Passage- Chapter 1
"This is your father, child," said the detective impatiently.
"Shake hands with Daddy," said Ilish, his face impassive.
She's like a mouse. What's she afraid of? Doesn't she know how much I love her? He stretched out his hand towards her, but instead of being able to say anything he had a fit of choking and had to swallow hard, managing only to smile at her tenderly, inviting.
"No!" said Sana. She backed away, trying to steal out of the room, but a man standing behind stopped her. "Mummy!" she cried, but the man pushed her gently and then began to coax her, "Shake hands with Daddy." Everyone looked on with malicious interest.
Said new now that prison lashings had not been as cruel as he used to think. "Come to me, Sana," he pleaded, unable to bear her refusal any longer, half-standing and drawing closer to her.
"No!" she shouted.
"I am your daddy." She raised her eyes to Ilish Sidra in bewilderment, but Said repeated emphatically: "I am your daddy, come to me." She shrank back even further. He pulled her towards him almost forcibly, then she creamed, and as he drew her closer, fought back, crying. He leaned forward to kiss her, disregarding his failure and disappointment, bit his lips caught only a whirling arm.
Analysis-
Said Mahran is a man that makes rash and holds on to his past in a way that weights on all the decisions that he makes. Due to this, past experiences of Said's are important in characterizing him. In the passage above, Said is introduced to and rejected by his own daughter after she doesn't not recognize him as her father because he was absent in her life from being in jail for several years. Being rejected and 'betrayed' is an aspect of Said's life that is reoccurring throughout his life and it causes him to feel betrayed and alone, causing him to make decisions that further his loneliness and continue to get him into trouble. He has a problem with betrayal, as seen in his backstory with his father 'disappearing'. Starting off the book with betrayal and loneliness is foreshadowing and causation for the actions that Said takes that will later get Nur to leave him and cause him to eventually make a fatal choice.
Within the text, stream of consciousness technique is used by Mahfouz to reveal Said's inner thoughts on the situation, giving more detail to the situation from the perspective of the main character. The inner dialogue says "She's like a mouse. What's she afraid of? Doesn't she know how much I love her?" Said comparing his own daughter to a mouse shows what he thinks of not only women but those he views as weak/meek. Comparing his won daughter to a creature that is generally known to be scared and weak characterizes Said as someone that has strong opinions and values actions, especially of strength. The rhetorical questions are then used in the inner thoughts to show the doubt that Said is experiencing, paired with the betrayal that he is feeling that his caused by his daughter's unwillingness to accept him. The rhetorical questions are used to characterize Said as somewhat of an emotional person. This characterization can be seen in the way that Said makes rash decisions based on his feelings of betrayal and not thinking about the 'right' choice to make.
Said repeating "I am your daddy" to Sana while he tries to bring her closer to him characterizes Said as someone that just wants to be accepted and will try to achieve this even if his actions in achieving this are bold and unwanted. This is because Sana tries several times to escape and does not want to accept Said but Said keeps pulling her in and convincing her to accept him. When Said goes to kiss his daughter and she struggles away, he is described as "disregarding his failure and disappointment". This shows that Said is conscious of what is going on in the situation but chooses to ignore this and continue trying to do what he thinks is the right choice for himself. This Characterizes Said as determined. This aspect of Said's personality can be seen continuously throughout the book as he is, in multiple occasions, trying to achieve something that he either should not be doing such as robbing his mentors house, or continuing to try and do things that he has already failed at, such as trying to kill his rivals.
"This is your father, child," said the detective impatiently.
"Shake hands with Daddy," said Ilish, his face impassive.
She's like a mouse. What's she afraid of? Doesn't she know how much I love her? He stretched out his hand towards her, but instead of being able to say anything he had a fit of choking and had to swallow hard, managing only to smile at her tenderly, inviting.
"No!" said Sana. She backed away, trying to steal out of the room, but a man standing behind stopped her. "Mummy!" she cried, but the man pushed her gently and then began to coax her, "Shake hands with Daddy." Everyone looked on with malicious interest.
Said new now that prison lashings had not been as cruel as he used to think. "Come to me, Sana," he pleaded, unable to bear her refusal any longer, half-standing and drawing closer to her.
"No!" she shouted.
"I am your daddy." She raised her eyes to Ilish Sidra in bewilderment, but Said repeated emphatically: "I am your daddy, come to me." She shrank back even further. He pulled her towards him almost forcibly, then she creamed, and as he drew her closer, fought back, crying. He leaned forward to kiss her, disregarding his failure and disappointment, bit his lips caught only a whirling arm.
Analysis-
Said Mahran is a man that makes rash and holds on to his past in a way that weights on all the decisions that he makes. Due to this, past experiences of Said's are important in characterizing him. In the passage above, Said is introduced to and rejected by his own daughter after she doesn't not recognize him as her father because he was absent in her life from being in jail for several years. Being rejected and 'betrayed' is an aspect of Said's life that is reoccurring throughout his life and it causes him to feel betrayed and alone, causing him to make decisions that further his loneliness and continue to get him into trouble. He has a problem with betrayal, as seen in his backstory with his father 'disappearing'. Starting off the book with betrayal and loneliness is foreshadowing and causation for the actions that Said takes that will later get Nur to leave him and cause him to eventually make a fatal choice.
Within the text, stream of consciousness technique is used by Mahfouz to reveal Said's inner thoughts on the situation, giving more detail to the situation from the perspective of the main character. The inner dialogue says "She's like a mouse. What's she afraid of? Doesn't she know how much I love her?" Said comparing his own daughter to a mouse shows what he thinks of not only women but those he views as weak/meek. Comparing his won daughter to a creature that is generally known to be scared and weak characterizes Said as someone that has strong opinions and values actions, especially of strength. The rhetorical questions are then used in the inner thoughts to show the doubt that Said is experiencing, paired with the betrayal that he is feeling that his caused by his daughter's unwillingness to accept him. The rhetorical questions are used to characterize Said as somewhat of an emotional person. This characterization can be seen in the way that Said makes rash decisions based on his feelings of betrayal and not thinking about the 'right' choice to make.
Said repeating "I am your daddy" to Sana while he tries to bring her closer to him characterizes Said as someone that just wants to be accepted and will try to achieve this even if his actions in achieving this are bold and unwanted. This is because Sana tries several times to escape and does not want to accept Said but Said keeps pulling her in and convincing her to accept him. When Said goes to kiss his daughter and she struggles away, he is described as "disregarding his failure and disappointment". This shows that Said is conscious of what is going on in the situation but chooses to ignore this and continue trying to do what he thinks is the right choice for himself. This Characterizes Said as determined. This aspect of Said's personality can be seen continuously throughout the book as he is, in multiple occasions, trying to achieve something that he either should not be doing such as robbing his mentors house, or continuing to try and do things that he has already failed at, such as trying to kill his rivals.
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