Transformed Man

Throughout Naquib Mahfouz’s Palace Walk, we are introduced to a number of different characters that represent a different aspect of life in Egypt. But, amongst the many different characters Mahfouz introduced, one stood out – Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad. In part II of Abu Talut’s article, “The Status of Women and Men in Islam,” the responsibility of a man is great when it comes to maintenance and protection of his family (Talut, II). Al-Sayyid Ahmad represents a Muslim man who, at times, is overprotective towards the women in his family, controlling of everyone and everything around him, and experienced in forbidden pleasures like extramarital affairs. But, throughout the novel we learn that he worries mainly about his social appearance rather than what is best for his family. Through this all, Mahfouz shows us a transformation in Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s behavior as the novel progresses and by the end of the book, we see a side of Ahmad that we had yet to see throughout the novel.
At the beginning of the novel, we see Al-Sayyid’s wife, Amina waiting on her husband to arrive after a night out with friends. She weighs on him hand and foot, removing his cloak, loosening his sash, removing his shoes and socks, pouring water for him to wash his face, and just sits around waiting for him to tell her what to do or giving her permission to speak. Mahfouz described Ahmad’s attitude towards this when he wrote, “Her husband spared no effort to safeguard his dignity and authority” (10). This made it apparent that he made it obvious that he was the one who held the authority in the marriage – something that is apparent in Muslim marriages. But, we also see that Ahmad cares more about his appearance outside of the home and puts in as much effort as possible into his outside relationships rather than those that should be most important, being his family’s. According to Talut’s article, this is not the responsibility of a man. Ahmad’s desire to seem perfect and powerful in public isn’t his responsibility, his responsibility is to protect his family and do what is best for them, not him (Talut, II). This strengthens the idea that Ahmad is selfish and careless with the relationship between him and his family.
As the novel progresses, we see Ahmad dismiss the idea of Amina marrying the man she loves clearly because he is afraid of what people may say about the engagement since no man had ever seen his daughters. He was worried about what people would say about this rather than his daughter’s happiness. As Daniela said in her blog, “Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear” Ahmad’s family treats Ahmad as if he were a God. She gives the example of Aisha’s feelings towards Ahmad after she’s told that she cannot marry. It is clear that Aisha is upset, but Aisha couldn’t bring herself to stand up to her father. In Talut’s article, he writes that a man’s responsibility is also to protect and defend a woman and to make his family feel safe and secure (Talut, II). It may seem that Ahmad is protecting his daughter but in reality, he’s simply protecting his image and by putting fear into his family, he is doing something that he shouldn’t do – especially if he expects to create a safe environment for his family.
Later in the book, at the beginning of Chapter 65, we see the beginning of Ahmad’s transformation. Mahfouz shows us how Ahmad reacts when he sees two British soldiers approaching him and describes his reaction by saying, “With a pounding heart and a dry throat, al-Sayid Ahmad watched the soldier approach” (442). This clearly means that Ahmad was scared. Anyone else would be scared by a man in a uniform, fully armed, and physically strong, but if Ahmad was so “God-like” why wouldn’t he be scared? God’s are usually all powerful and nothing frightens them. Seeing how Ahmad could do nothing to communicate with the foreign soldiers and get himself out of the mess made Ahmad look just as inferior as everyone else. He was no longer giving orders to everyone, he was the one taking orders. Mahfouz also shows us how Ahmad begins to care for his family as he thinks about never seeing them again when he writes, “When he [Ahmad] remembered his family, he felt such painful homesickness that tears almost came to his eyes” (445). By doing this, Mahfouz reveals part of Ahmad’s transformation in which he is no longer the “God” he was once portrayed as. He shows Ahmad finally worrying about the future of his family and how their lives will be after he is gone seeing as how he is the one that is responsible for their well being. But, he is now also shown just like any other citizen who has to give in to someone else’s commands and has to endure the possibility of possibly never seeing his loved ones again.
By the end of the book, we are introduced to a completely different Ahmad than we first were at the beginning. The death of his son, Fahmy brought forth a surprising reaction from Ahmad. At the beginning of the novel, we saw Ahmad as a man who cared solely of himself and how he was viewed. As LaurenF wrote in the blog named, “ Ahmad’s Priorities ,” Ahmad didn’t care about his relationship with his family as much as he cared about his relationship with others and his image in the eyes of the public. He did what he wanted and was content with the happiness of others rather than that of his family. But, when Fahmy is killed during a demonstration, we see Ahmad breaks down. We see him finally thinking about how his family, Amina, will take the news. We see his pain on page 495, when he replies to the young man offering his condolences to him by saying, “…Dead! I’ll never see him again at home or anywhere else on the face of the earth? How can I have a home without him? How can I be a father if he’s gone? What has become of all the hopes attached to him? The only hope left is patience…. Patience? Oh…. Do you feel the searing pain? This really is pain. You were mistaken previously when you claimed to be in pain. No, before today you’ve never known pain. This is pain…” (495-496). This was the first time Ahmad showed such vulnerability. It was the first time that he showed his pain and emotions to a complete stranger. Even more shocking was how, on page 497, he started thinking of how Amina would take the news of Fahmy’s death. Mahfouz writes, “He remembered Amina for the first time and his feet almost failed him. What could he say to her? How would she take the news? She was weak and delicate. She wept at the death of a sparrow” (497) informing the reader of Ahmad’s first realization of how Amina would feel about what had happened. For the first time, Ahmad actually worried about someone other than himself and accepting the responsibility he has as a father and husband.
Naguib Mahfouz’s novel showed the transformation that one person can undergo as a result of specific events. Ahmad’s transition in the book was clear and surprising. It was evident that Ahmad had undergone such a huge change, but it was surprising that he did and in the manner that it happened. Ahmad didn’t seem as superior to the others as he once did and as the novel came to an end, we saw how Ahmad went from caring solely of himself and his image in the eyes of others to worrying about the feelings of others, being able to express his vulnerability to strangers, and finally acknowledging the responsibility he had as a father and husband.

 
Works Cited
Daniela. "Worshipper Blinded by Love and Fear." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/worshipper-blinded-by-love-and-fear_17.html >.
LaurenF. "Ahmad's Priorities." Web log post. Diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com. The Chinquapin School, 10 Feb. 2010. Web. 22 Mar. 2010. < http://diggingevendeeper.blogspot.com/2010/02/passage- >.
Mahfouz, Naguib. Palace Walk. New York: Anchor Books, 1991
Talut, Abu. "The Status of Women and Men in Islam II." 28 April 1998. 02 April 2010 < http://www.iol.ie/~afifi/BICNews/AbuTalut/AbuTalut5.htm >.