The Stream of Consciousness in The Thief and The Dogs

The Thief and the dogs was revolutionary in the sense that it was the first Arab novel to employ the stream of consciousness narrative technique. The technique allows the reader to experience the character’s thoughts in the same way the character does, and can provide another level of insight into the actions and motivations of the characters in a story. In the Thief and the dogs the technique is used in reference to the main protagonist in the novel, Said Mahran.

One of the primary ways Naguib employs the stream of consciousness technique is to further characterize the character of Said, in addition to the remaining characters in the story. In the early chapters of the story, Said seems to think of himself as a dangerous man “Here is a man--a man who can dive like a fish, fly like a hawk, scale walls like a rat, pierce solid doors like a bullet!”. His thoughts reveal his confidence and introduce the raw anger that drives the plot of the story “that woman who sprang from filth, from vermin, from treachery and infidelity”. Yet the reader also witnesses undertones of paranoia and instability “so study the road carefully, and what’s on it. Those shops for instance, where the men are staring at you, cowering like mice.” This begins to foreshadow and hint at Said’s future descent into madness. This technique also helps reveal to the reader the extreme feelings of rejection that he faced when meeting his daughter and the love he has for her. This plays a big role in allowing the reader to understand his motives for revenge and see his perspective on the situation. Naguib does this to build sympathy towards Said from the reader, characterizing him as a tragic hero.

Furthermore, Naguib utilizes the stream of consciousness narration to develop the underlying plot and conflicts in the story through flashbacks and reminiscences. In chapter 11 the reader witnesses a series of evoked reminiscences revealing the level of love and romanticism that Said encountered with Nabbawiyya and the young and flirtatious courtship of her. This introduces the reader to Said’s perspective of the circumstances in an attempt to communicate with the reader Said’s feelings of betrayal and his justifications for revenge. We as the readers, through the flashbacks, also discover more about the past events that have lead to Said’s growing feelings of paranoia and mental instability. Essentially this develops Said’s internal conflict of the past vs the present which culminates with Said’s mental breakdown when Nur doesn’t return home.

The flashbacks also reveal themes relating to Naguib’s context of production reflecting the feelings of disappointment in the revolution and betrayal from the Egyptian leaders; this is exemplified through Said’s memory of being rejected healthcare due to his lower economic status leading to his mother’s death. Therefore, the stream of consciousness can be seen as a vehicle to communicate Naguib’s personal opinions on the current sociopolitical setting in Egypt, which maintains the novel as a form of social commentary. Furthermore, Said’s thoughts throughout the novel can also be seen to reflect Naguib’s. For instance, we see a very opinionated rant from Said’s perspective in reference to Rauf’s newfound wealth; this can essentially be viewed as Naguib’s stance on the topic of economic instability and the unbalanced dispersion of wealth across the population. The consistent feelings of pursuit that Said faces can also reflect Naguib’s own feelings of pursuit at the time as a result of the oppression of intellectuals under the new regime.