Midaq Alley Naguib Mahfouz To what extent is Midaq Alley an “Arab” novel? Does this add to or detract from the novel’s overall impact on an international audience. The work of literature “Midaq Alley” by Naguib Mahfouz introduces the audience an Arab culture through his descriptions of different characters. Each character is used as an analogue‚ representing people in the alley with different beliefs and ambitions. Moreover‚ the characteristics of Mahfouz’s characters also draw international readers’
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“Man is named only to be forgotten and there’s never a heart that doesn’t change”(Mahfouz 284). The ending of Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz is successful in concluding the novel by using tone and irony in the ending of relationships. Throughout the novel there is a negative tone that is emphasis in the end of the novel through the actions that take place. The actions that take place at the end of the novel also are ironic‚ such as the death of Abbas and Hamida’s situation. Mahfouz ends the end of
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The theme of "Midaq Alley" cuts to the heart of Arab society. Namely‚ it shows how a group of characters living in the same slum neighborhood responds to the combined promise and threat of Western-influenced modernization. Midaq Alley is about the Egyptian residents of a hustling‚ packed back alley in Cairo in the 1940’s. The attempts of several residents to escape the alley and move up in status end with dreams broken and unfulfilled. The opening sentences of "Midaq Alley" points to a world bypassed
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Sebastian Torres-Torija Midaq Alley Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz is the entertaining story of a unique local alley in Cairo who demonstrates on a day-to-day basis the true colors of a quintessential low class Egyptian society‚ in a contrast with a present day Egypt that hopes to modernize as the end of World War II occurs. It is the characters that inhabit this alley‚ along with their individual and communal stories and links that they share that excel this novel into a state of utter glory
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The Theme of Work in Metamorphosis and Midaq Alley In Kafka’s Metamorphosis and Mahfouz’s Midaq Alley‚ the characters are all stifled by their need for work‚ which defines how well they will be recognized and respected in society. The residents of Midaq Alley‚ Cairo struggled to elevate their social status and their consciousness was disrupted by war. In Metamorphosis‚ which is set in Prague shows how Gregory Samsa‚ work hard to provide for his family until he transformed into a giant bug due to
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Throughout the novel “Midaq Alley” Naguib Mahfouz uses a large array of female characters to emphasise the change in the roles of women in the secluded town of Midaq Alley which was used and created in the novel by Mahfouz to represent the whole of Egypt in order to make changes and problems to Egypt apparent to the reader. Mahfouz created the character “Umm Hamida” in the novel for lots of reasons throughout the novel but the most significant of these reasons was to use her as an example of a working
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Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz is a novel about a street full of colorful Egyptians coping with life towards the end of World War II. The role of women in marriage and Egyptian society is clearly shown in the novel. The traditional gender roles in Egypt began to shift during the novel. Due to the war‚ women started to go work‚ for example Hamida’s factory girl friends in Midaq Alley. Additionally‚ many of the women in Midaq Alley hold power over men. Husniya is strong and fierce‚ and reverses the
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Author Naguib Mahfouz’s novel Midaq Alley follows the lives of several inhabitants who live among an alley in Cairo during the 1940s in the period of World War II. The alley consists of some shops and homes and many poor residents. Zaita had made a business capitalizing on the large population of Midaq Alley’s residents who are impoverished. This interesting character makes a living off of these poor residents and as a result is a large success. However in the end of this tale‚ Zaita’s shady dealings
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20th century themes in Midaq Alley Cairo Egypt‚ as well as the rest of the world today‚ is going through fast changes quite often. In Midaq Alley‚ Naguib Mafhouz slows down the fast paced changes in Cairo during World War 2 by revealing the intimate lives of the Alley inhabitants. The roles that the characters are born into are no longer wanted by the younger generations due to the hopeful gains offered in the material world. By referring to and utilizing the four 20th century themes of‚ global
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defines Muslim civilization as a constant struggle to contain the effects of women’s sexual power over men‚ for this power can destroy men and keep them from Allah. Mernissi also discusses how marriage was used as a way of taming women. Well in Midaq Alley‚ Mahfouz proves that that theory does not always work. Husniya regularly beats her husband‚ Jaada‚ she does not need to use her fitna to exert her power over Jaada. Instead‚ she straight up uses her physical force. However‚ Zaita‚ the cripple-maker
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