The way that Naguib Mahfouz has developed Said Mahran in the novel of “The Thief and the dogs.” Has gave us as readers an idea of how the author feels about the state of the country in general, using Said’s storyline and issues as a layout to a bigger issue that concerns the author himself. One of the main themes of the novel is the State of Consciousness and that is how the storyline helps the reader know more about the protagonist through the development of his issues beginning to understand about his inner feelings etc. This was shown in the novel through Said who was released from prison after 4 years however, he cam out knowing that he had a daughter, wife, and his best friend all waiting for him expecting his life to go back to normal. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen and throughout the novel we begin to see the difficulties that Said begin to face and the struggle of coping with the eventful occurrences that he has been subjected to. Said, begins to feel paranoid and loses trust to many of the people that surround him. Feeling that he will be betrayed as he was betrayed by Ilish and Rauf. This links back to Mahfouz as he also felt betrayed while writing the novel, betrayed by the promises that were given and never completed.
Saids state of consciousness could’ve also been supported by the numerous amounts of flashbacks that he has had throughout the novel shows how the remembrance of these events has filled him with inner rage that he can’t hold back. As readers we begin to understand why as these flashbacks begin to give as a clearer idea of Said’s true feeling towards the characters of the story. Specifically, Nabaweya, Rauf, and Ilish. These were a main factor that developed Said’s rage and can be linked to how Mahfouz had an inner rage/revolution within him towards Gamal Abd-El Nasser who also seemed as a trust worthy leader who Mahfouz depended on to follow through with what he promised eventually betraying him and failing to deliver as promised.
Due to the novel being as fast paced as it is, it was difficult to follow through with Said however, unlike the Arabic text written originally. The translated version does have an italic section that helps follow through with Said’s inner thoughts which creates an emotional link between the reader and the protagonist, creating the image of a tragic hero. This couldn’t be seen in the Arabic text due to the Arabic typing which can’t be switched to italic.
Eventually, the whole novel was written looking at the persepective of Naguib Mahfouz to Egypt’s state after the 52 revolution, and how Egyptians were promised by the leader and president Gamal Abd-El Nasser, and never received. The novel portrays the need of revenge by the author towards the government through the characters of Ilish and Rauf who seemed loyal to Said at the beginning eventually betraying him.
