TATD Said Passage Analysis

I have selected the page #60 of TATD


In my passage, there is a clear sudden moment and change in the character of Said Mahran as he starts to admit to himself that he is in love with her and does not want to be alone. Throughout the novel, we have seen Said run away from this particular emotion and run towards anger. The narrative is a mix of dialogue and omniscient narration. During the narration, it reveals rhetorical questions asked from the perspective of Said Mahran, this is used to sympathise with Said in his misfortunate times. This passage is also a great demonstration of how he can manipulate the officers showing his smarts. The action of Said Mahran, returning back to the Nur's home dictates his love and the break of perspective to the reality of his loneliness. It starts to make sense that he will start to lose his thoughts as the build-up is significant with his new obsession of Nur. The pacing of this passage is fast as it shifts quickly from scene to scene while still keeping the narrative of this passage.

TATD Stream of Consciousness Narration- Blog Post

The depiction of Said Mahran bears many similarities to the author of the novel, as his frustrations and inner thinks to match that of the author. One of the themes in the story is known as Stream of Consciousness, in which, it allows the reader to interpret the emotions and mental state of mind of the protagonist. The stream of consciousness can allow the reader to understand the mental state the protagonist is in. For example, In the beginning, Said Mahran is calm and has organized thoughts this showing the audience he is in a good state of mind, contrasting that to him later in the novel, in which, he is disorganized and is in a constant state of paranoia. The author represents paranoia especially well, as the author was in a constant state of paranoia himself while writing the novel.

The use of italic wording allows for the reader to understand that these are the inner thoughts of Said. Italic is shown from the beginning, as he is released from jail. An important notice is that the Arabic version of the book does not have this stylistic feature. Due to the constant narrative switch creates a fast-paced story. Allowing of the inner thinking’s of Said allows for sympathy, in turn, creating a tragic hero for the readers to sympathise.

The theme allows for his evolution through the novel in which he starts to slowly lose himself in this hate-filled revenge. The initial shift of tone can be seen when Said’s daughter rejects him, thus kick-starting his schemes.

When understanding Said’s struggle, it correlates to the author’s own struggles. In a interview it is pointed out that his frustrations with Egypt at the time of revolution is shown on Said. The thirst of revenge against the government allows the author feels is replicated within Said. The character gets lost in his thoughts that his appearance to the outside world is disregarded.