Passage

Chapter Seven

To kill them both--Nabawiyya and Ilish--at the same time, would be a triumph. Even better would be to settle with Rauf Ilwan, too, then escape, go abroad if possible. But who'll look after Sana? The thorn in my side. You always act impulsively, Said, without thinking, but you mustn't rush this time; you must wait until you've arranged things, then swoop like an eagle. But there's no point in delay either: you're a hunted man--you became a hunted man as soon as they knew you were coming out--and now, after the car incident, the search will be intensified. Only a few pounds in the wallet of the factory owner's son--another stroke of bad luck. If you don't strike soon everything will collapse. Who'll look after Sana, though? That thorn again. She rejected me but I still love her. Should I spare your unfaithful mother for your sake, then? I must find the answer right away.

He was hovering on foot in the pitch-darkness surrounding the house at the crossroads where two lanes met in Imam Way. The car was parked at the top of the road, back towards the Citadel square. Shops were closed, the road was deserted, and no one seemed to be looking for him: at such an hour every creature took shelter, blind and unsuspecting, in his hole. Said could easily have taken further precautions, but he was not going to be diverted from his purpose, even if it meant Sana's having to live alone all her life. For treachery, Mr. Rauf, is an abomination.

He looked up at the windows of the house, his hand clutching the revolver in his pocket. Treachery is abominable, Ilish, and for the living to enjoy life it is imperative that criminal and vicious elements be eradicated. Keeping close to the wall, he approached the door then entered the house and cautiously climbed the pitch-dark stairs, passing the first floor, then the second to the third. Right. And there was the flat, the door, snugly closed on the most rotten intentions and desires. If he knocked, who would answer? Would it be Nabawiyya? Was the police detective perhaps lurking somewhere? There was hell-fire for them both even if he had to break into the flat. He must act at once. It was not right that Ilish Sidra should stay alive for even one day while Said Mahran was a free man. You'll get away without a scratch, just as easily as you have scores of times: you can scale an apartment building in seconds, jump unhurt from a third floor window--even fly if you wish!

Analysis

This passage reveals Said Mahran's dark, true intentions, while simultaneously showing the character some of the inner conflict he experiences about his daughter, Sana. It is the beginning of chapter 7, which first features the typical stream of conscious, present throughout the novel to display the protagonist's inner feelings, then moves onto describing him lurking outside of the presumed house of Illish Sidra and his ex-wife Nabawiyya.

His inner conflict is clearly demonstrated as he initially thinks to himself about the pleasure of killing both Illish and Nabawiyya at the same time shown in the lines "To kill them both--Nabawiyya and Ilish--at the same time, would be a triumph." However, the stream then develops into concern about his daughter, which he mentions that he's concerned about "[…] who'll look after
Sana?" This characterises him as still being a caring father, despite clearly demonstrating what joy and success he would feel upon killing them both. Yet he then makes the realisation of what effect that would have on his daughter Sana.

Immediately after this inner conflict, he labells her as the "The thorn in my side." Naguib Mahfouz utilises a metaphor in the form of imagery to show the effect his daughter has on his life. In some form, Sana is described as being the rose in his life. A rose is typically a beautiful and valued flower in people's lives, hence, in that sense, Sana is that precious, innocent flower in his life. Just like any rose has thorns on its stem, so is the daughter the pain in his life. In all the beauty and innocence he finds within his daughter, she still pierces his plans and causes him trouble. This is a source of, and fuels, his inner conflict. This again characterises him as a person with immense amount of conflict in his life.

Once the segment on his stream of conscious ends, the setting then changes to the present, where he is chasing his first targets, Illish and Nabawiyya. The setting is described as being very gloomy and dark, much like the character of Said. There can be a comparison drawn between the setting and the character of Said. Said is shown to be of dark nature, which is clearly represented by the setting in this passage.

Stream of Conscious - The Thief And The Dogs

The stream of conscious in literature allows the reader to tap into the mind of a character or characters in the story or novel. In the case of Naguib Mahfouz in “The Thief and the Dogs”, the main character Said has such a stream of conscious, which gives the reader insight into his mind. Occasionally, Naguib utilises the stream of conscious to show how Said reflects on his past to fuel his inner conflict, whereas other times, Said discusses his next plan of action due to the consequences of his actions, such as when he thinks he kills Illish Sidra. However, the stream of conscious, specifically in this novel, are used to take breaks and form context in the novel, between all the built tension and climaxes of the story. Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arabic author to employ the very modernist technique of showing a character’s inner thoughts, and has managed to write an outstanding novel with stream of conscious in the foreground of the novel.

When observing the character of Said, one might perceive him as a villain, who is fuelled by rage and revenge to hunt down his three new enemies. Without any flashbacks or external context provided by the stream of conscious, he is a very dislike-able character.  However, when the stream of conscious is introduced, it becomes increasingly clear that Said may even be considered as deserving of empathy. This means that the reader becomes familiar with his past life, his mentor who betrayed him, and his internal conflict, amongst other struggles. Therefore, it can be said that the flashbacks almost serve as a basis of pathos for the character. An example of this occurs in chapter 1, where Said reflects on his daughter, and characterises him as a loving father still, despite his murderous intent. "As the thought of her crossed his mind. The heat and the dust, the hatred and the pain all disappeared, leaving only love to glow across a soul as clear as a rain-washed sky.” This example employs imagery to characterise Said.

Mahfouz also uses the stream of conscious to develop the themes and motifs throughout the novel. One such example is the motif of the graveyard, serving as foreshadowing in the story. In chapter 11, Said reflects upon his parents being buried in one such graveyard. Another common motif expressed in this novel is that of betrayal. Said is a character who has been locked up for 4 years, and when released, finds himself in a new world. His previous mentor, Rauf, has now left what he stood for and became what he fought against. His now ex-wife and previous close friend Nabawiyya and Illish Sidra have now married. His daughter is scared of him and wants nothing to do with him. His life now crumbling apart is an important aspect in the novel, expressed by his inner thoughts written in the book, evoking empathy in the audience, sympathising for an unlikeable character.

Alongside this, if the stream of conscious were not to be used throughout the novel, Said would, needless to be said, be seen as a character with almost no emotions. Therefore, applying this s-o-c shows the reader the internal conflict which Said is facing, granting the novel much greater depth. One such example of this can be seen in chapter nine, when Said thinks about his relationship with Nur, reflecting on both love and heart ship. This is one of the first moments in the whole book in which Said’s weakness can be seen. This is a clear deviation to the classic literature version of a hero or protagonist. Without the stream of conscious, the character’s vulnerability would be hidden from the audience.

Translation of Literature

In his quote about being a translator, Amara Lakhous talks about how his job as a translator essentially broadens his horizon, and how being able to speak different languages he is able to leave on concealed island (island in this case means language language) to move along to the next. This allows him to build a connection between several sets of land. His idea of being a smuggler states that he perhaps takes his newly learnt languages/phrases, and takes them back to his original island.

This interpretation, language is seen as a jewel in every person's life. However, it is also what keeps you restricted in your island surrounded by the vast sea which loses translation. At this point, translators like Amara Lakhous or Fahmida Riaz come into place. Like Fahmida states, translating is an incredibly difficult task, almost similar to writing the book on a new level. Every word has its place in the whole in the original copy, which translators need to take into consideration. At times, his or her interpretation of the original novel must be taken into account when translating.

Nonetheless, there are limits to translating other languages into English. Fahmida gave the example of a word in Urdo, which has no one-to-one translation. Similarly, the controversy with Feng Tang again demonstrates the inability to translate specific words or phrases into another language. In other words, the difficulties in replicating structure allows the translation to lose meaning or context, as references in one language may not be understood in another.

However, different text types will have different degrees of difficulty in translation. Novels typically tend to be a slightly easier to translate than short pieces of literature such as poems. For poems, the structure, the rhythm, etc all play a role in the delivery and purpose behind it.

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

The text at hand, despite being chosen for a paper 1 exam, is a solid example for the context of language in Things Fall Apart. 

The author Ngugi structured his writing in 2 distinct topics or sections. The first part being a praise of his language and the ties to the culture and everything that belongs to his language. He discusses about how magical everything felt from creating songs, to education and using it to learn, and the “games [we] played with words through riddles, proverbs, […]”. However, in the last two paragraphs he mentions how “this harmony was broken” with the introduction of English as the language of education. By saying “all others had to bow before it in defence” he clearly states the superiority and might English had over other language, regardless of the fewer english colonists than Kenyans.

This relates to the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe because he exemplifies the importance of language to the Igbo. The constant usage of traditional Igbo words within the text helps the reader understand the significance specific words have in the culture. Along with this, the shared commonality of proverbs in both cultures play a major role in the description of both cultures, as a proverb is a saying which generally holds wisdom and truth. The usage of such proverbs and the extent to which a language can establish such traditional words to create “magical power” assists in determining the intricate structure of the culture and the importance of language within it. Achebe assumably chose to include this because this helps the reader form a connection and better understanding of the Igbo, and the effects colonisation had on them. In addition to this, it gives an insight and plausible excuses for some of the Igbo’s actions in response to the colonial powers settling in their land.

Okonkwo, Tragic Hero

In the novel "Things Fall Apart", the author Chinua Achebe characterises the protagonist Okonkwo as the tragic hero archetype. A tragic hero in the classical sense embodies a hero who "is noble in nature, has a tragic flaw and discovers his fate by his own actions". This is evident throughout the story and there are multiple reasons as to why Chinua Achebe chose to go with this theme.

The portrayal of the tragic hero archetype draws many parallels to the Igbo culture and the progression the story takes. For one, how the story is divided is also how Okonkwo's tale is divided. By this it is meant that the first part of the book establishes Okonkwo and the Igbo culture. The second part is when there is a turning point and Okonkwo is faced with serious trouble as he is exiled and the colonisers begin to spread across Igboland breaking down that culture. The third and last section of the book ventures through the end of Okonkwo as he kills the messenger and the broken Igbo culture does not support him, leading to his demise and also the end of the old Igbo culture. 

However, this is not the only point that can be made. The fact this this man not only impersonates, but also opposes the classical Igbo traditions is also an important factor as to why Achebe chose to characterise him the way he is. In many ways, he is the perfect Igbo man who owns a big farm, has a family, is wealthy and has titles to carry in honour. Nonetheless, his impatience and fear of failure are also his greatest enemy. The fact that he is flawed in this sense keeps the reader hooked onto this character and almost feel pity for him, as all he fights for diminishes in an instant and all of his culture and what he stood for deserts him to end the old ways, and open up to a westernised "new Igboland".

The Royal Colonial Institute Speech

Dear members, dear attendees, dear friends.

Today is a special day, a celebrated day of the year. Today is our annual dinner of the Royal Colonial Institute, of which I am beyond grateful and thankful to be a part of. We celebrate our achievements which we have accumulated throughout this year, and I am here to address a rather tendentious topic. We have colonies all over the world which have brought us where we are today. Nonetheless, there is one colony at hand which I would be honoured to discuss with you on this day.

Let me indulge you on a journey down to North-Western Africa. Just south of the Sahara, we have - yet another - colony. The Igbo culture. Over recent time, I have been informed discomfort with the existing colonialists present in Igboland. These reports did not settle, therefore I decided for myself to personally witness this at hand and draw conclusions from there. The reports did not disappoint.

I have made it my mission to get to know these people, to understand them. And so I did. The Igbo people were few of the kindest, open and accepting people I have ever come across in my lifetime. Yet to see them being mistreated to this extent makes my heart bleed.

How would you feel if - despite your acceptance of a new culture - had your own torn from you? They love their culture, and this intricate culture means everything to them. What do we do? We strip this from them, not even taking into consideration any possible harm we are causing them.

There is one other flaw we have. May I ask who of you knows how many cultures the Igbo consists of? I bet none of you know. In fact, I count on it. The culture consists of many many villages and is one of the most diverse cultures around the world. Each village has their own traditions and ways of living. We're classifying them as one Nigeria. Is thar morally correct in your opinion? Is this just?

I don't expect you to discuss this with me, I do however expect you to take this to heart. Not just to heart, but to think about this too. I ask you to do something about it. They embrace Christianity without a problem, they want to implement ideas, so why forcefully mistreat them to do what we want, instead of helping them fuse our cultures together as one?

Achebe Interview

For the discussion during Wednesday's class, an important take away was mostly the depiction of coloured people in literature of the western societies. To explain this, Achebe describes how africans were used in western literature and were described as savages and weren't given human properties such as a caring personality or being kind. Instead, they were uncaring animals nearly who were not ever given proper character and were mostly antagonised by the likes of Joseph Conrad amongst others.

A general idea the group used as a discussion point was the usage of English as a form of resistance, like discussed previously in Topic 3, Language, Power and Resistance. We had questions such as "Why do you think African's couldn't use English as a form of resistance in literature prior to the midst of the 20th century?". We used arguments to point out the possibility of ever publishing only arising at that point in time and the fact that independencies occurred around that time. In relation to this general idea, we also, again, discussed the idea that English can be used as a form of resistance. One argument for this was that if the suppressed are able to communicate and speak the language of the suppressor, then there is nothing for the suppressors to hold them above the suppressed, nothing that makes them more powerful in a non-violent way. I believe these ideas are quite interesting due to the fact that something as simple and non-physical such as language can have such a massive effect on colonisers and their usage of power.