The Passage:
The servant came in pushing a trolley laden with a bottle, two glasses, a pretty little violet-colored ice bucket, a dish of apples arranged in a pyramid, plates with hors d’oeuvres, and a silver water jug.
Rauf gestured to the servant to withdraw, filled two glasses himself and offered one to Said, raising the other: “To freedom.” While Said emptied his glass in one gulp, Rauf took a sip then said, “And how is your daughter? Oh, I forgot to ask you—why did you spend the night at Sheikh Ali’s?”
He doesn’t know what happened, thought Said, but he still remembers my daughter. And he gave Rauf a cold-blooded account of his misfortunes.
“So yesterday I paid a visit to al-Sayrafi lane,” he concluded. “There I found a detective waiting for me, as I’d expected, and my daughter disowned me and screamed in my face.” He helped himself to another whisky.
“This is a sad story. But your daughter isn’t to blame. She can’t remember you now.
Later on she’ll grow to know and love you.”
“I have no faith left in all her sex.”
“That’s how you feel now. But tomorrow, who knows how you’ll feel? You’ll change your opinion of your own accord. That’s the way of the world.”
The telephone rang. Rauf rose, picked up the receiver and listened for a moment. His face began to beam and he carried the telephone outside to the verandah, while Said’s sharp eyes registered everything. It must be a woman. A smile like that, strolling into the dark, could only mean a woman. He wondered if Ilwan was still unmarried. Though they sat there cozily drinking and chatting, Said now sensed that this meeting would be exceedingly difficult to repeat. The feeling was unaccountable, like the whispered premonition of some still undiagnosed cancerous growth, but he trusted it, relying on instinct. A resident now in one of those streets that Said had only visited as a burglar, after all, this man may have felt obliged to welcome him, having actually changed so much that only a shadow of the old self remained.”
The Analysis:
The servant came in pushing a trolley laden with a bottle, two glasses, a pretty little violet-colored ice bucket, a dish of apples arranged in a pyramid, plates with hors d’oeuvres, and a silver water jug.
Rauf gestured to the servant to withdraw, filled two glasses himself and offered one to Said, raising the other: “To freedom.” While Said emptied his glass in one gulp, Rauf took a sip then said, “And how is your daughter? Oh, I forgot to ask you—why did you spend the night at Sheikh Ali’s?”
He doesn’t know what happened, thought Said, but he still remembers my daughter. And he gave Rauf a cold-blooded account of his misfortunes.
“So yesterday I paid a visit to al-Sayrafi lane,” he concluded. “There I found a detective waiting for me, as I’d expected, and my daughter disowned me and screamed in my face.” He helped himself to another whisky.
“This is a sad story. But your daughter isn’t to blame. She can’t remember you now.
Later on she’ll grow to know and love you.”
“I have no faith left in all her sex.”
“That’s how you feel now. But tomorrow, who knows how you’ll feel? You’ll change your opinion of your own accord. That’s the way of the world.”
The telephone rang. Rauf rose, picked up the receiver and listened for a moment. His face began to beam and he carried the telephone outside to the verandah, while Said’s sharp eyes registered everything. It must be a woman. A smile like that, strolling into the dark, could only mean a woman. He wondered if Ilwan was still unmarried. Though they sat there cozily drinking and chatting, Said now sensed that this meeting would be exceedingly difficult to repeat. The feeling was unaccountable, like the whispered premonition of some still undiagnosed cancerous growth, but he trusted it, relying on instinct. A resident now in one of those streets that Said had only visited as a burglar, after all, this man may have felt obliged to welcome him, having actually changed so much that only a shadow of the old self remained.”
The Analysis:
With the introduction of such a statement “The servant came in pushing
a trolley laden with a bottle, two glasses, a pretty little violet-colored ice
bucket, a dish of apples arranged in a pyramid, plates with hors d’oeuvres, and
a silver water jug". Naguib, through the use of internal monologue, is able to successfully convey the hatred and distrust within the protagonist Said. This is implied as Naguib portrays the inner thoughts of the protagonist Said with great detail towards the valuable things that Rauf owns. This detail is symbolic (and perhaps foreshadowing) of Said's true-self (being a thief), mainly because of how well these objects were described within Said's self-consciousness. As for symbolism it demonstrates the contrast in social classes between Said and Raud, and how Said aspires to become like Rauf, and how highly valued Rauf is in Egyptian society.
After that Rauf's butler has served them with wine, Rauf says "To freedom". This line demonstrates the different perception of life varying between both characters. For Said, he feels that life has turned against him. After losing the last four years of his life, losing his daughter and his wife committing audeltry with his betraying friend. While on the other hand, Rauf, during the four years that Said spent in prison, has managed to crawl his way up to the upper-class, hence viewing the world he lives is as a world that is filled with freedom.
Moving along the lines in the passage, Said mentions his daughter disowning him the day he came out of jail, after four years of imagining his daughters smile. Rauf then starts to comfort him by saying "But your daughter isn’t to blame. She can’t remember you now. Later on she’ll grow to know and love you". This is ironic because Rauf used to be Saids mentor, as time passed by (relates to "grow to know you") they have become detached and each with their own perception of life.
Said then says, “I have no faith left in all her sex". The reason behind him not having faith is due to his wife committing adultery, then having a divorce while he is in prison and marrying his "once-was" friend. This further portrays how the whole situation deeply impacted his inner views towards women as a whole, contributing to his character being further developed in the text.
After that Rauf's butler has served them with wine, Rauf says "To freedom". This line demonstrates the different perception of life varying between both characters. For Said, he feels that life has turned against him. After losing the last four years of his life, losing his daughter and his wife committing audeltry with his betraying friend. While on the other hand, Rauf, during the four years that Said spent in prison, has managed to crawl his way up to the upper-class, hence viewing the world he lives is as a world that is filled with freedom.
Moving along the lines in the passage, Said mentions his daughter disowning him the day he came out of jail, after four years of imagining his daughters smile. Rauf then starts to comfort him by saying "But your daughter isn’t to blame. She can’t remember you now. Later on she’ll grow to know and love you". This is ironic because Rauf used to be Saids mentor, as time passed by (relates to "grow to know you") they have become detached and each with their own perception of life.
Said then says, “I have no faith left in all her sex". The reason behind him not having faith is due to his wife committing adultery, then having a divorce while he is in prison and marrying his "once-was" friend. This further portrays how the whole situation deeply impacted his inner views towards women as a whole, contributing to his character being further developed in the text.
inta aladit saif willa howeh aladak?
ReplyDeleteInteresting how you took the line "To freedom," and managed to link this to the different lives that Said and Rauf pursued after Said's imprisonment. Especially the notion that Rauf gave up his creative and idealistic freedom and achieved a different form of it, unlike Said who refused to change.
ReplyDelete