Characterization of Said - Chapter 16

Passage: Chapter 16- Disappearance of Nur

Once there he found it as empty as when he'd left, with only more loneliness, boredom, and worry there to meet him. He took off his jacket and threw himself down on to a sofa in the dark. His own sad voice came to him audibly: "Nur, where are you?" 

All was not well with her, that was obvious. Had the police arrested her? Had some louts attacked her? She was bound to be in some sort of trouble. Emotions and instincts told him that much; and that he would never see Nur again. The thought choked him with despair, not merely because he would soon lose a safe hiding place, but because he also knew he'd lost affection and companionship as well. He saw her there in the dark before him--Nur, with all her smiles and fun-making, her love and her unhappiness--and the terrible depression he felt made him aware that she had penetrated much deeper within him than he had imagined, that she had become a part of him, and that she should never have been separated from this life of his which was in shreds and tottering on the brink of an abyss. Closing his eyes in the darkness, he silently acknowledged that he did love her and that he would not hesitate to give his own life to bring her back safe. Then one thought made him growl in anger: "And yet would her destruction cause so much as a single ripple anywhere?" 

No, definitely not. Not even a pretense of grief would be made for loss of Nur, who was only a woman with no protector, adrift on a sea of waves either indifferent or hostile. And Sana, too, might well find herself one day with no one who cared to look after her. These thoughts scared and angered him and he gripped his gun and pointed it in front of him in the dark, as though warning the unknown. In deep despair, delirious in the silence and dark, he began to sob; and sobbed until late in the night sleep finally overcame him. 

Analysis Of Passage:

This passage is situated in chapter 16 of “The Thief and Dogs”, where Nur as left Said after he has accidentally killed the doorman of Rauf Ilwan. In this chapter, Nur does not return to her flat and Said anxiously waits for her return. Nur’s disappearance in conjunction with Said’s worsening mental ability, reveals the psychological complexity and humanity of Said. Throughout the novel, the audience is exposed to Said’s reckless need for revenge and abonnement of his morals (killing two innocent men).

This moment is a significant moment in the text as it characterizes Said as more than a murder and humanizes him. Mahfouz reveals Said’s vulnerability and evokes empathy and sympathy for Said as everyone Said loved left him. Mahfouz characterizes Said who is terrified of loneliness. Said paranoia for Nur; “Had the police arrested her? Had some louts attacked her?”; reveals the love that he has garnered for Nur and the worry that he has for her. His anger, loss, and hurt makes him think of Sana and Nur, the only women he loves at this point in the dark, and points his revolver to the dark, “as through to warn the unknown”. This exemplifies the theme of paranoia, confusion, and feeling of being prosecuted under a new political system.

This to some extent can be seen as Said’s peripeteia as the actions of Said causes a shift in his emotional state as he realizes that Nur as left him because of the what Said did. However, Said’s hubris continues his drive to kill the people that wronged him and resistance to the government which results in his death by police in chapter 18.