Fate of a Cockroach Analysis

Al-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach was first published in 1966. In my opinion, al-Hakim asserts that man has no control over his own fate as the central theme of his play. The belief that one can control his or her fate consequently leads to an obsession with attaining knowledge and power. Through his male characters, Al-Hakim intended to describe the nature of man as presumptuous, self-centered and obsessed with scientific pursuits. Alternatively, the women in his play closely epitomize the humbling phenomena of nature. Within the play, the Queen cockroach and Samia are characterized as ego effacing in events of their husband’s self-aggrandizement. Similarly, we are all confronted with our insignificance in the world when the powerful hand of nature crashes down upon us in the event of a natural disaster. Thus, it can be concluded that al-Hakim believes nature is where ‘power’ truly lies in our world. In terms of Fate of a Cockroach, man’s greatest flaw is the created ideology that we are significant enough to control our own fate.
Al-Hakim’s play is separated into two instances within different worlds, yet both play a significant part in what happens in the other. Act I is set in the bathroom of Adil and Samia, his main human characters, but seen through the eyes of the King and Queen cockroach and their subjects. Act II centers around a hectic morning between husband and wife as they each prepare for their day. Adil proves to be Al-Hakim’s ‘personified cockroach’, as he finds himself captivated by the struggle of the King cockroach to climb up the slippery walls of the porcelain tub, as well as connected to it’s persistent will to live. With this knowledge, the audience can infer that the cockroaches’ world is a microcosm of modern human society. Therefore, any conclusions made about the nature of the cockroach and his kingdom can be paralleled to the nature of humans and civilization. The beginning of the play illustrates the distribution of power within the