Said Mahran Characterisation Blog Post

Passage: First stream-of-consciousness in chapter 4

           This passage shows the reader what Said Mahran now thinks of his old mentor figure, Rauf Ilwan. In the previous chapter, Rauf, though cordial in his demeanor to Mahran, rejects his wish to work as a journalist at his newspaper – due to Mahran’s lack of qualifications, but gives him some money, and states that “No job is menial, as long as it is honest”.

           In the passage, Said concludes that Rauf as evolved into someone else and has abandoned and/or betrayed his ideals. As characteristic of stream of consciousness, this passage operates non-chronologically, beginning with Mahran’s thoughts on the ‘new Rauf’, and going through his thought process that brings him to remember how he was betrayed by Ilish, and ranks them similarly in terms of how he feels they have betrayed him. The hatred expressed by Said in lines such as “I don’t know which of you is the most treacherous”, characterises the fixation on the past and vengeance that he continues to display throughout the story up until his death.This is also the revelation of Said’s hamartia – his fatal flaw, by Mahfouz, which would be his ‘raison d’etre’ becoming vengeance on those whom he feels betrayed him – leading him on an inescapable path that ends with his death.

           The thought process that Mahfouz writes for Said displays much of this hamartia and irrationality. Said genuinely cannot decide whether or not Ilish is the most treacherous of the pair – even though it could be argued that Ilish has had by far the most negative effect on Said’s life (getting him jailed, being romantically involved with his wife, and as a result of the betrayal, responsible for Sana not remembering him). The irratic thought process that Said displays is also emphasised with the use of italics to connote a stream of conscious passage: italics are less ‘solid’ than normal font, therefore the reader associates the stream of consciousness parts with less stability – which matches Said’s own instable and irratic thought process.

           The use of stream of consciousness by Mahfouz draws the reader’s attention to the aspects of Said that could be considered as ‘tragic hero traits’, such as Said’s hamartia, the seeds of his downfall, and his instability. He also reveals and thus characterises the traits of other characters in these passages.