The stream of consciousness technique in the Thief and the Dogs

Through Thief and the Dogs, Naguib Mahfouz was the first author to employ the stream of consciousness technique in conjunction with psychological realism in the Arabic literature world. He uses this technique to provide the reader with access to Said Mahran’s innermost thoughts and despairs. The stream of consciousness technique can be seen as a sort of selective omniscience where thoughts and sense impressions are mingled randomly. Specifically within this novel, we can see how this technique which switches from third person, to direct and indirect monologue helps characterize Said in detail and provides insight into the emotional, moral and intellectual realms of his mind. Since the novel is based on a mix of true stories that Mahfouz had observed around him, the technique of narration by which the story progresses is apt as the readers understand the characters’ actions and therefore the events are represented in a more plausible, authentic way.

Thief and the Dogs is a novel about Said Mahran, a skilled burglar who was given into police custody by Ilish Sidra, his right hand. To add to the treachery, his wife Nabawiyya married Ilish and took his daughter away from him. Driven by bitterness and the rage to kill, Said gets released from jail with only one intention, get his daughter back and kill the traitors. The story is arranged chronologically, albeit the reader goes back in time through Said’s perspective of what his life had been like before he was sent to jail. Through this Naguib Mahfouz further calls upon the reader to sympathize with Said as a person rather than as a burglar. This emphasizes the protagonist as a tragic hero and provides insight into his actions in the novel.

The novel is full of interesting shifts in narration. Whenever major events happen such as Said breaking into Rauf Ilwan’s house or when he shoots Shaban Husayn who he thinks to be Ilish Sidra, Mahfouz starts employing stream of consciousness and the story takes place in Said’s mind and through this the readers understand the criminal thought process of a broken man. It is also through the shift in narration to direct internal monologue that the reader is provided with flashbacks and backstories to all the characters involving Nabawiyya, Ilish, Rauf, the Sheikh as well as Amm Mahran, Said’s father and his relations with this characters before he went to jail. Mahfouz intends the readers to see the pre-speech levels of consciousness for the purpose of revealing Said Mahran’s psyche.

There are many advantages to writing in the stream of consciousness technique. It deviates from standard novels within literature as well as provides a new perspective of characters and gives life to them that makes them better relatable. Also, Naguib Mahfouz effectively integrates the stream of consciousness technique with psychological realism to make it an easy read unlike James Joyce’s Finnegan’s Wake or related books. Said Mahran is like us, he goes through betrayals and injustices throughout his lifetime just as every human being does but access to his mind and its composition provides evidence to why Said reacted the way he did and this creates an understanding of the novel as a whole. It can therefore be related to bigger concepts such as love, purpose of life and social status.

Thief and the Dogs is a great novel because of its elegance despite the content that it represents. The life of this tragic hero teaches the readers a life lesson on knowing when to move on and also provides insight into Egypt and the way society is structured.