Egyptian Thievery Novel

The Thief and the Dogs, a novel written by the Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, is a work involving stream of consciousness.  Stream of consciousness is a literary style in which the author uses visual, auditory, tactile, associative, and subliminal impressions and expresses them using interior monologue of characters that mingles thoughts and impressions, according to the Writers History website.  This literary style is apparent throughout the novel, as the point of view jumps between 1^st person and 3^rd person limited.  It is a style that enhances the novel because Mahfouz used it to serve a greater purpose – to bring about change.  Mahfouz wanted to make people aware of the problem of inequity.  In his novel, he addresses whether or not it is fair to take from the rich and give to the poor.

Stream of consciousness is a topic that was discussed in my American Literature from 1856-Present class that I am currently taking.  In this class, I learned about authors who wrote using this style – William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Katherine Anne Porter, and Allen Ginsberg.  The stream of consciousness style involves the following characteristics: recording various thoughts and feelings, exploring both external and internal forces influencing an individual’s psychology, disregard of the narrative sequence, and absence of logical argument. This writing style is heavily used in Mahfouz’s novel, The Thief and the Dogs.  The italicized text in the novel is written in 1^st person and describes the thoughts that occur in Said’s head throughout the novel.  The following excerpt is an example of this stream of consciousness:

Cut off your tongue before it betrays you and confesses your crime!  You wish to tell him everything.  He probably doesn’t need to be told.  He may even have seen you fire the gun.  And he may be able to see much more than that.

The thoughts that Said has are often conflicted between deciding whether an idea is right or wrong.  There are times when Said consults with other characters about his problems, which are seen in the 3^rd person limited text.

In addition to using the stream of consciousness style, the previously stated writers that I as exposed to in my class also used their style to bring about change.  William Faulkner worked to expose the racist Southern white myths about black inferiority and addressed the question of what is America.  F. Scott Fitzgerald covered the topics of aspiration of the idealism that defined the American character and mutability of loss.  Katherine Anne Porter was a political activist involved in protesting the Sacco and Vanzetti trial and investigating the dark side of human nature through the rise of Nazism.  Allen Ginsberg was a Beat-era poet that brought up taboo topics because he believed no change would arise in a polite silence.  Mahfouz’s novel contains themes that are universal – not only do they apply to Arabian culture, they apply to cultures around the world.  The images of prison, betrayal, and darkness that occur throughout the novel are problems that can happen anywhere in the world, not only in Egypt.

"Honeymoon Flight"

For several weeks, my class has been working on understanding the poetry of Seamus Heaney’s poetry, an Irish poet that recently died in 2013.  A major part of understanding poetry is analyzing the sound patterns, including alliteration, consonance, and assonance, all of which help to emphasize meaning.  The poem I’ve chosen to analyze is “Honeymoon Flight,” a selection from his volume entitled Death of a Naturalist. 

Below, the patchwork earth, dark hems of the hedge,

The long grey tapes of road that bind and loose
Villages and fields in casual marriage:
We blank above the small lough and farmhouse

And the sure green world goes topsy-turvy

As we climb out of our familiar landscape.
The engine noises change.  You look at me.
The coastline slips away beneath the wing-tip.

And launched right off the earth by force of fire

We hang, miraculous, above the water,
Dependent on the invisible air
To keep us airborne and to bring us further.

Ahead of us the sky’s a geyser now.

A calm voice talks of cloud yet we feel lost.
Air-pockets jolt our fears and down we go.
Travellers, at this point, can only trust.

The use of alliteration at the end of the poem with the consonant “t” sound connects together the first and last word of the last line of the poem.  Travellers do indeed need to trust the pilots that fly the planes they are passengers on.  Heaney’s use of alliteration in the first line of the third stanza with the consonant “f” sound emphasizes the power that an airplane has.  Sometimes we take for granted how airplanes work and the science behind keeping something so large in the air.  The first line of the poem features the alliteration of the “h” sound.  The imagery of “hems” and “hedge” paint a picture of what the earth looks like from the sky.  The awe of flying includes being able to differentiate between land and water, forests and fields.

After analyzing the sound patterns, I was able to look deeper into the poem for more meaning.  The poem focuses on two new experiences – marriage and flying on a plane.  Both of these experiences involve risk and overcoming fear through trust.  These two experiences are the themes constant throughout the four stanzas of the poem.  There are two ways to interpret the first stanza of the poem.  The land is given feminine features, which are reminiscent of the recent wedding ceremony:

          Below, the patchwork earth, dark hems of hedge,
          The long grey tapes of road that bind and loose
          Villages and fields in casual marriage
“Hems” may describe the bride’s wedding dress, while “bind and loose” could describe the bond that is created when a couple is married.  The “patchwork” references how when a couple marries, both the bride and groom bring together their customs, culture, and beliefs that are pieced together into a patchwork upon marriage.  This first interpretation of the first stanza gives the poem an exciting tone, as the happy couple is freshly married and off on their first plane ride, contrasting with the darker overtone of the second interpretation.  The use of the words “dark” and “grey” could be used to describe the unavoidable dark periods of marriages, where the couple will fight and disagree with each other.  It could foreshadow that possibly their marriage will not work out because perhaps they are too different.  This is further supported in the following stanzas that go on to describe the plane ride – a marriage can at sometimes be a bumpy ride.

Franciscan Knighthood

Yvain, The Knight of the Lion, written by 12^th century French poet Chrétien de Troyes, is romance of a knight errantry that is exiled from his lady and is required to perform a number of heroic deeds before regaining her love.  While reading this poem, I drew connections between the themes of the poem and the Franciscan values I learned about in my Introduction to Liberal Arts Studies class in fall 2013.  These values are community, compassion, peacemaking, and reverence for creation.

Community involves celebrating the dignity of every individual because we were each created in the image and likeness of God.  From this concept of community flow the ideas of hospitality, courtesy, and cooperation.  This value of community is exemplified in the poem by Lunette, Laudine’s servant.  In the poem, Yvain has slain Laudine’s husband Esclados, and proceeds to hide in their castle.  Lunette keeps him hidden and provides him with food, water, and other necessities as described in the following quote:

     The girl returned, as fast
     As possible, with a roasted fowl
     And a cake and a tablecloth
     And a full jug of wine
     Made from good grapes, and a white
     Goblet covering it, and invited him
     To dine.
She shows great hospitality and kindness, which encourages Yvain to fall in love with Laudine, whom he eventually reveals himself to.

The value of compassion involves putting others ahead of ourselves by listening, recognizing their needs, serving humbly, and working for the dignity of every person.  Yvain displays the characteristics of compassion during his quest to win back his wife, Laudine.  Along the way, Yvain runs into various damsels in distress who he pledges to assist.  Among the deeds he did were slaying a giant terrorizing a castle and saving Lunette from being burned at the stake.  Yvain recognized the needs of these young women and because he was a knight, went out of his way to assist them.

Peace can only be achieved through an attitude expressed through words and actions that can only be sustained through a deep spirituality.  Peacemaking renounces all forms of dominance over another – reconciliation and justice are equal partners.  Yvain exhibits peacemaking by assisting the various castles that he rests at.  In each case, he usually offers help to a lady in distress and in doing so, brings about justice to the castle.  In one instance, a giant is terrorizing a castle by taking a king’s sons until he releases his daughter to him.  Yvain arrives at the castle and slays the giant so the king can keep his daughter and his sons are returned to him.

Reverence for creation involves recognizing that all creation is a reflection of the truth, beauty and goodness of God.  Yvain demonstrates this by saving the lion from the snake.  He debates which creature to save in the following excerpt:

     He asked himself which
     Of the two he ought to help,
     Then told himself to help
     The lion, for a venomous and treacherous
     Beast should not be permitted to do evil.
The lion then shows his appreciation for Yvain by assisting him in his battles and demonstrating the goodness of creation.

The Tao Te Ching is an important piece of Chinese philosophical literature.  It was supposedly written between the 8^th and 3^rd centuries B.C.E. by Lao Tsu, according to the Merriam Webster’s Encyclopedia of Literature.  This book contains short poems that present a way of life intended to restore harmony and tranquility to the world.  There have been many interpretations of this ancient work due to its elusiveness and mysterious overtones.  The poems are all centered on following the “Tao” or the “Way.”  The following verse from The Tao Te Ching is entitled “Quiet,” and is followed by my interpretation of the text.

 
Great Perfection seems incomplete,
But does not decay;
Great abundance seems empty,
But does not fail.

Great truth seems contradictory;
Great cleverness seems stupid;
Great eloquence seems awkward.

As spring overcomes the cold,

And autumn overcomes the heat,
So calm and quiet overcome the world.
 

I think the first stanza is referring to the Way because the Way does not decay or fail, although it at times may seem incomplete or empty.  The Way is dependent upon what people put into it.  The second stanza describes three opposites.  Opposites are a vital component of Taoism, as seen in the yin-yang symbol.  This important Chinese symbol describes how opposite forces are interconnected in the natural world.  Cleverness is the opposite of stupidity and eloquence is the opposite of awkwardness.  In reality, the world cannot survive with only one component of the opposite because we must have both to achieve the balance sought by the Way.  For instance, we cannot have light without dark. 

 The first line of the verse reads, “Great perfection seems incomplete, but does not decay.”  Part of striving for perfection is searching for the parts of our lives or our goals that are incomplete.  The Way encourages us to do this, but in a calm and relaxed manner.  The third stanza describes a cycle, and cycles are another important aspect of Taoism.  Spring overcomes the cold of winter, and autumn overcomes the heat of summer.  This is an important cycle in our world that does not vary.  There will always be fall after summer and spring after winter.  This cycle flows like a river from one season directly into the next.  The last sentence, “so calm and quiet overcome the world,” is a significant principle of Taoism.  Going about our lives in a relaxed manner is very important.  The Way encourages us to see the world in this way.  If calm and quiet did not overcome the world, our everyday lives would become chaotic, which goes against Taoist principles.  By following the Way, the world will become more orderly and less chaotic, perhaps how it was at the time The Tao Te Ching was written.

Childhood Hauntings

The Icarus Girl, written by Helen Oyeyemi, is a thrilling read.  Eight-year-old Jessamy Harrison is the daughter of a Nigerian mother and English father.  Jessamy has a hard time making friends at school because she often has screaming fits.  Her mother decides to take the entire family on a trip to Nigeria, where Jess makes a friend, Tilly Tilly.  When the family returns back to England, Tilly Tilly finds herself there as well and soon her visits with Jessamy become more and more disturbing.

An important part of the novel is that Jessamy had a twin sister who died at birth.  Twins are an important part of Nigerian culture and are viewed as practically sacred.  Nigerians believe that twins share a soul and if one twin dies at a young age, the surviving twin will have an imbalanced soul, according to the article entitled “The Birth of Twins” on the Horn Blend website.  In order to fix this imbalance, Nigerians will have a sculpture called an ibeji statue carved to house the spirit of the deceased twin.  I think this is why Jessamy has become such a troublesome child.  The article also stated that in Yoruba culture, twins are thought to have divine powers and the ability to hurt people that upset them.  Although Jessamy does not find out right away about her lost twin, there seems to be a greater force at work within her, which is where Tilly Tilly comes in.

Jessamy finds out through Tilly Tilly that she had a twin sister named Fern.  This startles Jessamy’s mother, as she doesn’t know how Jess could have found out about her twin.  The following quote illustrates Sarah’s (Jessamy’s mother) distress: “Three worlds!  Jess lives in three worlds.  She lives in this world, and she lives in the spirit world, and she lives in the Bush.  She’s abiku, she always would have known!  The spirits tell her things.  Fern tells her things” (Oyeyemi 181).  This leads me to believe that Tilly Tilly is Fern, who may be trying to balance their soul.  I find this to be supported in the following quote: “You have been so empty, Jessy, without your twin; you have had no one to walk your three worlds with you.  I know – I am the same.  I have been just like you for such a long time!  But now I am Fern, I am your sister, and you are my twin…I’ll look after you, Jessy…” (Oyeyemi 176).  Unfortunately this revelation only brings trouble for Jessamy.  If Tilly Tilly is Fern, that would explain why she tries harms the people who hurt Jess, whether it is her teacher or the girls who are mean to her at school, and why she tries to take over Jess throughout the novel.

           

Exploring Japanese Literature

Fumiko Enchi’s Masks is a short, yet very powerful novel.  The main character of focus seems to be Togano Meiko, the mother of twins Akio (deceased) and Harume (mentally challenged since birth).  Akio’s young widow, Yasuko, is paid a lot of attention by Meiko as two potential suitors, Ibuki (married) and Mikame (single), show their affection for her.  Meiko forms an intricate plot of revenge where Harume is impregnated by Ibuki, so that Meiko can have a child with Akio’s blood.  There seems to be a stronger force at work here.

I draw that conclusion because of the last paragraph of the novel: “In that moment the mask dropped from her grasp as if struck down by an invisible hand.  In a trance she reached out and covered the face on the mask with her hand, while her right arm, as if suddenly paralyzed, hung frozen, immobile, in space” (Enchi 141).  The mask referenced here is a No mask given to Meiko by a friend of the family, Toé.  This mask in particular is called Fukai, “my father had his own interpretation…he liked to think of it as a metaphor comparing the heart of an older woman to the depths of a bottomless well – a well so deep that its water would seem totally without color” (Enchi 138).  I compared this “bottomless well” to Meiko’s life as her hunger for revenge sank her further into a well that she could not climb out of even if she had wanted to.  When I think of a well I picture looking into the water, which in turn shows my reflection.  If a well is so deep that the water appears colorless, I wouldn’t be able to see my reflection.  This expresses the sense of hopelessness that I think Meiko feels at the end of the novel because even though she has a child with Akio’s blood, she has lost both of her children which were very important to her.

Toé’s father felt that Meiko would appreciate the sadness in the mask’s look, since she had lost her only child.  This mask seems to have a rather strong effect on Meiko.  The mask calls to mind her grief over the loss of both Akio and Harume and the vengeance she had hidden for so long inside of her.  By the end of the novel, I think Meiko has lost herself in her plot for revenge.  The vengeance has overcome her in entirety, which may be why she drops the mask and tries to cover the face.  I almost feel as if she is ashamed of what she has done and the pain she has caused her family.

Introduction

Washington D.C., Chicago, Florida, New York City, South Dakota, and Minnesota, these are all of the places I've traveled so far in my life and from each place I've taken away many wonderful experiences.  Although I haven't traveled outside of the United States, I am going to be visiting other countries through novels that I will be reading in my World Literature course.  Perhaps experiencing these novels will provide me with places where I'd like to travel at some point in my life in order to venture out of Wisconsin.  I have always loved reading because it can take me to places that I may never have the chance to visit in person.

My name is Alex Herman and I am a freshman English major at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family.  This semester I am taking a World Literature course because I want to gain a greater understanding of literature from different countries.  As an English major, I understand the importance of good literature and the impact it can have on people.  Reading works written by authors from other countries helps us to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures.  For this class, I am looking forward to being exposed to works from many different cultures, so that I can learn more about myself from reading these works.  World literature is a very broad topic, but as a survey course, I expect that we will dabble in many different areas.  The authors of the seven novels we will be covering are Fumiko Enchi, Nadine Gordimer, Seamus Heaney, Naguib Mahfouz, Helen Oyeyemi, William Shakespeare, and Chrétien de Troyes.  Of these authors, I have only read William Shakespeare, so I am interested in exploring each of these in great detail.

A requirement of my World Literature class is that each student has to create a blog to share with the rest of the world.  I entitled my blog "A Tome in Time" because a tome is a large book and in this course, I will be reading a variety of literature from many different time periods.  In this blog, I will be posting several different entries in regards to my World Literature class including close reading, themes, and foreign films.  In the close reading entries, I will provide a detailed analysis of the work and my interpretation of the text.  The entries on themes will discuss connections between themes found in the books I read and other liberal arts classes I have taken.  The foreign film entry will be a review of a film watched outside of class from a list provided to my class by our instructor.  I hope you enjoy reading my blog entries and that they may inspire you to read deeper into world literature.