Passage Analysis - Said Mahran's characterization

Passage: 

"Give yourself up," a triumphant voice shouted. "There's no purpose in resisting." 

The ground shook now with the thud of heavy feet surrounding him and the light spread all around, like the sun. 

"Give yourself up, Said," the voice said firmly. 

He crouched closer still to the tomb, ready to open fire, turning his head in all directions. 

"Surrender," came another shout, confident, reassuring and dignified, "and I promise you, you'll be treated with all humanity." 

Like the humanity of Rauf, Nabawiyya, Ilish and the dogs, no doubt?_ "You're surrounded on all sides. The whole cemetery is surrounded. Think it over carefully, Said. Give yourself up." 

Sure that the enormous and irregular multitude of the tombs prevented them from actually seeing him, Said made no movement. He had decided on death. 

"Can't you see there's no point in resistance?" the firm voice shouted.

It seemed to be nearer now than before and Said shouted back warningly:"Any closer and I'll shoot.""Very well, then. What do you want to do? Make your choice between death and 

"Justice indeed!" Said yelled scornfully."You're being very stubborn. You've got one minute more."His fear-tortured eyes could see the phantom of death now, stalking through the dark. Sana had turned away from him in alarm, hopelessly.He sensed surreptitious movement near, flared with rage, and opened fire. The bullets coming to justice."

showered in, their whistle filling his ears, chips flying from tombs all around. He fired again, oblivious to danger now, and more bullets pelted in. "You dogs, you!" he raved in a frenzy of rage and more shots came in from all sides. 

Suddenly the blinding light went out, and the firing stopped; there was darkness again and quietly fell. He, too, wasn't firing anymore. Slowly the silence was spreading until all the world seemed gripped in some strange stupefaction. He wondered . . . ? But the question and even its subject seemed to dissolve, leaving no traces. Perhaps, he thought, they had retreated, slipped away into the night. Why then he must have won! 

The darkness was thicker now and he could see nothing at all, not even the outlines of the tombs as if nothing wished to be seen. He was slipping away into endless depths, not knowing for himself either position, place or purpose. As hard as he could, he tried to gain control of something, no matter what. To exert one last act of resistance. To capture one last recalcitrant memory. But finally, because he had to succumb and not caring, he surrendered. Not caring at all now. 

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Analysis: 

The following passage is an extract from Chapter 18 which concludes the novel. Wherein the author, Naguib intentionally employs numerous literary features to fully describe the ineludible and untimely death of the protagonist, Said Mahran. Said is now in the same cemetery he viewed from Nur’s room and was pointed out several times in previous chapters for the purpose of foreshadowing his current end. He is there as part of his failed attempt at running away from the police when they start chasing him. Said was found by the dogs who lead the policemen to him, an instance that is also foreshadowed in previous chapters when to Said’s dismay, he realizes he forgot the police uniform he made before Nur’s disappearance. He is now helpless and the thief finally decides to give chase to the dogs.

However, adding to Said’s initial certainty of escaping, he seems to be confident in defeating the policemen even at the onset of this passage. He believes the tombs he is hiding behind are barriers the policeman cannot transcend. This is evident as he does not present himself to the policemen. In doing so, Mahfouz sheds on Said’s delusional nature and its endless extent which ultimately lead to the police finding him. Moreover, he rages and opens fire as he senses not far off from him the presence of policemen. The result of his action elevates the plot and it reaches its climax at this point. However, a sudden absence of noise and light prevails. Said’s world is now darker than it ever has been. By now, Said facing death has already been manifested to the reader, but to our surprise, Said nonetheless expresses his joy of defeating the policeman and finally slips out of consciousness. Again, his misapprehension of events has lead to his ultimate downfall (death). By the end of the passage, he finally surrenders to the policeman and death but simultaneously expresses his lack of emotion and regard to life.

The reader is able to draw such conclusions owing to the excessive and detailed imagery integrated by Naguib. In doing so, Mahfouz allows the reader to easily visualize the scene, engage with and respond to the novel. Mahfouz also chose to depict this event from Said’s point of view in an indirect internal monologue whereby he is the presenter of the unfiltered and uncensored thoughts before he could even rationalize it. This gives the reader privileged access to Said’s mind and emotions. Mahfouz does this deliberately by concluding his novel in this manner. He chose to do so for many reasons but most importantly, to deliver a strong message carried by a strong impact on the projected audience. Mahfouz choosing to deliver Said’s thoughts using the stream of conciseness narration style has enabled the vulnerability of Said’s even last thoughts and actively witness his death. This could be interpreted as an element which places emphasis on Said’s solitude which he always pointed out when engaging with Nur’s conversations in previous chapters. Additionally, Mahfouz leaves some interpretations and assumptions to be made by the reader using the indirect interior monologue style to direct towards Said’s thoughts. In conjunction with a third person narration which would have focused on other factors.

Considering the strong impact on the reader, it is unquestionable that the passage is quite fast-paced. The monologues and dialogues facilitate that. The tone carried in them is easily established as loud and fear-inducing. It maximizes suspense and further engages the reader with the ongoing action-packed events. Though the beginning of the passage is an interplay between both monologues and dialogues. Post-shooting, the reader is only exposed and fixated on Said’s emotions and thoughts. As aforementioned, Said’s inability to move on and forgive those who brought about his initial damnation has fueled his actions. these included illegal acts that are perpetuated by ill-managed plans that also harmed the innocent. Said’s sense of pride seems to take over him and thus he constantly expresses his bitterness towards those who betrayed him by spluttering curses at them. Said continues to allow his hate to drive him until he becomes depressed and hopeless. The novel and specifically this passage also highlights the theme of emptiness, loneliness and depression as Naguib references the sudden darkness in the cemetery to symbolize Said’s loss of hope.

Expectedly, the characterization of Said throughout the novel is what defines him as he faces death, for his recklessness is portrayed even in the novel’s conclusion: ”He did not care anymore." where the built-up tension from the fast-paced setting during the shooting is ebbed, yet the reader is left with assumptions to make and an emptiness, that coincides with Said’s. This could be Mahfouz’s attempt of indirectly expressing the uselessness of resisting the authorities such as Nasser’s regime which constantly censored intellectuals like himself.