“Then he looked up, saying nothing. “It’s no use. You’ll always be worthless and you’ll die a worthless death. The best thing I can do now is hand you over to the police.”
Said blinked, gulped, and lowered his eyes again.
“What have you come for?” Rauf demanded angrily. “You treat me as an enemy. You’ve forgotten my kindness, my charity. You feel nothing but malice and envy. I know your thoughts, as clearly as I know your actions.”
His eyes still wandering over the floor, Said muttered, “I feel dizzy. Peculiar. It’s been like that ever since I came out of jail.”
“Liar! Don’t try to deceive me. You thought I’d become one of the rich I used to attack.”
And with that in mind you wished to treat me—”
“It’s not true.”
“Then why did you break into my house? Why do you want to rob me?”
“I don’t know,” Said said, after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m not in my proper state of mind. But you don’t believe me.”
“Of course I don’t. You know you’re lying.
My good advice didn’t persuade you. Your envy and arrogance were aroused, so you rushed in headlong as always, like a madman. Suit yourself, do what you like, but you’ll find yourself in jail again.”
Said blinked, gulped, and lowered his eyes again.
“What have you come for?” Rauf demanded angrily. “You treat me as an enemy. You’ve forgotten my kindness, my charity. You feel nothing but malice and envy. I know your thoughts, as clearly as I know your actions.”
His eyes still wandering over the floor, Said muttered, “I feel dizzy. Peculiar. It’s been like that ever since I came out of jail.”
“Liar! Don’t try to deceive me. You thought I’d become one of the rich I used to attack.”
And with that in mind you wished to treat me—”
“It’s not true.”
“Then why did you break into my house? Why do you want to rob me?”
“I don’t know,” Said said, after a moment’s hesitation. “I’m not in my proper state of mind. But you don’t believe me.”
“Of course I don’t. You know you’re lying.
My good advice didn’t persuade you. Your envy and arrogance were aroused, so you rushed in headlong as always, like a madman. Suit yourself, do what you like, but you’ll find yourself in jail again.”
This excerpt expresses Rauf’s anger towards Said. Chapter 5 introduces Rauf and Nur; two of Said’s past friends that used to steal from the rich with him and us to two new characters. At this point in the book, Said has attempted to break into Rauf’s house and steal from him. After his confrontation with Nabawwiya and Illish, Said assumes that all of his friends have turned on him and that. In this excerpt, we see that Said’s character starts to deteriorate and his internal motives start to turn into an intangible that guide his behavior. After the assumption that all his friends are now similar to Illish and Nabawiya, he decided the only way to gain an update on Rauf’s status is by robbing his hose. This is quite ironic as Rauf and Said used to rob the houses of the rich before Said’s imprisonment.
Firstly, this passage starts off as Rauf contemplates whether or not to hand Said over to the police. By his repetition of the word worthless, he expresses his current feelings towards Said as he catches him attempt to rob the house. His disappointment towards Said’s action has evoked this tone and it can be seen as if his conscious is starting to speak for him or convince him about Said. This repetition can evoke a sense of anger and disappointment. This tone of anger also starts to reveal even more as the third person omniscient narration describes Rauf’s demand in line 5. “What have you come for?” He starts to analyze Said’s actions and bring back the past. This shows how Said’s character is in a certain trans of mistrust that has allowed him to cut off any relationships of his past. Unlike his previous nostalgic phase, he believes that the only way to gain from hi s
It has been realized that Said’s character does not really speak or communicate with Rauf. The narrator describes his dialogue with words such as “muttered.” Said is even offered a way out of his terrible predicament and evil plans through a possible emotional attachment with the character.. And yet again, we see his insanity get the better of him and keep him from what would truly make him happy. This lack of communication can show his guilt in attempting to steal Rauf's house. However, readers ee that he still seeks to pursue his plan throughout the book. Providing evidence to show that his internal struggles in the desire to seek revenge and retaliation is still
It has been realized that Said’s character does not really speak or communicate with Rauf. The narrator describes his dialogue with words such as “muttered.” Said is even offered a way out of his terrible predicament and evil plans through a possible emotional attachment with the character.. And yet again, we see his insanity get the better of him and keep him from what would truly make him happy. This lack of communication can show his guilt in attempting to steal Rauf's house. However, readers ee that he still seeks to pursue his plan throughout the book. Providing evidence to show that his internal struggles in the desire to seek revenge and retaliation is still
Great blog post, Zena!
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed your analysis of Said's motives behind infiltrating Rauf's house, and why Rauf let him go so easily. Do you think that by doing this, Rauf was giving Said a strict warning? Or was Rauf still somewhat compassionate to his old friend?
Great blog post, Zena!
ReplyDeleteI especially enjoyed your analysis of Said's motives behind infiltrating Rauf's house, and why Rauf let him go so easily. Do you think that by doing this, Rauf was giving Said a strict warning? Or was Rauf still somewhat compassionate to his old friend?
Zena, the passage you chose was great because it shows the quickly deteriorating mental state of Said. I really like the point where you mentioned that the passage shows that Said does not directly speak to Rauf - thus showing his guilt. I also think that Said's failure to speak up shows that he may have insecurities, despite the tough face that he puts up. He may feel regret and guilt now but do you think those feelings vanish later in the novel as he gets crazier?
ReplyDeleteGood job on your post Zena! I really like how you relate Said's experiences with Illish and Nabawiya to his assumption on all the other people around him. This demonstrates the value of experiences and one may even classify his experiences with them as betrayal.
ReplyDeleteGreat passage choice. I liked your interpretation of the stylistic features used, especially through pointing out the significance of the tone used between Said and Rauf.
ReplyDeleteGood post, although it is a perfect example of how is mental state went from bad to worse, hence leading to his downfall, maybe try expanding on that. However good post overall.
ReplyDelete