Ch. eleven; The Thief and the Dogs.

The first half of this chapter is all somewhat of a flashback. Said is recalling how his father, Amm Mahran, was a concierge of the student's hostel before he died. It is revealed that thanks to Rauf , Said was able to take over his father's job.
Amm Mahran's piety made him happy, and the students had respected him. His pilgrimage to Sheikh Ali's home was his only source for entertainment. He would encourage Said to join him, "It'll give you a sense of peace and contentment, the finest thing you can enjoy in life." It was obvious that Amm would talk about Said to the Sheikh, and when SheikhAli met him he said his heart was spotless (meaning PURE) and that there was 'a lot of intelligence in his eyes.' Both statements about his innocence as a child are very ironic, Said grows up to be a thief, who does not plan out his deeds despite how educated he is.
The Sheikh gives the young Said some advice, he recalls. Then, as the chapter goes on, Said is remembering how his father died when he was a child and how Rauf Ilwan was a young law student who helped him and his mother at the time. He took on these responsibilities as a child, and then his mother died of a disease. She had suffered for an entire month before death. In which he [symbolicly ? ] stole for the first time. Rauf there for him, as a very influential and important male figure in his life. And you begin to see how he first took him under his wing and "trianed" him to think it was justified to steal. Irony: Said says in his flashback, "Where have all your principles gone now, Rauf?" Now that their relationship has changed. He seems to remembering, however, in a more positive mood.... better days perhaps: 'times when sorrows could be forgotten, wounds could be healed, and hope could bring forth fruit from adversity.'
Then the chapter takes a twist back into present time. Said gets the urge to leave Nur's flat and take a walk, finding himslef back in his old seat next to Tarzan in the cofeehouse. Both Tarzan ( and old criminal friend of his) and an arms smuggler, give him advice since Said is now a fugitive. Tarzan suddenly gets up to look out the window because he believes he saw a face staring in at them... leading me to wonder if this is foreshadowing or if Tarzan is just paranoid. The waiter went outside to investigate, but Said didn't stay around. Said is very aware of his own fear. He sees the light in Nur's window on, and he is pleased. When he sees her he wants to caress her ( a sign that he seems to be liking her a whole lot more than earlier in the novel) but her eyes are red and he sees her cry for the first time in his life. He was deeply moved. It turns out her young customers BEAT her! "The DOGS!" exclaimed Said.
And still, she was sweet enough to remember to get him a fabric he requested from her so he could make a uniform. On page 108, she then tells him of a fortune-teller who said 'there'd be security; peace of mind.' Page 108 is full of references to human beings as DOGS. Very symbolic. You can tell Nur had a horrible day, since she is pessimistic to the point that it depresses the protagonist. She finally shows a glimmer of hope in the last sentence when she says, "That day will really come!" <--- referring to the safety and peace she wants promised to her.

This week:

In class we turned in our Essay 2 on Friday. The requirement was to write about two poems that we chose, comparing them. My first instinct was to pick one American or Shakespearean poem and a modern song to compare it to. Songs are considered poetry too.
The song I chose was easy because I decided to go with what came to me first, a Beatles song! I chose "Hey Jude," The song was initially written by Paul McCartney to comfort John Lennon's son named Julian {aka Jules} after his parents divorced. I didn't know this until I researched it for this essay. I had made my own analysis of the song before. I deciphered it as a love song. I even let my friend that attends UCF read what I had to say about the classic. This is an excerpt of my essay:

Perhaps it’s the romantic in me that sees it as a love song. It’s almost advising Jude not to be afraid of Love. Love heals and makes the world a better place. The song says:
“…to let her into your heart,
Then you can start to make it better.

Hey Jude, don’t be afraid.
You were made to go out and get her.
The minute you let her under your skin,
Then you begin to make it better.”

As soon as he begins to love again, everything around Jude improves, he just has to let her in and not push her away. When we get hurt by people of our past, sometimes we don’t realize that it effects our current relationships. We walk around with a tight hold of our hearts, afraid to feel again, paranoid of getting hurt. Jude is meant to be with this new girl, so there’s no way that things can go wrong this time around. So Jude needs to take this sad song he had before and make it better and more optimistic. He’s found her and so he shouldn’t let the pain of the past lovers make the “ world a little colder” by him playing cool with the new girl who rightfully belongs to him. He needs to open up his heart, to this warm and loving relationship that is coming. He shouldn’t blow it by holding back out of fear.

The Thief & the Dogs; CH 10

oh the irony: his hideout has a view of a cemetery? I loved how it was described. The one place where criminal & cop can"lie side by side in peace for the first and last time."
Said continues by contemplating that, the graves "remind us that death cheats the living." A rather interesting, thought-provoking idea.
He reminisces about his first meeting with Nabawiyya, and even though the teacher convinced us otherwise, his memories made me think of how beautiful young love is. She was this seemingly unattainable young woman that he chased. Page 94 is important, because he refers to himself as a lion and wonders how could she trade him for a dog like Ilish.
The backstabber, Rauf, makes Said's news a cover story, to get everyone against him.
There's an evidence of inner conflict. Said's feelings tend to conflict one another.
"No easy victory can everr make one forgeta bloody defeat"
Nur gave the best advice, "The truth is, that to live at all we've got to be afraid.

The Thief & the Dogs; CH 9

Perhaps all the odd-numbered chapters begin with the P.O.V. from the protagonist's mind.
Said's alone in Nur's flat. And he's thinking of revenge and how great his revolver is.
When Nur finally arrives, you can tell she was so excited to discover him there.
She's so in love with him.
"Stay here all your life, if you like." She says.

I like this line that the narrator states afterward:
"... she'll only find that a locked heart becomes increasingly difficult to unlock."
On page 87, the reader gais some more Character development on the main character. He seems to have a lot of pride. he even says to BEWARE of SYMPATHY.
Nur is all Said has right now. He seems to be leading her on.

The Thief & the Dogs; CH 8

Chapter 8, unlike the previous one, begins with the narrator. I found it very IRONIC that of all places, Said Mahran finds the holiest of palces as his safe hiding places from the crimes he has commited. The reader gains a little more development of his character, it was the point in the book right BEFORE he finds out that he had not murdered Ilish... so when he thinks back on the shooting he is glad that he had not heard his daughter scream. In reality Sana hadn't screamed because she had not heard him there. athe protagonist also seems to admit that he is NOT fully aware of your own self. I really enjoyed the figurative language describing how Said loves the morning. For the first time ever he seems optimistic and alive. He has a very important nightmare, which may or may not be his ex-wife's fault. An imperative fact is revealed: Rauf Ilwan had beeb bominated for the post of Supreme Sheikh.

The Thief & the Dogs; continued.

The 6th chapter of Mahfouz's novel is the one in which Nur, the prostitute, conspires with our main character in order to steal a car from one of her clients. I loved the juxtaposition of: "... he could hear through the silence the sounds of love being made in whispers." :} Said recalls how his mentor, Rauf used to justify their stealing by saying that the INTENTIONS were 'good.' I found it ironic that Said called the prostitute Kindhearted, almost reminescent of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Said is incredibly sarcastic with Nur, even though she risks herself to help him. He is aware of the sincerity of her affection but wants none of it and so she refers to him as heartless.
Chapter 7 of The Thief & the Dogs is one of the kinds that begin in the mind of the protagonist. He admits to himself that he acts on impulse a lot. He's actually conscious that it isn't always correct to act without thinking. What disturbed me was when he told himself it 'better would be to settle with Rauf instead of killing both Ilish & Nabawiyya. Why better? As if the betrayal the two committed was not as huge or personal.
For the first time ever, Said considers sparing his ex-wife's life in order for her to look after their beloved daughter, Sana. Finally, the thief shows some sort of thought process. He still remains vindictive:

It was not right that Ilish Sidra should stay alive for even one day while Said Mahran was a free man.

Said is plotting, a little. He tries to break into the Sidra home and shoots the first figure he sees and Said flees at the sound of a woman's screams. He assumes it was his ex-wife and that he had shot Ilish in front of her... only to read it in the paper the next day that the man he murdered was a stranger.
I found the stylistic symbolism at the end, in which Nur [whose name signifies LIGHT] is the one he avoids as a safe place to hide out because he knew she'd be some one the police would likey investigate. The chapter ironically ends:

"Darkness must extend from now on to all eternity."