the treachery has become a silent conspiracy: "I did not kill the servant of Rauf Ilwan. How could I kill a man I did not know and who didn't know me? Rauf Ilwan's servant was killed because, quite simply, he was the servant of Rauf Ilwan. Yesterday his spirit visited me and I jumped to hide in shame, but he pointed out to me that millions of people are killed by mistake and without due cause.
"Yes, these words will glitter; they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict. You are sure of what you say. And apart from that, they will believe, deep down, that your profession is lawful, a profession of gentlemen at all times and everywhere, that the truly false values--yes!-- are those that value your life in pennies and your death at a thousand pounds. The judge over on the left is winking at you; cheer up!
"I will always seek the head of Rauf Ilwan, even as a last request from the hangman, even before seeing my daughter. I am forced not to count my life in days. A hunted man only feeds on new excitements, which pour down upon him in the span of his solitude like rain."_ The verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness towards you. She killed you before the hangman could. And even the sympathy of the millions for you is voiceless, impotent, like the longings of the dead. Will they not forgive the gun its error, when it is their most elevated master?
"Whoever kills me will be killing the millions. I am the hope and the dream, the redemption of cowards; I am good principles, consolation, the tears that recall the weeper to humility. And the declaration that I'm mad must encompass all who are loving. Examine the causes of this insane occasion, then reach your judgement however you wish!"
His dizziness increased.
Then the verdict came down: that he was a great man, truly great in every sense of the word. His greatness might be momentarily shrouded in black, from a community of sympathy with all those graves out there, but the glory of his greatness would live on, even after death. Its fury was blessed by the force that flowed through the roots of plants, the cells of animals and the hearts of men.
Brief Analysis:
In the following passage, Naguib Mahfouz has presented the audience with the characterisation of its characters to further compliment the story of the novel the Thief and the Dogs. The following passage found in Chapter 15. In this passage, it is shown that the protagonist Said Mahran is imagining himself being tried in a court after a failed assassination attempt to kill former friend Rauf Ilwan. Throughout the passage, there have been some instances where the protagonist Said Mahran has fulfilled the characteristics of a tragic hero as Naguib Mahfouz applies different literary as well as stylistic features to help with the characterisation of Said Mahran.
As we can see right at the beginning of the passage, Said Mahran is seen to be engaging in a conversation with himself portraying a court-like scene. There are shifts between italicised and non-italicised texts in the passage presented to us of Said's external as well as internal thoughts of the situation he was in. This is shown in the passage where Said will "seek the head of Rauf Ilwan". This passage is an example where the theme of revenge is used as a way to characterise Said Mahran. Revenge is one of the recurring themes of the novel and is used to characterise Said as a revengeful person. His will to seek revenge also compliments with the tragic hero archetype. It is presented here that his Hamartia has overtaken his mental sanity which is present throughout the passage. The shifts between different text formatting styles can also present Said's internal struggles which simultaneously shows his mental instability. Italicised texts such as "Whoever kills me will be killing the millions" show us rational yet Said-centric thoughts whereas the nonitalicized stream of consciousness narrations such as "Yes, these words will glitter; they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict." show his irrational thoughts glittered with his own delusions which may have been affected by his mental insanity as mentioned before.
At the end of the passage, we can see that Said was proven to be "a great man" and was not convicted of such crimes. The last few lines of the passage present us the idea of Said possessing the tragic hero traits. One of the five tragic hero traits that can be identified in this section of the passage is called Hubris. It is presented here that Said's Hubris, his excessive pride, is what led him to the illusion that he will always be on the right. His hubris can also act as a reason why "the verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness". All of these characteristics fit the tragic hero archetype to an extent.
He was alone in the night. There was still some wine in a bottle, which he drank down to the last drop. As he stood in the dark, enveloped in the silence of the neighboring graves, slightly giddy, he began to feel that he would indeed overcome all his difficulties, that he could disdain death. The sound of mysterious music within him delighted him.
"A misdirected bullet has made of me the man of the hour!" he declared to the dark.
Through the window shutters he looked over the cemetery, at the graves lying there quiet in the moonlight.
"Hey, all you judges out there, listen well to me," he said. "I've decided to offer my own defense for myself."
Back in the center of the room he took off his gown. The room was hot, the wine had raised his body heat. His wound throbbed beneath the bandage, but the pain convinced him it was beginning to heal.
"I'm not like the others," he said, staring into the dark, "who have stood on this stand before. You must give special consideration to the education of the accused. But the truth is, there's no difference between me and you except that I'm on the stand and you're not. And that difference is only incidental, of no real importance at all. But what's truly ridiculous is that the distinguished teacher of the accused is a treacherous scoundrel. You may well be astonished at this fact. It can happen, however, that the cord carrying current to a lamp is dirty, speckled with fly shit."
He turned to a sofa and lay down on it. In the distance he could hear a dog barking. How can you ever convince your judges, when there is a personal animosity between you and them that has nothing to do with the so-called "public welfare"? They're kin to the scoundrel after all whereas there's a whole century of time between you and them. You must then ask the victim to bear witness. You must assert that the treachery has become a silent conspiracy: "I did not kill the servant of Rauf Ilwan. How could I kill a man I did not know and who didn't know me? Rauf Ilwan's servant was killed because, quite simply, he was the servant of Rauf Ilwan. Yesterday his spirit visited me and I jumped to hide in shame, but he pointed out to me that millions of people are killed by mistake and without due cause.
"Yes, these words will glitter; they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict. You are sure of what you say. And apart from that, they will believe, deep down, that your profession is lawful, a profession of gentlemen at all times and everywhere, that the truly false values--yes!-- are those that value your life in pennies and your death at a thousand pounds. The judge over on the left is winking at you; cheer up!
"I will always seek the head of Rauf Ilwan, even as a last request from the hangman, even before seeing my daughter. I am forced not to count my life in days. A hunted man only feeds on new excitements, which pour down upon him in the span of his solitude like rain."_ The verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness towards you. She killed you before the hangman could. And even the sympathy of the millions for you is voiceless, impotent, like the longings of the dead. Will they not forgive the gun its error, when it is their most elevated master?
"Whoever kills me will be killing the millions. I am the hope and the dream, the redemption of cowards; I am good principles, consolation, the tears that recall the weeper to humility. And the declaration that I'm mad must encompass all who are loving. Examine the causes of this insane occasion, then reach your judgement however you wish!"
His dizziness increased.
Then the verdict came down: that he was a great man, truly great in every sense of the word. His greatness might be momentarily shrouded in black, from a community of sympathy with all those graves out there, but the glory of his greatness would live on, even after death. Its fury was blessed by the force that flowed through the roots of plants, the cells of animals and the hearts of men.
Brief Analysis:
In the following passage, Naguib Mahfouz has presented the audience with the characterisation of its characters to further compliment the story of the novel the Thief and the Dogs. The following passage found in Chapter 15. In this passage, it is shown that the protagonist Said Mahran is imagining himself being tried in a court after a failed assassination attempt to kill former friend Rauf Ilwan. Throughout the passage, there have been some instances where the protagonist Said Mahran has fulfilled the characteristics of a tragic hero as Naguib Mahfouz applies different literary as well as stylistic features to help with the characterisation of Said Mahran.
As we can see right at the beginning of the passage, Said Mahran is seen to be engaging in a conversation with himself portraying a court-like scene. There are shifts between italicised and non-italicised texts in the passage presented to us of Said's external as well as internal thoughts of the situation he was in. This is shown in the passage where Said will "seek the head of Rauf Ilwan". This passage is an example where the theme of revenge is used as a way to characterise Said Mahran. Revenge is one of the recurring themes of the novel and is used to characterise Said as a revengeful person. His will to seek revenge also compliments with the tragic hero archetype. It is presented here that his Hamartia has overtaken his mental sanity which is present throughout the passage. The shifts between different text formatting styles can also present Said's internal struggles which simultaneously shows his mental instability. Italicised texts such as "Whoever kills me will be killing the millions" show us rational yet Said-centric thoughts whereas the nonitalicized stream of consciousness narrations such as "Yes, these words will glitter; they'll be crowned with a not-guilty verdict." show his irrational thoughts glittered with his own delusions which may have been affected by his mental insanity as mentioned before.
At the end of the passage, we can see that Said was proven to be "a great man" and was not convicted of such crimes. The last few lines of the passage present us the idea of Said possessing the tragic hero traits. One of the five tragic hero traits that can be identified in this section of the passage is called Hubris. It is presented here that Said's Hubris, his excessive pride, is what led him to the illusion that he will always be on the right. His hubris can also act as a reason why "the verdict will be no more cruel than Sana's cold shyness". All of these characteristics fit the tragic hero archetype to an extent.
Killer sentence(?):
ReplyDeleteThere are shifts between italicised and non-italicised texts in the passage presented to us of Said's external as well as internal thoughts of the situation he was in.
ReplyDeleteThroughout the passage, there have been some instances where the protagonist Said Mahran has fulfilled the characteristics of a tragic hero as Naguib Mahfouz applies different literary as well as stylistic features to help with the characterisation of Said Mahran.
V
Throughout the passage Said Mahran fulfills the role of tragic hero by Naguib Mahfouz characterization of him through applying a variety of literary and stylistic features.