STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS


The novel The Thief and the Dogs, written by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz is a novel which is celebrated for its use stream of consciousness. The novel follows the life of Said Mahran, a thief released from prison and corrupted by malicious intent to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him. This novel was published in 1961, post Egyptian Revolution and Said struggles to cope with the conflict he experiences when exacting revenge on his enemies and adapting to the new society. These struggles can be followed by the reader through Mahfouz's use of the stream of consciousness technique. This technique is used because it helps the reader to understand Said's emotions and internal conflict and why Said commits the notorious actions that he does and which allows readers empathize with him.

The stream of consciousness technique is used in this novel through the present events which unfold which connect to a past experience, flashbacks and unfiltered narration. This technique is commonly used when the reader feels detest for the reader especially through the actions he commits. When this occurs a flashback or narration is used to humanize Said and allows readers to understand his internal conflict. An example of this is in chapter 10 when Said reflects on Sana's rejection of him which allows the readers to understand his hate for the traitors and enhances the understanding of his actions. This is an important flashback as it re informs of the betrayal that Said feels after Nabawiyya, Ilish and Rauf wronged him. This moment also indicates that Said is a man that feels emotions such as love which humanizes the character and creates empathy for Said.

Comments

  1. Wasif Khan4 February 2019 at 01:51

    This blog post allows for a substantial understanding of the stream of consciousness found in TTATD. You've successfully commented on the purpose of the stream of consciousness narrative, but you haven't fully explored the effect on the reader and identified elements of style in your post. I enjoyed how you gave an example of a story found in the novel, but another way to explain and explore the nature of the stream is to look at the style from the perspective of Mahfouz's context. How did his environment influence the stream? How did real life events shape particular aspects of the novel? Overall, a substantial blog post.

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  2. Unknown4 February 2019 at 01:54

    I like how you have set up the historical context of the novel. You have mentioned how the stream of consciousness has characterised Said.

    Past experiences and flashbacks could be expanded on because I think of it to be the same thing. Provide evidence from the book where you see unfiltered narration and what the effect is on the reader/significance of it. To beef up your blog, I think you could mention that it is a modernist novel and include what aspects make it a modernist novel - does it explore themes of alienation, absurdity of existence, and loveless life, etc. And why is it written as a modernist novel.

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  3. Unknown4 February 2019 at 01:54

    You’ve explained about the general information of the novel TATD, it allows the readers to understand and be ready to read what you are saying. I love the way you also connected with different narrative techniques (such as flashbacks and unfiltered narration. It could be better if you explained the definition of the “stream of consciousness” for better understanding. Great job! :)

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