Passage:
Said started back in fright, darting in again between the
tombs while the barking grew louder. He pressed his back against a tomb and
took out his gun, staring out into the darkness resignedly. There it was. The
dogs had come at last and there was no hope left. The scoundrels were safe, if
only for a while. His life had made its last utterance, saying that it had all
been in vain.
It was impossible to
tell precisely where the barking came from; it was carried in on the air from
all around. It was hopeless now to think of fleeing from the dark by running
away into the dark. The scoundrels had indeed got away with it; his life was a
proven failure. The barking and the commotion were very close now and soon,
Said knew, all the malice and revengefulness he'd been running from would be
breathed right into his face. He held his gun poised as the barking grew ever
louder and closer. And suddenly there was blinding light over the whole area.
He shut his eyes and crouched at the base of the tomb. "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 coming
to justice." "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 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 quiet fell. He, too, wasn't firing
any more. 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.
Analysis:
Within the core of this passage lies the deep-rooted characterization of Said Mahran as the stubborn protagonist, unable to move on with his life due to his heavy thirst for revenge.
Despite being greatly outnumbered, Said unleashes his gun. Only
in this moment he realizes that his long continued plans are on the verge of
failure. However instead of surrendering to the police, he continues to run
away and fight back. The repetition of “give yourself up” and “surrender”,
loudly articulated by the police, further projected Said’s resistance and stubbornness, as these characteristics were present from the start of his descending journey
until his last breaths. Once the police assure Said of his humanity, Mahfouz
integrates stream of consciousness when Said says to himself “Like the humanity
of Rauf, Nabawiyya, Ilish and the dogs, no doubt”. This form of sarcasm is a
direct reference to his major tragic flaw regarding his inability to move on and
change, as this grudge held towards those who betrayed him was still present during
such time of crisis. Moreover the term “dogs” is stated during this phrase as
well as “You dogs, you!”. The repetition of this animal metaphor is targeted at
all those who betrayed Said. This is significant as Said is continuously singling
himself out as the victim, where he believes everyone is against him and he is
the only one that is doing everything right. As a result, this fuels his anger
and thus his constant drive for revenge, as he cannot register anything else
but killing his enemies. Now that he is cornered by the “dogs”, in which were
Said’s last words, he is ironically overthrown by them. Nonetheless, Said’s persistent and
stubborn character further shines through after his death where he assumes that
he has won after experiencing complete darkness. Mahfouz seamlessly employs
third person narration to describe this as well as Said’s final state of mind: “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.”
This being the last portion of the novel concludes and reaffirms Said’s
lost self, which begun during his reversal of fortunes when he was betrayed and
sent to prison. Despite his release he was already in a state of decline, which
triggered instability within his psychological state. Furthermore, Said’s perseverance
is apparent from his attempts to resist even during his last moments.
Nonetheless, his lack of power and defeat by the police resulted in his
surrender. This circular representation of Said, in which portrayed him as a
tragic hero, was the source of his death.