Sheik - Character Analysis

With the use of existentialism and the stream of consciousness, Naguib Mahfouz describes the story of a tragic hero, Said Mahran and his progress throughout things fall apart, as he expresses his desire for vengeance towards Ilish, Nabaweeyah and Rauf. The struggles faced in The Thief and The Dogs, reflect the ongoing struggles in Egypt, dealing with oppression in an uprising revolution, as the validity of Said’s actions can directly be held against the validity of the Egyptian rule at the current time.

This idea, that The Theif and The Dogs represents the social struggles faced in Egypt at the time can be associated with the characters, being used to illustrate the unjust Egyptian rule and important struggles faced amongst them. 

In my opinion, Sheik represents peace in the text. This character can be seen as the moral voice of the novel, overflowing with wisdom. This is mainly due to the fact that he is extremely religious.

Sheik constantly provides religious advice to Said, to support his religious beliefs. He also found out about Said's intentions of carrying out his vengeance towards his former friends. Upon finding out this information, Sheik advices Said against violence, as he promotes peace. When he met Said for the first time, his words were "Peace be upon you". This is an immediate evidence of his peaceful perspective in the text. "Take a copy of the Quran and read....also repeat the words 'love is acceptance', which means obey his commands and refraining from what he prohibited and contentment with what he decrease and or day".

The Thief and The Dogs - Thesis Statement

With the use of existentialism and the stream of consciousness, Naguib Mahfouz describes the story of a tragic hero, Said Mahran and his progress throughout things fall apart, as he expresses his desire for vengeance towards Ilish, Nabaweeyah and Rauf. The struggles faced in The Thief and The Dogs, reflect the ongoing struggles in Egypt, dealing with oppression in an uprising revolution, as the validity of Said’s actions can directly be held against the validity of the Egyptian rule at the current time.

Stream Of Consciousness

The term "writing with substance" involves the utmost engagement of the reader. This is done through a plethora of writing techniques. Ultimately, if the content carries enough dimensions, upon which the reader immerses themselves in, the text is considered good. Often, these dimensions involve the reader gathering information about the characters in various ways. This information is usually discovered through reading conversations between characters and through first-person narration. In some cases, the level of immersion used in discovering new information involves reading the character's internal thought processes and line of thinking. 

This level of immersion is called the stream of consciousness. It is a method of narration that describes the flow of thoughts in the minds of the characters, in words. The stream of consciousness is often referred to as "interior monologue". The "narration" provides the readers with the sensation of being inside the characters minds. It provides a personal connection between character and reader, as characters, within the stream of consciousness, often mentally address the audience or other characters. Usually, the stream of consciousness is used as a revealing element in literature, as it is a clear method of communicating the idea of the plot. This is mainly done informally (generally lacking "proper" punctuation), as inner-thoughts are often thought in continuous sequences.

This example is the introductory (opening)  paragraph, in the literary text, The Door by E.B. White.

"Everything (he kept saying) is something it isn't. And everybody is always somewhere else. Maybe it was the city, being in the city, that made him feel how queer everything was and that it was something else. Maybe (he kept thinking) it was the names of the things. The names were tex and frequently koid. Or they were flex and oid or they were duroid (sani) or flexsan (duro), but everything was glass (but not quite glass) and the thing that you touched (the surface, washable, crease-resistant) was rubber, only it wasn't quite rubber and you didn't quite touch it but almost. The wall, which was glass but turned out on being approached not to be a wall, it was something else, it was an opening or doorway--and the doorway (through which he saw himself approaching) turned out to be something else, it was a wall. And what he had eaten not having agreed with him."

As demonstrated here, this paragraph is a stream of thoughts that carry out in sequence. This shows the difference between a typical narration and an internal monologue. The author clarifies himself with the use of words in brackets. This is done to further achieve a sense of personal engagement between the character and the reader. 

Lost In Translation

Culture. Culture is an elemental dictation of one's behavior. This accounts for personalities, ideas, beliefs and attitudes. The exchange of behavior within culture is done so through language. Language is a form of human communication. Language is used to exchange information. Literature is a form of expression. Literature is a tool for the communication of new ideas and old beliefs. Since different cultures have different perspectives and deal with different problems, the language used within the particular region is heavily influenced by the culture. This introduces the perspectives of the culture within the language.

When ideas are shared across regions through literature, the text must be translated to allow the foreign audience to grasp the message in a more relatable fashion. However, in this translation process, certain perspectives or ideas can not be accounted for in the foreign language, due to the lack of vocabulary used to perfectly describe the original message (perspective of the author). This in turn leaves the new translated message to appear as a text that comparatively lacks detail to the original. In some cases, vital sections from the original text are completely altered or even taken out to better suit foreign audiences. Based on the significance of the text, this starts to become a problem that affects foreign audiences. More importantly, the translated text could ignite some dispute between foreign audiences and audiences of the original text.

"Deception is just as bad as telling an outright lie"

This statement alone raises a number of social concerns, as it often reflects upon the "twisted" manner, among which several nations politically operate. The enormity of deception, compared to that of an outright lie can be best put to perspective, when being held against the reality of the situation, the truth. Deception is the act of deceiving someone. It is often looked at as the concealment of the truth. Deception involves the misrepresentation of a fact or reality. Alternatively, it can be seen as the act of “beating around the bush” or “circling the fact”. Lies on the other hand, are intentional false statements. The conscious fabrication of falsity. I strongly believe that deception is just as bad, if not worse, as telling an outright lie.

The reasoning for my beliefs is explained by looking at the end result at both ends of this “discrepancy”, i.e. the victim ends up accepting something that isn’t true. This makes lying and dissection, basically identical. The real difference is identified in the manner in which the falsity is delivered. When it comes to lying, it can easily be identified that the falsity is intentionally dispersed. Deception however, is more looked at as the implication of falsity, often identified as the mere suggestion of falsity. Lies are more easily traced, since they often emerge from a solid point, whereas deception is much harder to trace, as the falsity in it’s scenario is often only hinted. This means that the victim could possibly be held liable, usually on their ability to acquire and extract information. This shows how deception could be worse than telling an outright lie.

Black Lives Matter

The feeling of security is essential in maintaining public order. The police are meant to stand for protectionism and justice, but the current majority of their actions make them appear far from it. With over 10,000 complaints of police brutality this year alone - often with the excessive violence leading to fatalities - it becomes more than apparent that necessary action is a necessity.

The issue of "mainstream" police brutality almost seems expected, when being looked at from the eyes of an average African-American. About 60% of all African-American citizens experience a form of racial discrimination from police officers. 52% of crime witnesses say that it is not unusual for police officers to stop or intervene other police officers of saying out improper conduct.

This shows us how the people we appoint and ultimately depend on, to serve freedom and maintain the justice of our country, abuse their authorities. Is this for the sake of creating a social superiority? Are the police considered to be socially superior to the average American?

Every week, about 2 African-American lives are taken. This adds up to about 92 a year. What are we citizens expected to do when the "law" turns on us. In fact, a recent survey shows that 43% of officers   agree with the statement, "always following the rules is not compatible with getting the job done".

Original Article: http://lastresistance.com/13229/police-brutality-is-not-a-racial-issue/

Statistics: http://graphs.net/police-brutality-statistics.html

Munro - Literature Reflection

Literature can be defined as written material that is highly merited. It is essential in communication and self-expression. I feel like literature, is a great form of sharing information as human beings. It allows us to experience other time periods, cultures and backgrounds in a very personal level. Literature can provide authentic, real and influential information that can otherwise never be experienced to this level. It can also bring to life, fiction, which ignites in the minds of the readers - bringing the printed words to life - fueling their imagination. Literature can be motivational and informative. It can help us learn new skills outside reading and writing such as; public speaking, time management and morals, while still being entertaining. This could be accomplished through a dramatic story providing life lessons as the the story and it’s characters progress. Literature can be used to move other’s emotionally. It can be used to evolve generations through trends and raising awareness of both political and social awareness in a particular society or the entire world. In terms of writing, the limits are truly up to the author. 

Women have always been represented as the inferior gender in society, both politically and socially. Throughout the years, women have been objectified and redeemed as unimportant to society. However, over the years, this has changed due to literature and media. Women’s literature, to be specific. In terms of contributing to society, women were always inconspicuous, as men were seen to be the “lead taking”, “dominant”, “authoritative” gender. Women’s literature is quite literally, literature, written by women. It is generally targeted towards women, but can also be targeted to the general audience, to raise awareness on topics such as gender inequality, etc. The tone of women’s literature in generally informative, however, it can also be written in any genre that can talk about anything. I feel like it is important to understand women’s literature. as gender inequality is something that is still relevant in today’s society. Women are still being objectified and sexualized. I believe that women need to be identified as equal to men. The best way to do this is to raise awareness of the topic, and women’s literature is a great start.