Chapter 14 – Sense of Place

The sense of place doesn’t seem to play a big role in this chapter. Although the author decided to place names like, “Abbasiyya Street,” (Page 247) “Gala’s Bridge (Page 247) and “Sharia Giza,” (Page 248.) they do not seem to play such a big role in the progression or development of the plot. However, it can be concluded that throughout the novel, mentions of places like these can be a sign that the author wishes to make this book seem very realistic. This adds to the authenticity of the novel which could help make the sections written in Italics, which were Said’s thoughts, seem like they belonged more to an actual human than a character from a story.

Chapter 14 – Themes

There are many themes that show themselves in this novel. In chapter 14 these are the particular themes that seem to reappear throughout the book.

Punishment:
In chapter 14, the main idea is that he is seeking revenge and is going to punish someone that betrayed him. This idea of punishment is clearly evident when he is trying to do harm to those who have betrayed him. The chapter shows that even if he is serving out ‘justice,’ he himself must take punishment as a consequence of his actions.

Justice:
Said seems to strongly believe that he is the side of justice. “They, the people, everyone – all the people except the real robbers – are on my side, and that’s what will console me in my everlasting perdition. I am, in fact, your soul. You’ve sacrificed me.” (Page 248 )

Said believes that, “a world without morals is like a universe without gravity.” (Page 251) Through this quote, Said makes the analogy that morals are just as necessary to society as the laws of physics are to our universe. This is a good way to emphasize how strongly he feels to the idea of justice.

“No bullet could clear away its absurdity. But at least a bullet will be right, a bloody protest, something to comfort the living and the dead, to let them hold on to their last shred of hope.” (Page 248 ) This quote illustrates the question if violence can solve violence. Said seems to believe that using violence is wrong but that sometimes, it must be used to protest even greater wrongs in the world. This relates to the previous statement in the ‘Characterization’ section that if one decides to shoot a ‘bullet,’ one must be willing to take a ‘bullet.’

Chapter 14 – Characterization

Characterization proves itself to be essential to the plot as a good majority of it is written from Said’s perspective. When he is trying to infiltrate Rauf’s house, he notices that the, “road seemed empty and when he got to the house he saw no sign of guards which both pleased and angered him.” (Page 248 ) This quote could signify one of two things. One is that he wants an audience to witness his form of ‘justice,’ maybe even trying to inspire others to do the same. The other one is that he subconsciously believes that for his principles of justice to be truly unbiased in its most basic form, he too must be caught for committing murder. This idea is emphasized on the next page where he proclaims, “This is Said Mahran! Take that!” (Page 249) when he attempts to kill Rauf.

From the beginning of the novel, Said seems to have issues with companionship after being betrayed by Nabawiyya and Illish. It seems like Said feels as if he is alone and, “despite this support from millions of people I find myself driven away into dismal isolation, with no one to help.” (Page 248 ) This quote can be seen as Said believing that he is carrying the will of the entire community of people in his search for ‘justice.’ He sees this as a burden that only he is bearing because there is no one that can help him with the way that he feels. This also ties into the idea of ‘darkness’ discussed in the ‘Imagery’ section. This idea of him being a type of savior is shown again where he expresses his feelings. He desires to “die a death that has some meaning to it.” (Page 251) This statement gives Said the image of someone that embraces death, but wants something to come about from it. This makes sense considering that his only goal seems to be revenge and to seek ‘justice.’

There is also some development between Said and Nur towards the end of the chapter. Nur tells Said that, “you’re more precious than my life itself; I’ve never in my whole life known happiness except in your arms. but you’d rather destroy yourself than love me,” (Page 253) to which Said tells her that, “You’ll find me true to my promies,” (Page 253) and that they, “will escape and live together forever.” (Page 253) There is a certain irony here that connects Said’s relationship with Nur and his past relationship with Nabawiyya. This is shown through the fact that Nur unconditionally loves Said, but yet he continues to go out at night, seeking revenge, and not sincerly returning Nur’s love by respecting her wishes. The line where he promises her that they, “will escape and live together forever,” is an obvious lie because he only thinks about revenge when he has his dramatic monologues in italics. This means that he is being deceptive and lying to Nur which was one of Said’s main issues with Nabawiyya. Although he is angry and seeking revenge against Nabawiyya for betraying him, he seems to be doing the exact same thing to Nur.

Chapter 14 – Imagery

Imagery is a vital piece of the novel “The Thief and the Dogs.” Although the most recurring form of imagery is the metaphor of ‘dogs,’ in chapter 14 the imagery conveyed is directed more towards the scenery and background that Said is placed in. There is a point where the setting is described as a “fine starry night, a cool breeze blowing, the quarter moon still visible in the clear sky above the trees along the riverbank.” (Page 247) It seems odd that this quote gives a sense of serenity when Said is trying to kill Rauf. This could be thought of as Said trying to achieve peace, for himself as well as the community, through murder.

Similar to the previous chapters, the idea of ‘darkness’ is mentioned in this part of the novel. When he is in the process of infiltrating Rauf’s house, he notices that while he was “gazing out from time to time at the dark surface of the river; his thoughts fled to Rauf’s treachery, the deception that had crushed his life, the ruin that was facing him, the death blocking his path, all the things that made Rauf’s death an absolute necessity.” (Page 249) He seems to associate the darkness with ‘deception’ and ‘treachery’ which is saying that Rauf as well as the ‘darkness’ are the causes for everything that is going wrong in his life. Since he believes that his perspective is the side of justice, he feels like killing Rauf is “an absolute necessity” (Page 249)  This idea of darkness is also emphasized when Said is inside of Nur’s apartment and the setting is said to be in “complete darkness.” (Page 250) In the context of the previous analysis about darkness representing the people in their community who are unjust, this description of Said’s surroundings could insinuate that he feels as if immoral people surround him. He has a dramatic monologue (Page 250-251) in this “complete darkness” which shows itself to be a connection between the actual scenario that happens within these pages and how it represents his daily life where his environment is an unlawful one and the only place of true life is his thoughts.

Chapter 14 – Plot Development

In this chapter Said goes to look for Rauf Ilwan and attempts to kill him. He’s not sure whether he was successful but had to flee in fear of being caught. He arrives at Nur’s house where he waits for her and when returns she sees the bullet graze he got after trying to assassinate Rauf. She tells him how much she worries and that he should put his efforts into finding a way to run away together. He promises her that they “will escape and live together forever.” (Page 253)

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