Thanaa Alsitri (10N)

English literary analysis

October 6, 2020

Half a day - Najib Mahfuz

Half a day by Najib Mahfuz can only be understood by analyzing the story, reading between

the lines. In order to fully understand the story, the reader must be able to comprehend that each

part has a greater meaning than the one before . As the story opens, the narrator is a young boy

walking to his first day of school. The boy is delighted with the new clothes he is wearing for the

occasion, but is apprehensive about going to school. He uses sentences that contain symbolism to

explain what events are taking place around him , he explains the value of time through a school

day.

Each parent symbolizes a different concept . In both a literal and a symbolic context, the boy's

father is a significant character. "Half a Day" concerns themes of fatherhood and the various

phases of human life as a coming-of - age novel. At a different stage of life, the father of the boy

is seen to represent the narrator himself. He can also symbolize God, who ushers each human

being both into and out of life.The image of the boy’s mother appears only once, at the beginning

of the story. Najib Mahfuz held the thought that school is a way to punish children and how scary

and tall the buildings looked “ I was not convinced. I did not believe there was really any good to

be had in tearing me away from the intimacy of my home and throwing me into this building that

stood at the end of the road like some huge, high-walled fortress, exceedingly stern and grim”.

As time passes by , the author adapts to his environment and make friends along the way “ from
the first moment my heart made friends with such boys as were to be my friends and fell in love

with such girls as I was to be in love with” , the narrator states there were some struggles/

incidents occurring but they were soon to be solved “Nothing lay ahead of us but exertion,

struggle, and perseverance” , the main symbolic idea in this story is the school because it

represents your life and the challenges you will someday face ,these plots that took place in

school are just some examples of the steps you’ll be taking in like , like making new friends , or

the fights you’ll be wrestling in life etc.

In conclusion the bell rings to announce the end of the day, the narrator steps outside the gate,

but his father is not waiting there for him as promised. He encounters a familiar middle-aged

man; they greet one another and shake hands before the man moves along. The narrator finds that

the street and surroundings have completely changed since the morning. These changes are

meant to be understood in allegorical terms, as representing the effect of modernization and

urbanization in radically changing the face of the city within the lifetime of one man.
MLA citation

“." Short Stories for Students. . Encyclopedia.com. 11 Aug. 2020 .” Encyclopedia.com,

Encyclopedia.com, 5 Oct. 2020, www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-

and-books/half-day.

“Symbolism In Najib Mahfuz's Half A Day.” Cram, www.cram.com/essay/Symbolism-In-Najib-

Mahfuzs-Half-A-Day/F344JLP2B5YW.