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.