Blog Post #31 - TATD - Said Passage Analysis

Quote:

"That was how your own parents were buried: your father, Amm Mahran, the kindly concierge of the student’s hostel, who died middle-aged after a hard but honest and satisfying life. You helped him in his work from your childhood on. For all the extreme simplicity, even poverty of their lives, the family enjoyed sitting together when the day’s work was done, in their ground-floor room at the entrance to the building, where Amm Mahran and his wife would chat together while their child played. His piety made him happy, and the students respected him. The only entertainment he knew was making pilgrimage to the home of Sheikh Ali al-Junaydi, and it was through your father that you came to know the house. “Come along,” he’d say, “and I’ll show you how to have more fun than playing in the fields. You’ll see how sweet life can be, what it’s like in an atmosphere of godliness."

Passage Analysis - Page 101:

In chapter eleven, the reader begins to see a lot of characteristics of said that we have not seen before, as we begin to see flashbacks to Said’s childhood. Through the use of flashbacks, we are shown that both of his parents died at a young age, and as a result of this he was forced to grow up by himself which led him to a life of a thief, but within this passage, we can develop an understanding that the Sheikh was of significant importance to Said throughout his childhood. In the passage, we see that Said’s father introduced him to the Sheikh.

In the passage above, there is a quote; “The only entertainment he knew was making pilgrimage to the home of Sheikh Ali al- Junaydi, and it was through your father that you came to know the house.” This quote reinforces his relationship with the Sheikh, as well as the simplicity his childhood followed, further characterizing Said. This characterization will create a level of tension for the reader, allowing them to feel more sympathy towards Said. This characterization shows the reader the bond Said had with his father. Although this bond was not strong, they both respected each other, and this is had kept them from clashing based on their characters.

The chosen passage provides the reader with a background picture of what Said Mahran has come from, through the use of flashbacks. In the thief and the dogs, the flashbacks have been delivered through the use stream of consciousness which enables the reader to characterize the protagonist better than if they were unorganized thoughts. The stream of consciousness thoughts allows the reader to see what has lead the protagonist to do what he does, and this is important in order to see what has influenced him to be the way he is.

Finally, this text shows that Said has come from a poorer upbringing, which his father was a middle-class man who died after a hard but satisfying life. Furthermore, this text highlights that said was a tragic hero, as he stole from the upper class for his own benefit.