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Blog Post 34 - Fate (Thief and the Dogs)

How does Mahfouz illustrate how fate is a major determiner of one’s happiness in life? Mahfouz uses various elements to portray the characters in the novel by reflecting values in existing communities in the novel. Mahfouz uses freedom and free will to showcase the historical changes in Egypt - an to what extent my influence/challenge individuals in the era. With this idea, Mahfouz implements a mind set of 'freedom' & 'free -will' (within the context), to show the significance individual and/or group power. Said is illustrated in a way to showcase how fate is a determiner to one's happiness. This is derived from the upbringing (childhood), where he was born in an impoverished household (family belonging to the lower socioeconomic status in the community). Losing both his parents resulted in having Said commit his first theft. Mahfouz is allowing the reader to understand the economic factors that occurred in Egypt - and as a result, lead to ramifications to whi

Blog Post 33 - The Thief and the Dogs Passage analysis

Passage - pg 128 "But you go outside so carelessly. You're obsessed with killing your wife and this other man. You won't kill them. But you will bring about your own destruction." "What did you hear in town?" "The taxi-driver who brought me home was on your side. But he said you'd killed some poor innocent fellow." Said grunted irritably and forestalled any expression of regret by taking another big swallow, gesturing at Nur to drink too. She raised the glass to her lips. "What else did you hear?" he said. "On the houseboat where I spent the evening one man said you act as a stimulant, a diversion to relieve peoples' boredom." "And what did you reply?" "Nothing at all," Nur said pouting. "But I do defend you; and you don't look after yourself at all. You don't love me either. But to me you're more precious than my life itself; I've never in my whole life kno

Blog Post 32 - Stream of Consciousness

A Stream of Consciousness is a technique used to allow an author to share and present internal thoughts, conflict and emotions of a character to make it seem direct towards the audience as well as make the character seem more realistic. Through this, an author uses various techniques such as interior monologue, third person narration and first person narration to reflect the character's internal processes. Within the novel of The Thief and the Dogs, Mahfouz uses these techniques effectively - more  so, uses them most often, sometimes in one chapter. Using this technique, he is able to organizes the events of the novel in a way to present various themes and further develop characterization,as well as balancing the events within chapters. When using this technique, we are able to see many sides to Said's character based on his conflicts. Starting from the first chapter, we see that Said is trying to mend his relationship with his daughter, however, finds himself in a situati

Blog post 31 - Translation

Translation is the process of converting text and word from one language to another. Translated text provides insight about a particular culture or context from the original text. This allows individuals (who aren't as familiar with a certain language and context) develop their understanding of certain cultural practices and present insight on the context that the novel or text is placed in, as well as clarify any confusion of a particular historical context or culture. Translated text provides several benefits; it reaches a wider audience and introduces insights in a particular aspect (eg. historical context). By reading translated text, it helps you understand cultural practices, especially when travelling; it influences your character to appreciate all the different aspects of a certain culture. Translation also allows you to understand cultural differences and identities. Translators need to develop a unique style in language and genre to create an artistic yet not derive o

Blog Post 30 - Pastiche/ Parody

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Gender Discrimination steals a woman's future Summary of Opinion column:  The opinion column discusses the differences between gender roles in society. Women are seen as individuals who are incapable to look after themselves. This shows how dependent they are towards males because of their cultural values and beliefs. Through this article, the idea of socialism is portrayed, whereby women can only achieve fortune and greatness through marriage. Furthermore, it expresses the gender inequality in the workplace, which displays how women are often overlooked by their skills and work ethnic. It provides examples of situations where women were judged in the workplace because of their femininity and treated unfairly, by major differences in salaries between males and females. It stated that men's salaries are 85% greater than females. It goes on by saying that many women who have gone through similar situations are afraid to take legal action because they are internally or exter

Blog Post 29 - Coriolanus IOC

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Blog post 28. - IOC Practice

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IOC Practice -  Boys And Girls