Paper 2 Outlines

Paper 2 Outline 1:

Show how in one or more works of literature you have studied a character’s isolation (physical, social, psychological) within the work’s setting plays an important part in the story. How does that isolation lead to either self-knowledge or self-destruction – or both?*

Thesis statement: In both the texts, The Thief and the Dogs (TTAD) by Naguib Mahfouz and Things Fall Apart (TFA) by Chinua Achebe, both of the protagonists have pursued their ideologies which has isolated them from their community eventually. Said Mahran, protagonist from TTATD, isolated himself up to the point where it led to his downfall- death. Okonkwo, protagonist of TFA, did not conform to the European way of life, religion and education, which led to his downfall at the end of the novel like the self- destruction of Said Mahran in TTATD. In the two texts, the protagonists in isolation have shown to follow the path of self destruction through the characterization of them as self righteous, most supreme, and natural leaders of the society they belong to whereas, the secondary characters, such as Nur in the TTATD and Nwoye in TFA, are shown to lead themselves to self- knowledge as the plot progresses.

Topic sentence 1: The characterization of Okonkwo and Said Mahran as natural leaders automatically isolated them and that isolation at times led to no consistent moral support so they were only dependent on themselves during the decision- making process and because it was the norm to make decisions with only their own input, the response of dismissal was common when outside input was provided. Many times, the isolation was because of their own personality traits as mentioned and those personality traits characterized them to the path of the protagonists’ self destruction.

Eg from TFA: Obierka’s conversation with Okonkwo

Eg from TTATD: Said Mahran and the Sheik’s relationship characterization

Topic sentence 2: The characterization of the secondary characters as isolated led them to self- knowledge, which further enhanced their personality in the eyes of the reader as their independence was depicted with a positive consequence.

Eg from TFA: Nwoye isolation from his father as he wasn’t as manly as he would have liked to be. Also, that isolation led to him transitioning into christianity where he could express his likings, which was more on the arts side, and that led to the self- knowledge and self- realization that there was a place where he could be accepted for who he is.

Eg from TTATD: Nur was characterized as independent and even though she was a prostitute, she didn’t let the nature of her job affect the nature of her self being and that was reflected within her thoughts and advice. She has the nature of letting go and she wanted Said to do the same and that made the readers look at Nur as someone mature, not hot- headed, loyal and worthy- very unlike the stereotypical chaacteristics of a prostitute.

Topic sentence 3: Through imagery and character dialogue, the author has demonstrated self- isolation as a part of the protagonist's tragic flaw as the inability to look at anyone else’s opinion above, or even equal, to their own provided a singular perspective to their thoughts and ideals.

Eg from TFA: Okonkwo shunning his wives. They wouldn’t dare raise their voice however, it is important to keep in mind the context of that time period as women didn’t take part in family discussions as their main job was to be a homemaker. Also bring about the issue of gender inequality and how not putting value to one’s opinion simple because of gender ends up being harmful to oneself because Ezinma was characterized as a sensible member of the family and even though Okonkwo was fond of her, he would never take advice or discuss his thoughts with her.

Eg from TTATD: Said rejected Nur’s idea of running and starting a new life and he never truly realized the importance of her as she was with him even when everyone else was against him. This loyalty should have been enough for him to take her thoughts and plans into consideration but he was enveloped in his drive for revenge and this tragic flaw within himself is what led to his self- destruction.

Paper 2 Outline 2:

‘Novels and plays often tell the story of how human beings courageously attempt to survive, escape, or best of all transcend, their environment.’ Discuss such attempts in narrative texts you have studied, paying some attention to why the characters have wanted, or needed, to do that. Suggest how successful or otherwise they have been.

Thesis statement: Both the texts, TTATD and TFA , have unique narrations. TFA has a third person omniscient narration whereas TTATD has multiple narration techniques ranging from stream of consciousness to soliloquies to indirect and direct monologue. The narration for each text is highly suitable as the third person omniscient narration allows the protagonist, Okonkwo, in TFA have multiple dimensions to his personality and the excessive focus on his character lays down the secondary characters as rather flat; on the other hand, the technique of multiple narrations is very effective as it allows the reader to think with the protagonist, Said Mahran, and at the same time give a dual view of what is happening around him. These two narrations along with imagery of the environment and characterization of the characters have been successful in conveying the raw and finalized thoughts of the protagonists.

Topic sentence 1: The dual view and multiple dimensional view provided of the protagonists has enhanced the audience’s understanding of the character’s decisions through the narrative techniques.

Eg from TFA: All stages of Okonkwo is described in the text and all the characters have been described with respect to Okonkwo which gives the protagonist’s character more importance. For example, Okonkwo’s father’s failures were described with respect to Okonkwo’s achievements.

Eg from TTATD: The inner workings of Said Mahran gave a perspective of his decisions such as planning to kill Rauf rather than just demonstrate the act of him attempting which would then make that seem senseless to the audience.

Topic sentence 2: Imagery of the environment established the mood of the story effectively

Eg from TFA: Imagery of the rain as that helped ground the value of crops and farming in that environment

Eg from TTATD: The description of the stifling environment of the streets of Cairo when Said was let out of jail in the beginning of the book demonstrated the freedom vs tied down theme which a lot of the story is based on.

Topic sentence 3: The raw and finalized thoughts of both the protagonists shown in the texts has allowed the audience to travel through the plot according to the protagonist.

Eg from TFA: the attitude towards his father, women, community and traditional values were able to be understood as the focus was on the protagonist

Eg from TTATD: the emotions and the reactions upon those emotions were characterized throughout the book, especially in the very beginning when Said goes to meet Sara, his daughter.

Paper 2 Outline 3: ‘Although in poems, plays and novels we meet individual characters in a range of historical, social and cultural settings, their shared humanity allows us to engage with them, despite those differences in setting.’Explore the settings of literary texts you have studied, showing how the ‘shared humanity’ of their characters allows the writing to transcend the limitations of time and place.***

Thesis statement: The setting of both the stories is very region specific. TTATD is set in post- war Egypt, the early 60s. TFA is set in pre colonial Igboland- present day Nigeria- and during the colonization of Igboland by the Europeans. The settings of both the stories play a vital role in the plot as they establish the context of many of the common ideas such as gender, power and the importance of personal beliefs. In both the texts, the concept of ‘shared humanity’ has transcended the limitations of the time and place through the vivid imagery and third person omniscient narration of human feelings within characters, optimistic attitude during hardships and the exploration of relationship building on the basis of shared humanity values such as trust.

Topic sentence 1: The limitation of equal value of gender is explicitly present in both the texts and even with this limitation due to time and place, there were moments where the protagonists were able to transcend that.

Eg from TFA: Okonkwo’s affection towards Ezinma. When she was sick, he was very worried and took it upon himself to take care of her even though she was just his daughter, not his son and this was seen through the third- person omniscient narration. The limitation in this case was that through narration, it was demonstrated how many of the times he wished she was his son but he transcended past that by showing humane feelings towards her.

Eg from TTATD: Nur’s job as a prostitute acted as a limitation in terms of anyone associating with her however, one good side of Said Mahran that was portrayed in this text was how he wasn’t judgmental of Nur based on her profession and in fact, he developed a certain kind of emotional attachment as there was one conversation where he explicitly stated that he truly did care for her.

Topic sentence 2: The idea of power is greatly present in TFA and the idea of justice is evident in TTATD. Both these themes are grounded on setting of shared humanity during those time periods.

Eg from TFA: In TFA, Okonkwo really valued hard work in the beginning of the story, it shows how he worked really hard to attain his position, especially since his father died without a position. This shows how his need to have a position and power in the society didn’t divert him from the path of hard work.

Eg from TTATD: In TTATD, great regard was given to loyalty by the protagonist, and his wife, former best friend and mentor all betrayed him which led to him shattering and instantly wanting revenge so this shows that even with the limitation of the setting, when Egypt was straight out of war and people, like Rauf, were only getting jobs etc based off of connections and corruption, the shared humanity value of loyalty was still present, that too within the protagonist .  

What does Sheik al Junaydi represent in The Thief and the Dogs? How is he significant to the characterization of Said Mahran? How does he contribute to the themes of the text?

Sheik al Junaydi is a secondary character however, through the portrayal of the interaction between the Sheik and Said Mahran, the protagonist of the text, Sheik is symbolized as the conscience voice of Said Mahran. Said Mahran’s morals are depicted through the characterization of Said Mahran.

Sheik al Junaydi was the mentor of Said’s father and so when Said is released from jail, he goes to the Sheik’s place in order to find a place to reside, as he has nothing left. At this point, the audience feels sympathy towards Said because this is immediately after his daughter, Sana, rejects him. It is also seen that Said has respect for the Sheik; even though throughout the text it seems as if Said’s perception on everyone else is that he is outcasted.

There are many instances where Said Mahran morals are consciously shaken by the words of Sheik and this is seen through Said’s immediate infuriation at Sheik’s words. When Sheik lets Said stay at his place, which is more of a religious house where people come to pray, Said starts showing his gratitude by thanking him and saying that he knew he wouldn’t look badly upon him because he was in jail. The Sheik’s response is that he isn’t the judge but rather, it is god or the most supreme that is the judge of right or wrong. This immediately establishes how the Sheik himself doesn’t believe that Said’s character is morally strong and Said catches on to that implication and therefore he starts explaining his problems including how his own daughter rejected, maybe in the hopes of gaining sympathy and to be seen as the victim however, he is faced with the Sheik’s nonchalance. Also, the Sheik instantly realizes Said’s dishonesty and that is why he responds with, ‘ You seek a roof, not an answer,’ when Said verbally expresses his thankfulness through the use of god.

The tone of the Sheik contrasts to the rest of the novel. The novel as a whole is very fast paced and has a sense of urgency to it whereas in the midst of all this ‘chaos’ that is going on; the Sheik is the only character with a calm and soothing aura to him. This deliberate characterization of Said is done in order to convey the message that no matter what the situation is, the use of free will can be very advantageous and can act as a great determinant of one’s fate if used with a calm mind and Said completely disregards this calm nature and influence of the Sheik- this is demonstrated through the many opportunities of free will Said is presented with not only through actions and opportunities, but also through words of advice from the Sheik, that could have led to a different, if not better, fate of Said Mahran, as any fate is arguably better than death. As the story progresses, more opportunities of free will and essentially ‘endless’ second chances have been given to Said which leads to the audience feeling frustrated, losing sympathy and wondering why he’s so stubborn in the belief that he is essentially ‘invincible.’ Naguib Mahfouz’s purpose of demonstrating increased opportunities of free will with the progression of the text is to show the audience that his insanity is led by the perception of his own fate. Additionally, not being able to realize that his free will was what guided his fate and not his invincibility was his fatal flaw in my opinion.

Word Count: 614

Analysis of a Passage From the Thief and the Dogs

An important passage that helps in the development of Said Mahran's complex character is one found in Chapter 12, pg 112. This passage describes the nature of Said's relationship with Rauf, who he once considered his mentor, in the early years when Said started his career as a thief.

This passage demonstrates the shift in Said's feelings from gratitude to revenge towards Rauf as he states, 'To you alone goes the credit...' which shows a relationship akin to a mentor and its disciple/students even though Rauf treated Said as his equal as seen in the text, '...as if I were your equal.' The phrase 'as if' also implies that Said didn't see himself equal to Rauf back then but now, the period which the text is written in, Said sees himself as almost above everyone which shows the shift in his behaviour and his new built self- righteousness could be used as a reason to justify his 'insanity.' Through the use of animal imagery by using the phrase, 'You'd roar with delighted laughter at my success,' Said established his previous perspective of Rauf as someone grand and important as the lion is usually at the top of any animal hierarchy.

This text uses the writing style of a soliloquy and this is effective because soliloquies are very direct and personal to the person being directed to, in this case Rauf, which brings out immense emotions. Mahfouz employs this style by using repetition of the word you such as, ‘To you alone,’ ‘Do you see now,’ and ‘You taught me to love,’ where it seems as if the Said is almost cornering Rauf. His repetition of this word almost seems disrespectful as in many languages, including Arabic, being very direct isn’t considered respectful so by keeping the context of the language this text was originally written in, it could be said that even though Said is praising who Rauf was, he is doing it in a disrespectful manner.

The soliloquy portrays a sense of belonging that Said enjoyed under the mentorship and he portrays this belonging through the use of his diction. In one instance he says ‘you protected me the first time I stole,’ and the word protected is very powerful here as it contrasts with Said’s current situation where he has no one who supports him and even if he has Nur as a ‘support,’ this contrast shows his initial disregard and unimportance of her willingness to be there for Said.  

Word count: 412

Why does Mahfouz employ stream of consciousness narration in the novel and to what effect?

Naguib Mahfouz, the author of the novel The Thief and the Dogs (TTATD), uses the style of realism combined with stream of consciousness narration in his novel. This combination shows how Mahfouz steps away from the conventions of a single type of genre.

Mahfouz's purpose of stepping away from the conventions of any particular genre was to craft a novel that incorporates multiple windows from which a person thinks ranging from soliloquies, to direct monologue and finally to indirect monologue. A soliloquy is very direct and is generally used to expresses strong emotions and an example from TTATD would be Chapter 1 when the story talks about his ex wife and his ex best friend Ilish as they both betrayed him when he was in jail by getting married and therefore it is understandable for him to have immense feelings towards it. Furthermore, I believe this novel has its soliloquies concentrated in the beginning and at the end of this novel as the beginning is when the audience is introduced to Said’s strong emotions and the end is when the audience sees the ending of Said’s emotions and how his insanity essentially reaches its ‘climax’ by the end.

 The difference between direct inner monologue and indirect inner monologue is analogous to that of talking to someone about an issue versus eavesdropping and hearing someone else about that same subject respectively. I believe that there are many instances when Said talks to the sheikh where multiple shifts between direct and indirect inner monologue is present. This is done in order to show immediate contrasts between what Said thinks the Sheikh thinks of him (direct inner monologue) which is negative, versus the nonchalance the Sheikh displays towards Said (indirect inner monologue) which essentially shows the ‘non- judgmental’ characterization of the Sheikh in this novel.

The last style of narration this novel integrates is third person narration. This style of narration is highly effective in summing up scenes so in TTATD, this style is generally used at the end of introducing or exploring an important event. This allows the reader to comprehend the novel from the narration styles mentioned above before being told what is happening. When the audience is immediately told what the scene is about through third person narration, it restricts the readers from independently formulating heir own ideas and exploring the setting and characterization individually therefore, I believe that this particular way of using third person narration is useful as it allows the readers to be independent and eventually the thoughts of the readers gets closure through clarification (third person narration) at the end of important scenes and events.

Along with the advantages mentioned above of Mahfouz’s techniques, there are still a few limitations to his style of writing and appreciation of language. Firstly, this is a translated book so many of the proverbs, idioms and phrases may lose their effect to some particular readers. I believe that the loss of this affect is mainly applicable to solely English- language speakers. People who speak other languages, especially Arabic since this book is translated from Arabic, which have the use of ‘fluffy’ phrases incorporated in them will have an upper hand in terms of comprehending it through the appreciation of a language in which ‘beating around the bush’ is considered an art. This style of language is also seen in Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe and even though the book was written in English, Achebe wasn’t just an English speaker, he also spoke language/s native to his homeland which allowed him to fuse the art of his language into English. In English itself, the art of language through proverbs and idioms is only heard in the aristocratic class and otherwise, the usage of language in this particular way is seen as being indirect which has a condescending implication to it and this is why I believe that solely- English speaking readers will lack the ability to appreciate different styles of language being merged into the language of English as that is the only way (the way of English language) they know of. On the other hand, it could also be that only English- language speakers may have an exaggerated appreciation for Mahfouz’s style of language because it is something ‘new’ and ‘different;’ however, either way they both lead to an inaccurate appreciation of Mahfouz’s language. This is debatable as it is hard to define what an ‘accurate’ extent of appreciation of language is.

Word count: 744