Said Mahran | Passage Analysis

Chapter One 

Passage: 

not merely because he would soon lose a safe hiding place, but because he also knew he'd lost affection and companionship as well. He saw her there in the dark before him--Nur, with all her smiles and fun-making, her love and her unhappiness--and the terrible depression he felt made him aware that she had penetrated much deeper within him than he had imagined, that she had become a part of him, and that she should never have been separated from this life of his which was in shreds and tottering on the brink of an abyss. Closing his eyes in the darkness, he silently acknowledged that he did love her and that he would not hesitate to give his own life to bring her back safe. Then one thought made him growl in anger: "And yet would her destruction cause so much as a single ripple anywhere?" 

No, definitely not. Not even a pretence of grief would be made for loss of Nur, who was only a woman with no protector, adrift on a sea of waves either indifferent or hostile. And Sana, too, might well find herself one day with no one who cared to look after her. These thoughts scared and angered him and he gripped his gun and pointed it in front of him in the dark, as though warning the unknown. In deep despair, delirious in the silence and dark, he began to sob; and sobbed until late in the night sleep finally overcame him. (Chapter 16) 

Analysis:
Analyze the selected passage and justify why that passage is a significant moment that contributes to the characterization of Said Mahran.

This passage reveals Said’s love for Nur in which he realizes his feelings for her after she disappeared. He is in emotional pain as Nur provided a new life, a new pathway. As Nur had vanished so has his pathway to start a new, better life with her. Nur was his ‘safe hiding place’. Said’s unwillingness to give in to this romantic connection with Nur, due to the betrayal of Nabawiya who he previously loved, turned to ignorance as he had ignored his feelings towards Nur.

He regrets his life choices, the choice of not taking a new pathway together with Nur. Through the use of the contradiction “her love and her unhappiness”, Said is shown to accept Nur’s depression and still love her. By recognizing her pain, he possibly implies that he is aware of the negative impact that his actions had on Nur. By rejecting her, he lost her.

He further characterized the character of Nur as well as himself as he sees Nur as “only a woman with no protector, adrift on a sea of waves either indifferent or hostile”. Thus, he sees her need to be taken care of as she is lost. This is significant as Said recognized Nur’s need to be saved, offering a pathway in which the two of them could start a new life.

However, Said’s tragic downfall is displayed as he has already lost her and thus the opportunity to escape with her. This can be seen in the following metaphor; “from this life of his which was in shreds and tottering on the brink of an abyss”.(Chapter 15)

Said is shown to be frustrated and angry with his situation through the syntax “growl in anger”, in which his ‘rational’ decision making had led him into this miserable position in which he lost both the pathway to a new life as well as his beloved Nur.

Thief and The Dogs | Stream of Consciousness Narration

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

Mahfouz employs a stream of consciousness narration to manipulate the distance between the novel’s characters and the reader. Mahfouz was the first author to use a stream of consciousness narration in Arabic literature. Through the stream of consciousness narration, Mahfouz creates the illusion that the reader is privy to sensations and uncensored thoughts within a character’s mind before the character has ordered them into any rational form or shape. The character of Sa'id therefore 'manipulates' the reader's sense of rational thinking and reasoning. Mahfouz uses this style of narration to bring to light the complexity of the novel, in which Sa'id experiences irrational emotions such as betrayal and rage.

Mahfouz makes use of shift of narration, between direct to indirect interior monologue. Direct interior monologue is a presentation of Sa'id's thoughts as if he is speaking out loud to himself. An example of this is in the ... of the novel
"Through all this darkness only your face, Sana, smiles. When we meet I'll know how I stand. In a little while, as soon as I've covered the length of this road, gone past all these gloomy arcades, where people used to have fun. Onward and upward. But not to glory. I swear I hate you all."(p.1)

The narrator occasionally shifts to an indirect interior monologue in which the character’s thoughts and emotions take over. It reveals the uncensored ideas and feelings of the character as well as reminiscents. This is often more disorganized and scattered, 'all over the place'. This changes from the beginning to the end of the novel in which Sa'id mental state worsens, visibly through the mind clues as his mind becomes more chaotic.
And example of this is in the ... of the novel
"As the thought of her crossed his mind, the heat and the dust, the hatred and pain all disappeared, leaving only love to glow across a soul as clear as a rain-washed sky."(p.1)
and
"His thoughts turned immediately to the uniform he'd forgotten, to the man who had opened the flat door to him, to Sana and Nur and Rauf and Nabawiyya and Ilish, to the informers, to Tarzan and to the car with which he would break through the cordon. His mind stormed. Clearly neither further patience nor hesitation were now in his interests. No matter what the danger, he had to contact Tarzan that night, even if it meant crawling to him over the desert sands. Tomorrow the police would be busy everywhere and those scoundrels would be out of their wits with fright."(p.66)


Through the psychological reflection of the character through a stream of unconscious narration, the advantages of this modernist style of narration are evident as much more insight is revealed to the audience than previous styles in which a character was described by their actions and by others. The audience is able to empathically connect more with the character through this style and thus is able to understand the hidden implications of politics, conflict, etc much better. It also reveals the internal conflict much more effectively with this style as this is evident through the character's mental state, visible in indirect interior monologue. It provides a much more intensive emotional experience to the audience.

Mahfouz “breaks away from the old technique of meticulous details and panoramic narration.”, with the effect that common themes such as society, religion, and culture, and are replaced with much more complex intentions. By using this type of narration, a duality between the reality in the text and the symbolic meaning is created, which may be more challenging for the audience to fully grasp.


Extension- Mahfouz’s narrative style shares similarities with Chinua Achebe's circular narration as the audience unconsciously forms a strong emotional connection with the character, altering the way the reader percieves the events within the novel. By doing so, the reader is exposed by both authors with the duality of symbolism and realism within the novel.

Literature in Translation

 Literature in translation are pieces in which the historical, cultural and social context are significant to the piece itself. The context in which is piece is written is, therefore, imperative as it not only influences the author's intentions behind every decision he or she makes, but also the way the audience perceives it. The novel The Thief and the Dogs, written by the Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz is an example of such a text. It was originally published in Arabic but translated for non-Arabic readers. The story shows the significance of literature in translation as it displays the complex social and political standpoints through the characters and their actions. Not only do texts in translation show different and refreshing views upon conflicts and ideas, but they also give the reader a much thorough comprehension of the cultural, historical and social contexts of the piece.


The context in which the author has written their piece contributes to the conventions of the genre, and more importantly the content of the novel itself. The author often lies obvious and hidden parallels between the fiction in their story and the reality of the context. These parallels are what are so significant about these texts in particular, as they uncover truths which aren't known to their foreign audience. Not only does it provide a more truthful and honest reflection of situations such as conflicts within countries, but it also offers counternarratives and new prospects upon these and is, therefore, vital for all nations as it enriches our perception and knowledge. The author makes significant decisions through the conventions of the text to express the values and attitude which in turn have a meaningful impact on readers. 

Propaganda Reflection | Control Room

Prompt: It is okay for the government to mislead to promote security?

I disagree with this prompt.
As seen in the documentary Control Room, the government often silences certain information and emphasizes other information. Often, information from testimonials or statements are taken out of context by the media, ultimately influenced by the government. Often taken out of context, the media represents situations and ideas in a different, biased light.

Within the documentary, it was evident that the Americans were trying to present themselves as the good-doers. To do so, they produced and influenced the media to be univocal about the War in Iraq. The government of the United States ultimately controlled the information being released to the press to mislead. The motive behind this was to promote security, namely of the US intervention in Iraq. They feared that if too much information were leaked, it would become a threat to the safety of the intervention. An example was the US soldier defending why the US government hadn't released the exact location of the US troops after 'reoccupying' the land.

The media broadcast Al Jazeera opposed in governments misleading to promote security. They did so through multivocality within their broadcast, instead of propaganda and bias information. This channel, in particular, showed a more honest perspective on the Iraq War, in my opinion, than the news influenced solely by the US press releases. By providing as many, non-radical or pure propaganda, viewpoints within their broadcast, Al Jazeera allowed the audience to understand the Iraq War much better as they implied the effects on all different groups.

This was unlike the univocal US-influenced news released by media outlets as these only focussed on the Americans being the center of importance, rather than showing the implications the interventions had on the local people. Al Jazeera displayed the bitter truth, the reality that the governments didn't want to show their people.

Despite the intentions of promoting security, it is generally better not to mislead the people. However, there are of course exceptions to these if the information released imposes a major threat on specific groups of people. However, it then may be more beneficial not to publish certain details fully until it doesn't impose such a big threat anymore, rather than completely misleading the audience.

Documentary: Control Room

Parody | Media bias

Report: Trump was unfamiliar with the scope of the president's job when meeting Obama

The following article contains a bias towards the political issue of the newly elected president of the United States, in which many doubt Donald Trump's competency to run as president. This article leans towards a democratic point of view, opposing the Republican ideology of Trump. 

"President-elect Donald Trump celebrated his status as a Washington outsider during his campaign for the presidency. But his lack of familiarity with the US government appears to be coming into view as he transitions to the White House. During Trump's private meeting

with President Barack Obama on Thursday, Trump "seemed surprised" by the scope of the president's responsibilities, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Trump's aides were also apparently unaware that the entire staff of the president working in the White House's West Wing would need to be replaced, according to The Journal. Obama reportedly will spend more time counseling Trump about the presidency than most presidents do with their successors. Trump and Obama were highly critical of each other during the campaign season but appear to have struck a conciliatory tone since Trump's election, at least publicly. "I want to emphasize to you, Mr. President-elect, that we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed, because if you succeed, then the country succeeds," Obama told Trump in front of reporters on Thursday. Trump called Obama "a very good man" during the session."

Parody Pastiche, using Republican bias

"As Donald Trump's celebrated the success of his campaign for the presidency, Trump had a private meeting with President Obama on Thursday. Despite being a Washington newbie, Trump's arrival at the White House will be well-received as Trump will get a better scope of his responsibilities under the guidance of former President Barack Obama. Trump will arrange many affairs before his official presidency on January 20th of 2017.  Despite Trump being critical of Obama, h

e calls him "a very good man" during the session after Obama's advice in running as President.

Source: Business Insider, Wall Street Journal. Nov. 13, 2016.http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-obama-meeting-2016-11?utm_content=buffer2eee4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer.

Act V, Scene III | Coriolanus IOC Outline

Act V, Scene III

Introduction and Context:

• This passage is from Coriolanus
• Political play was written somewhere between 1605 and 1608
• Significant to time period Shakespeare lives in, lots of political change after death of queen Elizabeth in 1603
• This passage is situated near the end of the play

Overview:

• Martius (Coriolanus) joins forces with Aufidius
• Coriolanus and the Volscian forces approach Rome
• The three V’s show up
• Volumnia (and Virgilia) attempt to persuade him not to attack Rome
• Volumnia begs Martius to remain peaceful, or else he would lose his nobility, honor, and respect of others
• Coriolanus starts to get sentimental and softens

Structure:

• The structure is linear
• No flashbacks and -forwards

Purpose and Significance

• To reestablish the theme of redistribution and change of power
• To further develop Coriolanus’s complex relationship with his mother
• To stress Coriolanus’ need to adapt to the transition of power in order to retain his honor and respect
• Coriolanus’ nature to resist shifts in power
• Possibly foreshadows Aufidius’ revenge later in scene V

Analysis

Lines 1-21:

Criteria A:        

This section of the passage displays Volumnia’s desperation to change Coriolanus’ mind. She tries to emotionally manipulate in saying that if “Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee” (line 3). However, she makes her admiration for her son’s hard power very clear within the passage, as she kneels for him “let us shame him with our knees” (line 6). However, it is important to acknowledge the Volumnia’s contradictory speech, in which she both admires and despises her son for his headed handhold to his hard power, she does this to emotionally attempt to manipulate him into agreeing to peace. “longs more pride than pity our prayers” (7-8) Volumnia however shows her true self when she displays her power over Coriolanus in line 11 to 20. She attempts to do this through emotional manipulation, allowing Coriolanus to feel empathetic and regretful for letting down his mother. This therefore indicates Volumnia’s speculation that Coriolanus will fail them, being considered powerless by his mother by his ignorance. “This boy, that cannot tell what he would have but kneels and holds bans for fellowship” (line 12-3)

Criteria B:

Shakespeare makes use of stage directions to amplify the contradiction position which Volumnia takes towards Coriolanus, where she is obeying by kneeling for him, yet she shames him for favoring his will for power over the relationship with his family. Volumnia amplifies the dramatic irony, in which the reader is fully aware of Volumnia’s original intentions, by stating that she will gives up on Coriolanus. “so we will home to Rome” (line 10) Volumnia’s attitude, still consciously manipulative, transitions to a defeated attitude towards her son. This can be seen through use of stage directions. Within line 11 to 19, Volumnia uses imagery to appear more persuasive towards the audience. Her use of language shows her power over her son as she has now, after persuading the audience, persuaded her son. This is seen through stage directions, “He holds her by the hand” (line 21)

Lines 21-49:

Criteria A:        

Coriolanus is hit by consciousness of the earnest of his actions, in which he immediately apologizes to his mother. “O mother, mother! O! You have won a happy victory to Rome” (line 27-8). This is very significant as the power within this passage, shifts from Coriolanus to his mother. Coriolanus was represented as being the dominant character in the beginning, but now seems to obey his mother instead (the roles have reversed). He recognizes Volumnia’s power as she has potentially saved her city from destruction. This breaks down Coriolanus’ image of being invincible, as he is defeated by his own mother. This exposes his character to mortality, foreshadowing his death “Most dangerously you have with him prevail’d, if not most mortal to him” (line 30-1).

Criteria B:        

Through the use of repetition, Coriolanus’ awareness of his resistance to change is dramatized. Not only does the repetition of “mother, mother” (line 24 and 27) show his sudden consciousness, it also signifies the awareness of Volumnia’s impact of her power on him. It is even described as a “unnatural scene” (line 25) as this sense seems unexpected to Coriolanus. Aufidius’ sarcastic remark about Volumnia’s impact foreshadows Aufidius’ plans of revenge, as he displays clearly an acted sense of sympathy which is not sincere “I was moved with withal” (line 37) The metaphor “Mine eyes to sweat compassion” reinforces Coriolanus’s surrender of power as he is enormously inflicted.

Conclusion

This specific passage in the play is significant in reestablish the theme of redistribution and change of power from Coriolanus to Volumnia, who will return to Rome as a hero. This is shown through Coriolanus’ sudden conscience, revealing his complex relationship with his mother in which Volumnia overpowers him. Coriolanus’ infliction of becoming ‘mortal’ exposes his vulnerability, which is taken advantage of in Aufidius’ revenge plot which is foreshadowed.

Passage:

VOLUMNIA

Say my request's unjust,
And spurn me back: but if it be not so,
Thou art not honest; and the gods will plague thee,
That thou restrain'st from me the duty which
To a mother's part belongs. He turns away:
Down, ladies; let us shame him with our knees.
To his surname Coriolanus 'longs more pride
Than pity to our prayers. Down: an end;
This is the last: so we will home to Rome,

And die among our neighbours. Nay behold’s:

This boy that cannot tell what he would have

But kneels and holds up bands for fellowship,

Does reason our petition with more strength

Than thou hast to deny’t. Come, let us go:

This fellow had a Volscian to his mother;

His wife is in Corioli and his child

Like him by chance. Yet gives us our dispatch:

I am hush’d until our city be a-fire

Ande then I’ll speak a little.

He holds her by the hand, silent

CORIOLANUS

O mother, mother!
What have you done? Behold, the heavens do ope,
The gods look down, and this unnatural scene
They laugh at. O my mother, mother! O!
You have won a happy victory to Rome;
But, for your son,--believe it, O, believe it,
Most dangerously you have with him prevail'd,
If not most mortal to him. But, let it come.
Aufidius, though I cannot make true wars,
I'll frame convenient peace. Now, good Aufidius,
Were you in my stead, would you have heard
A mother less? or granted less, Aufidius?

AUFIDIUS

I was moved withal.

CORIOLANUS

I dare be sworn you were:
And, sir, it is no little thing to make
Mine eyes to sweat compassion. But, good sir,
What peace you'll make, advise me: for my part,
I'll not to Rome, I'll back with you; and pray you,
Stand to me in this cause. O mother! wife!

AUFIDIUS

[Aside] I am glad thou hast set thy mercy and
thy honour
At difference in thee: out of that I'll work
Myself a former fortune.

This is water - Wallace's theory of education and Munro

In his commencement speech, Wallace adresses the impact of education later in life. He suggests that through acquiring education, one can be well-adjusted, sympathetic and conscious of the world. And by doing so, true freedom can be achieved.
Wallace's theory points out that the liberal-arts system of "teaching you how to think" is extremely important in choosing how to absorb views of the world. He states that through the present education system, students are able to "control over how and what you think. It means being conscious and aware enough to choose what you pay attention to and to choose how you construct meaning from experience."
Wallace touches base on a typical day in and day out example which is suggested to all be too familiar to the attending parents of the graduates. Through the example of an overworked person getting stuck in traffic jam, realizing he needs to go grocery shopping at the peak time, waiting for what seems like hours queuing up at the check out desk, David Foster Wallace stresses on the importance of taking a different approach on what seems to be depressing reoccuring events inmost people's daily lives. He states that if not taken a different approach on these situations "you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you".
He offers a significant solution to the depressing reality of adulthood which the graduates will soon face, they will have to become consciously aware of the possible scenarios which construct the present, thus creating meaning from the experience. By using the control over how you think, which the education today teaches us to do, Wallace suggests that this is what prevents "dying a thousands deaths" in life. Thus, being the well-adjusted; sympathetic and conscious person education has shaped you in, one will be able to achieve true freedom in life by overcoming these daily obstacles.
This therefore suggests that education, perhaps literature being thought, is crucial in developing empathy and emotional intelligence in life.
Munro's literature is therefore quite significant as it is proven to develop a better emotional intellegence amongst it readers. Like Wallace stated, Munro arouses empathy towards the different characters who all display different lives of ordinary people. This may therefore show that through this understanding of other people's lives aqcuired by reading Munro's literature, one may become better well-adjusted, conscious and sympathetic towards others by putting ourselves into the possible situations of others.