Respect

Respect
Naguib Mahfouz creates a secretive, yet well respected character, Ahmad, in the novel Palace Walk. This character is mysterious enough to portray him to others the way he wants to be portrayed. True feelings are not enough to convince Ahmad to change his ways and find his true identity. From evidence provided by Mr. Mahfouz, research on Islamic culture, different of my classmates written opinions, and from my own opinion, I have concluded that Ahmad is composed of one main characteristic; respect.
Ahmad’s will is to obtain respect at any circumstance. In his family case, he gains respect by inducing his family to remain submissive to him. It has been this way since the beginning of the novel. Ahmad’s family consists of a wife and five children. The respect these six persons have towards Ahmad can easily be represented by Amina’s actions. Naguib Mahfouz, the author of the novel, wrote: “it had occurred to [Amina] once, during the first year she lived with [Ahmad], to venture a polite objection to his repeated nights out” (4). The author knows and lets us know that Amina is discontent with her husband’s actions, yet she doesn’t dare to object them. We have been informed that if she does, Ahmad will respond: “I’m a man. I’m the one who commands and forbids. I will not accept any criticism of my behavior. All I ask of you is to obey me. Don’t force me to discipline you” (4). Amina learns from this response that she must remain submissive, and show respect to her husband at all times; and she does.
Ignorant as she is, Amina praises her husband as a God. As the one who is right at all times, and the one who possesses the authority to do as he wishes. There is no occasion when Amina fails to show absolute respect to her dearest husband, but one time. She does not dare to disobey her husband’s commands; and the only time she does, she confesses her error to her husband Ahmad herself. It was the time of the year when Ahmad left the house for about two days. The entire family was liberated and allowed to breath without fear of Ahmad reproaching to them. The atmosphere in the house when Ahmad wasn’t home was so pleasant that it provoked Amina to disobey her husband and leave the house without his permission and supervision. On her way back home Amina suffered from an accident and was forced to remain in bed until her health was improved. Yasin assured her that they would think of something to tell Ahmad (178) so she wouldn’t get into trouble, but his attempts failed. Amina failed when the time to confront Ahmad came. She didn’t have the strength to lie and disrespect her husband.
Ahmad’s reaction can be predicted; madness will take over him and poor Amina will pay the consequences of her error. Surprisingly, we are partially wrong. Ahmad claims to be disrespected, but does not react the way anyone who has read about him would predict him to react. Tracy wrote in one of her blogs, Amina’s accidental Ahmad’s reaction, her amazement of Ahmad’s reaction. She argues that Ahmad contradicts his own actions because he doesn’t get irritated as he would when confronting a smaller incident. Ahmad is known for getting irritated when his orders are not followed, but this time he reacts as a calm person willing to move on from this uncomfortable event. He is making Amina pay for her mistake at a high prize, but not because he wants to but because of his pride. After this incident, Ahmad forgives Amina and allows her to return to her house. Amina knows that she has been lucky to be able to return home, but her husband hasn’t forgotten that she disrespected him.
Respect is something that is gained by our individual actions. It is not something that could be purchased at a corner store or that has a price. Unfortunately several people are able to obtain respect the wrong way. Like Ahmad, he is respected because he forces people to respect him. Just like Ivan wrote in one of his blog, “throughout the whole novel we see that Ahmad cares more about his authority not being questioned and people recognizing him because that fed his pride”. All Ahmad cares is being respected. He sets no limits to his actions as long as he obtains respect from others. He is selfish and puts himself before others.
The best way to understand Ahmad, if there is one, it has to be by trying to understand his background and culture. Ahmad grew up believing that men are leaders. They are the ones with the authority and the ones molding the lives of their family members. Ahmad is responsible for his family and leaves no space for judgment. Ahmad is a typical father who forces his entire family to be submissive to him. He is strict to the point where he manipulates the way his wife and children act. Ahmad shows no affection toward his own family is because he believes that if he does then they will take advantage of him. Every Muslim could understand Ahmad’s behavior because they all believe in what the Prophet (alayhis-salam ) once said: “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you shall be asked about his flock”. If Muslim fathers don’t man up they are leaving space for disrespect.
Respect is the most important thing a father can look forward to from his own family. I don’t think there is a father who doesn’t seek respect from his family. Without respect anyone can feel worthless. This is the reason why Ahmad is forced to do what he does to gain respect. Personally, I disagree with the way Ahmad is. I believe he can get respect from his entire family without acting the way he acts. If he changes his ways and continues to do things different then his family would no longer fear him and will respect him for a good reason. If respect comes from a positive reason then Ahmad would enjoy it better.
There is no reason why Ahmad should act the way he is. His culture does not justify his actions because traditions are changing. Men are not as strict as they used to be a long time ago. There is nothing that justifies Ahmad’s actions, not even his strong desire for respect. If he wants to be respected then Ahmad needs to figure out a way to get respected without force.

Work cited:
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor, 1990
Yahya. "Why Muslim Fathers Have to Man Up." Web Log post. Muslim Fathers. 12 Feb. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2010.


Garcia, Tracy. "Amina's Accidental Ahmad's Reaction." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .

Loredo, Ivan. "Pride." Web log post. Digging Even Deeper. 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 1 Apr. 2010. .