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.