Fate in Thief and The Dogs

How does Mahfouz illustrate how fate is a major determiner of one’s happiness in life?

Fate is a motif which is apparent throughout the novel, the thief and the dogs. It is presented in Said's journey as he faces numerous difficulties and hardships throughout his life which eventually lead him to his death. His tough upbringing with the death of his parents, his father from a mysterious cause and his mother through illness, allow the development for a more complex character within the novel and setup his fate from the beginning. Mahfouz constantly presents Said's constant internal battle by trying to control his own destiny, resisting fate and instead following his chances for free will. After Said leaves prison, with all the built up anger and feeling of betrayal from the closest people around him in the form of Nabawiyya, Ilish and Rauf, he chooses to go into the inevitable path of revenge and violence. His past and the ultimatum in the rejection from his daughter, alongside his pride which is a significant trait of a tragic hero as his hamartia eventually lead him to his own downfall. Throughout the novel, he is able to control his own actions, being presented with numerous chances to pursue different destinies in the form of spirituality with the Sheik or the path of love with Nur. However his past builds walls which block his ability to see these paths as potential chances he could have had, so he eventually succumbs to his own fate, by trying to control and manipulate it for his own. His actions are heavily influenced and justified by the actions of his old closest friends, the secondary characters in the books. Also, the political and revolutionary change of Egypt is a change Said cannot and would not adapt to, as he devotes his life and purpose with the ideology adapted from his old mentor, Rauf. 

Passage from Chapter 4, Pages 47-48

This passage in chapter 4 contributes to the overall characterization of the protagonist and tragic hero, Said Mahran. This is done with the increasing complexity and the continuity of the theme of revenge and his inability to move away from the past in order to accept the reality that things and people have changed in his absence while in jail for 4 years. Through this stream of consciousness narrative technique, the author is able to explore deeply into Said's mental process and his motivations. More specifically, in this passage, Said is further characterized as a man with a significantly revengeful nature, seen by when he says "The other Rauf Ilwan has gone" "like Nabawiyya's love or Illish's loyalty" The author compares the actions of betrayal and change in personality and relations of Rauf with that of his ex-wife and his former friend.

Rauf Ilwan's change in personality and betrayal, as seen from Said's perspective, is a significant one for Said as he was a mentor to him, someone who shaped his ideologies. The actions of Rauf with Said are described with the use of repetition and anaphora of "His" at the start of every sentence, this is done with the purpose of showing all the actions that Rauf is doing and how differently and staged it all is. There is also a juxtaposition added in order to support Rauf's role in his life and his deep betrayal which further enhances the complexity of the protagonist, this is seen with "You made me and now you reject me". This indirect internal monologue continues with the exploration of his thoughts and reflection back on the anger that fills his mind with that of the people who changed and represent his emotional instability. His Hubris is shown as "I wish i could penetrate your soul as easily as I've penetrated your house" this shows his overconfidence which proved to be his eventual hamartia as it is later revealed how he fails in his mission and gets caught by Rauf himself. He is characterized as particularly stubborn and someone who has grown extensive grudges as he starts to classify Rauf as in the same category of people who have betrayed him and left him behind in the past, such as Nabawiyya and Ilish. This is seen with "Nabawiyya disguised as Rauf, Rauf disguised as Nabawiyya, or Ilish Sidra in place of both". The passage ends as the author adds animal imagery and a simile comparing the need of these people betraying him "like a cat creeping on its belly toward a bewildered sparrow". In order to emphasize his emotional instability and how his sense perception mixes with his self conscious thoughts in order to create this image of the people who betrayed him and therefore create a representation of his intentions in getting revenge later on in the chapter.

Texts in translation

The world has become increasingly more globalized throughout time. Alongside the numerous recent technological advances in communication, ICTs in general, transportation and space-time convergence in the past century, more people around the world are being able to access more products and information now more than ever. Globalization has allowed for the flows of goods and services throughout time, and one of the things that also comes into that list, is literature. In terms of literature, the world has only been receiving Western type literature and any other foreign types had remained at a regional level. The awareness and praise for writers of literature from non-western countries has increased over time. Their books and novels that they are publishing are now being recently recognized and sold in numerous other countries around the world and presented to a western audience or English speakers. With this rise in sales and recognition of the authors, it has resulted in the emergence of global cultural diversity. The ability for authors to show their own unique perspective on writing and the experiences they have been exposed to throughout time. This allows them to add their own language and express themselves in a way that perhaps may not be the same as in another language, resulting in an increased cultural appreciation. What happens with texts in translation is very challenging. In translation, the texts that the authors are writing are being exposed to a wider audience, more specifically or a bigger consumerist market such as a Western culture, or in the leading languages around the world such as Mandarin, English and Spanish. While there are benefits in translating texts, some of the difficulties in doing this process can mean the significant inaccuracy of the language into another. A translator may not translate the texts correctly, or according to the intentions of the author when writing his/her text. A lot of proverbs or sayings, or any other type of variations in the expression of language cant be accurately translated which means the loss of originality and intent of the author. Some authors have as a response, adapted to these difficulties that the translators have by being present in the translation process or in interviews/meetings in which he/she can express their intentions and their overall work. While some others have opted to change the language in which they write their texts so it can have more exposure to bigger consumerist markets in the western culture or English speaking people around the world. Some of the implications that come with this transition in language can be the loss of cultural diversity and authenticity that local fiction produces.

Emotional Intelligence - This is Water and Alice Munro's short stories

In what ways could Wallace’s theory about education be applicable to the writing of Alice Munro? Justify your conclusion

Throughout the reading of "This is Water" and the numerous short stories of Alice Munro, a connection in purpose and theme were found, emotional intelligence. This is water talks about the ability for people to be able to use emotional intelligence and be able to manipulate which lenses to use in every day situations. Through successful education and the ability to be free in terms of choosing what you want to think about in order to not "die a thousand deaths" one can experience and connect with the world in a different way. The short stories of Alice Munro are extracts of a person's life, very much connected to reality and actual experiences the author has had throughout her journey. Unlike popular fiction which is more plot-focused, these short stories make the reader deeply connect and associate with the characters created through an in depth use of character development. Although all the stories are set in rural Canada, the journeys of each of these characters are relatable in some way, from the struggle of the main character in "Boys and Girls" with societal expectations and trying to break through, complex family relationship of Janet with her two daughters, a broken marriage and the need to seek acceptance from her father and even Alfrida from "Family Furnishing". A character who was idolized by the narrator and her family but the reader is able to sympathize with her at the end story when it is found that she is not what the narrator had thought she would be.

All these examples serve to show the sympathetic tone which is created by Munro to feel compassionate with the characters and the journey they all have gone through. These stories help put ourselves in the shoes of the characters and really understand their situation and feel a connection with them through their perspective on life and therefore be more sympathetic and as a result develop our own emotional intelligence. Although these stories don't appear as exciting and groundbreaking as some others, they still have a great deal of complexity which as to be analyzed in order to fully understand the text. This therefore allows the reader to comprehend the characters better and relate to them as they face numerous conflicts which one faces in their normal "day in, day out" life which is described by Foster Wallace. In addition to this, one can also switch their default setting in order to look at these experiences happening on the short stories through the main character's life.

Munro and her short stories

In the short stories of Alice Munro there appears to be a lot of connections from her lifestyle and the events that happen throughout with the main female characters. This is seen with the settings of all of the short stories she wrote and I have analyzed. Alice Munro is from Western Ontario, Canada, this is an important fact as she bases all her stories within familiar surroundings and previous experiences which all happen in Canada.

Alice Munro had 3 daughters, 2 husbands and had lived in a farm alone with her second husband. She has worked as a waitress, experienced a divorce and her father was a fox farmer. All these experiences and facts have all featured in some way throughout Alice Munro's short stories. In "Boys and Girls" the girl's father appears to be a fox farmer who earns a living by skinning foxes and selling their pelts alongside the help from his daughter. In Royal Beatings, Rose gets beaten by her father while her stepmother tries to stop him, this might also be a similar experience Munro has faced when she was younger, getting beaten by her father as a form of disciplinary action. In Moons of Jupiter, Janet faces a divorce from her husband, has 2 daughters who she experiences complex relationships with and seeks acceptance from her father, all of which Alice Munro could have experienced by being a female and trying to help out her father in the fox pelt business. In Family Furnishings, the narrator idolizes her aunt and explains her journey in becoming a writer for a newspaper, although this is a similar story from the last one, this one focuses more on the rural-urban change she faced as she distances herself from everyone and eventually does get married and divorced.

Overall, one can see how Alice Munro integrates extracts of her life in order to formulate some of her short stories, it allows for greater realism for the reader as well as further character development as she tries to also characterize herself into the stories, all while following this very similar theme of complex family relationships throughout her years.

Decolonizing the Mind and Things Fall Apart

In what ways does this text influence your understanding of Achebe’s use of language and stylistic choices in Things Fall Apart?

The extract from "Decolonizing the Mind" by Ngugi influences my understanding of Achebe's use of language and stylistic choices in Things Fall Apart. Through Ngugi's writing it can be seen that both family backgrounds are of large families who enjoy story-telling similarly to Ekwefi and Ezinma. It talks about the value of words for their meaning and nuances which like in Acebe’s book the use of Igbo language throughout the novel are used as to both conform to 'Western style" writing in English but also deviates from it with the addition of their own language. He states that words had suggestive magical power, which tells the immense value of good orator in their culture, with the ability to manipulate words through proverbs, tales and songs to enrich their speech within their culture.

Ngugi expresses the harmony in which their community was in, in terms of their way of life with the use of the Gikuyu within their homes and fields; Achebe also mirrors this perspective by giving an insight on the Igbo way of life before the colonization of Umuofia. Both of these works show the influence the colonizers have had within their community with the lingual harmony broken, and the usage of the colonist ideologies to implement their own language and society in which the others have to bow before in deference.  

Language in both of these novels are seen as the tool or reason for the assimilation of their societies with Ngugi saying that English became more than a language, it was the language everyone had to serve. While in Things Fall Apart, it caused conflict between the missionaries and the local community with their incomprehension of each other language and how in the assimilation of their society the colonizers didn’t bother to learn about the local culture.

This was of importance as language gave the people “a view of the world, but it had beauty of its own.” It provided a new perspective of things, and the colonizers with Reverend’s Smith’s approach didn’t bother to learn but reject everything the locals believed in. 

Personal history and its influence

The personal history of an author can have a significant influence on the way meaning is constructed in his/her writing. Comment on specific instances of such influence in Things Fall Apart.

Thesis Statement:
The personal history of Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart can have a significant influence of the way meaning is constructed. While implementing his influence with personal history he is able to affect character's role in the book as well as the cultural and historical context in which this text was based in. 

Topic sentence 1:
With the use of certain characters such as Mr. Brown, Achebe is able to utilize him as a figure who shows what the colonization of Umuofia could have been like, had he stayed. With his comprehending personality about the Igbo's culture and religion he portrays one side of colonization trying to add balance in the way the assimilation of his society was done. 

Topic sentence 2:
By allowing such a character like Reverend Smith, Achebe is able to contrast this character with that of Mr. Brown, representing two different ideologies and approaches to the colonization of the Igbo. Even though they are both trying to implement their religion and way of life into Umuofia, the clashing differences are shown with the reaction of the people in the Igbo groups.

Topic sentence 3:
Achebe, when publishing this book, just a few years before Nigeria's independence, shows how he decides and manipulates the cultural and historical context by setting this book back when the Igbo were first colonized. This, evident in the text, would show the adaptation of the Igbo people with colonization and how each different character dealt with it differently. This also serves to show a perspective into the everyday life of the igbo, their culture and society.