World Literature

Assignment Paper

Sumaya Al-Sumayni

A Paraphrase of “Thief & Dogs” by Naguib Mahfouz

About the author:

Naguib Mahfouz )1911 - 2006) is an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel
Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of the first contemporary writers of Arabic
literature, along with Taha Hussein, to explore themes of existentialism.
Mahfouz was born into a lower middleclass Muslim Egyptian family in Old
Cairo in 1911. He was the seventh and the youngest child, with four brothers and
two sisters. The Mahfouz family were devout Muslims and Mahfouz had a strict
Islamic upbringing.
The Egyptian Revolution of 1919 had a strong effect on Mahfouz, although he
was at the time only seven years old. In his early years, Mahfouz read extensively
and was influenced by Hafiz Najib, Taha Hussein and Salama Moussa.
After completing his secondary education, Mahfouz was admitted in 1930 to
the Egyptian University, where he studied philosophy, graduating in 1934. By 1936,
having spent a year working on an M.A. in philosophy, he decided to discontinue his
studies and become a professional writer. Mahfouz then worked as a journalist for
Al-Risala, and contributed short stories to Al-Hilal and Al-Ahram.
In 1934, Mahfouz joined the Egyptian civil service, where he continued to
work in various positions and ministries until retirement in 1971.
Mahfouz published 34 novels, over 350 short stories, dozens of movie scripts
and 5 plays over a 70-year career. Possibly his most famous work, The Cairo Trilogy,
which depicts the lives of three generations of different families in Cairo. Many of
his novels were serialized in Al-Ahram, and his writings appeared in his weekly
column, "Point of View". Before the Nobel Prize, only a few of his novels had
appeared in the West.
About the Novel:

The Thief and Dogs (Arabic: ‫ ;اللص والكالب‬El-lis's wal-kilab) is a novel by

Egyptian author, Naguib Mahfouz, first published in 1961. It is considered as an
example of the existentialist genre, using stream-of-consciousness and surrealist
techniques. It follows the life of Said Mahran, a thief who is released from prison
and sets himself a goal to take revenge on the people who put him there. It is
inspired by the true story of Ahmad Amin Sulayman, a criminal who committed
a crime of passion and was killed by police in 1960. Exploring themes of political
radicalism, and betrayal, The Thief and the Dogs is one of Mahfouz’ most acclaimed
novels and was adapted twice in Egypt, first as a 1962 feature film, and later, in
1975, as a thirteen-episode TV series.
A Paraphrase of the Novel:
The Thief and the Dogs begins with the release of Said Mahran from prison,
after serving a four-year punishment for robbery. Said walks from the prison to his
house in Cairo talking to the reader in an internal monologue, where he justifies his
past criminal actions. As he arrives home, he plans to demand two things from his
wife–his library of books, and his six-year-old daughter, Sana. He is consumed with
anger and thoughts of revenge on Ilish Sidra, a former business associate who
turned him in to the police, and took advantage of Said’s absence to take everything
he had–his home, his fortune, and his wife, Nabawiyya. Reaching his neighborhood,
he is greeted respectfully by his neighbors. On Ilish’s orders, the police guard his
former home. As he returns to his house, he learns that his library has been ruined
by Sana, Said’s daughter, who greets him with a startled expression. Her rejection
made Said’s feelings even more revengeful.
Said goes to visit Ali al-Junaydi, who was father’s friend and the religious
advisor in the Sufi faith. The Sheikh offers him sanctuary, along with food and advice.
Said accepts the man’s hospitality and spends his first night of freedom under
Al-Junaydi’s roof. However, he soon finds himself slipping back into criminal ways.
He returns to the Sheikh’s house after every slip, and the Sheikh gives him lessons
in ethics that he hopes will put Said back on the right track. Said decides to be
a journalist. He seeks out Rauf Ilwan, his mentor in both crime and socialist politics.
However, Rauf is now a respectable journalist, living in wealth and prosperity. Rauf
has distanced himself from his criminal past, and gives Said money but refused to
give him a job. This enrages Said, and he decides that Rauf is no longer a friend but
a “dog”, as Said calls his enemies.
After that, Said finds help and shelter from other exiles from the city as he
works on his plans to revenge. Nur, a prostitute, who offers him shelter, food, and
companionship. Meanwhile, a cafe owner named Tarzan, who also has a bad
reputation, gives him a gun and warns him of the police. However, Said’s plans are
foiled at every turn. He attempts to break into Rauf’s house, but Rauf catches him.
Said shoots at him, but misses and kills Rauf’s servant. When he tries to break into
his old house to kill Ilish, he murders an innocent new resident and finds out that his
rival has relocated. He runs, and the police trap him in a cemetery, where he has
eventually set upon and killed by police dogs. After all his attempts to hunt down
the “dogs” of society, he was hunted down by them himself. As he dies, he
remembers the look his daughter gave as she rejected him, and realizes that his
rebellion was all for nothing.