Stream of Consciousness - TATD

How, why and to what effect does Mahfouz employ stream of consciousness narration in the novel?

Stream of consciousness is a type of narration that aims to reveal the psychic beings of characters. It allows readers to get a glimpse into the character's mental processes where thoughts, memories, feelings, and emotions are mixed with the conscious and subconscious thoughts of the character. Utilizing this mode of narration allows the author to place emphasis on the innermost thought of the character. This further develops characterization and builds a personality that readers can humanize and empathize with; therefore, adding on layers of depth and understanding to their characters that couldn't be built through simple narration such as first, second or third narration. 

Naguib Mahfouz was a pioneer in intertwining and utilizing the modernist style, realism and stream of consciousness in Arabic literature with his novel 'The Thief and the Dogs'. Throughout the novel, Mahfouz presents his protagonist, Said to his readers through different types of narration such as a third person, dialogue and stream of consciousness. By employing a stream of consciousness narrative, Mahfouz is ale to expose his readers to Said's inner thoughts and conflicts. Choosing to do this, has allowed Mahfouz to bring in parts of Said, such as his experiences with family, friends, lovers, and mentors in the past to the present time. This allows readers to further understand his current conflict as they are provided with answers as to why Said's choosing to this or that. Said is characterized as a more human character, and through his internal thoughts, we are not only able to empathize and which the est for him, but we are able to better understand his external conflicts through exposure to his past and present internal conflicts. 

A stream of consciousness narrative gives Said a chance to be more transparent to the readers. We are able to see his internal flaws and chaotic emotions and cause us to become more invested in the story - into Said's life after prison. In Chapter 11 we are given a glimpse into Siad's traumatic and difficult past with his mother and father. Though the event with his mother and the hospital occurred in his childhood, it is being told to us through a stream of consciousness in the present. This is because a stream of consciousness neglects the unity of time and place, thus allowing Mahfouz to move back and forth effortlessly. Through this part of the narrative, we see that Said took on a lot of responsibility at a young age after his father died. He almost died himself during his mother's illness. We are also exposed to how he felt after his mother was rejected by the 'prestigious and fancy' hospital due to their 'lower' status in society at the time. Because of this style of narration and our exposure to Saids sensations and uncensored thoughts we are able to feel a deeper sense of sympathy for Said and what he had to go through.  

Mahfouz writing this interior monologue and allowing Said's thoughts and emotions to take over also allow him to express his own political agenda that he has with this novel. Through this specific interior monologue, Mahfouz is able to shine a light on the unfair treatment of the lower class during the Egyptian revolution without explicitly mentioning anything about it. He highlights how the revolution affected citizens at the time. 

While using a stream of consciousness does have its benefits and adds a little something extra to a novel it is not without its limitations. The internal monologue of a character is completely biased. Being exposed to Said's internal thoughts and emotions only give us the story from his perspective. For instance, when it comes to Nabawiyya, we see her as someone who betrayed him. Readers are pushed towards supporting Said in his external conflict with Nabawiyya - at the end of the day, it was her of whole left him for Ilish. It's difficult for us to imagine any other scenario as we are tainted by Said's perspective on each and every character. 

Extension- Comment on how Mahfouz’s narrative style or purpose shares similarities or differences with Achebe.

Achebe and Mahfouz both utilize different techniques of narration in order to tell their story and achieve their respected purposes with their audiences. As we know, Mahfouz uses stream of consciousness narration with provides his readers with the internal thought sand emotions of his characters, through extremely subjective, allows us to develop a deeper more significant connection with the character. Mahfouz also uses the third person in order to progress the plot and story, however, returns to stream of consciousness when necessary and in order to enhance certain external conflicts by providing us with internal conflicts the character is battling. In contrast, Achebe sticks to a third-person perspective throughout Things Fall Apart. This approach creates some distance between the characters and the reader unlike stream of consciousness which allows us into the minds of the character. This allows readers to look at the novel from a more objective lens and conclude with their own judgment and perspectives on the characters, their conflicts, and their actions. This is also the case with Mahfouz to some extent as he doesn't necessarily provide the readers with the thoughts they should be having, or the reactions they should have. There is some freedom with TATD as well as the internal monologue, though it provides a subjective POV, which does allow us to react in our own way to the events of the novel.