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Stream of Consciousness

In his novel, 'The Thief and the Dogs' Mahfouz is seen using a stream of consciousness narration style in his novel. Specificity through an omniscient narrator being Said. The idea of an omniscient narrator is they they can comment on the thoughts, ideas and emotions of other character. For the novel of The Thief and the Dogs this narrator is Said. Speaking form, the perspective of someone who is just released form prison. In a stage called New Media Res. This builds characters of others in the novel as they were before his incarceration. where in that time they have changed? and thus... we see this implemented in Mahfouz's novel in the form of a flash back. 



Flash Backs are the specific tool he uses to create a stream of consciousness. through indirect diallage with other characters and inner reflection we are shown a new angle of Said’s development as a charchter.

Specific elements of character are described in terms of the theme of love and belonging. We learn that he was capable of compassion early on, and it is not as much as a surprise when we see like attention with Nur.

Some elements of language and style Mahfouz uses links to styles of tension. He uses Arabic words in direct translation in English to be read in Arabic. This shows that the translation is attempting to be true to the language.  

Mahfouz wrote his novel ‘the thief and the dogs’ durring the Egyptian revolution. A time of psychological realism that Mahfouz makes clear in the stream of consciousness narative style that was used as a driver towards comment on the post-revolutionary Egypt following Nasser’s rule. That gave Egypt a new beginning of re-birth and liberty. Mahfouz would experience some degree of paranoia and use stream of consciousness to communicate confections and personal civil unrest. We see this through Said’s exposure to duality of his own reality and that of the world.



This has link to another novel studied. Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’. The stream of sensuousness and consciousness as we see two omniscient narrators, Said and Okonknwo. We see similar relationships through parallel thought and ideas that develop the understanding of character relationships and intericnal conflicts with emotions.

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