The Inescapable Past

Chapter 13 has an interesting aspect to it. In it, Mahfouz leaves the immediate family slightly and goes on to describe Yasin and his relationship with his biological mother. This chapter also marks the end of the familiar descriptions. After this, it goes into the story that takes up the rest of the book. Mahfouz used the first 13 chapters for the characters to be developed fully so that the reader has some background to the story.

In chapter 13, there is a quote. It goes, "He had often told himself that if a person had a strong enough will he might be able to carve out more than one future, but no matter how strong his will he could never have more than one inescapable and unavoidable past" (78). This is a quote that does not necessarily need to be attributed to to Yasin as a character, but it seems that the location is more important for its meaning to get through. It is strategically placed near the beginning of the new part of the book where a future is to be made for the reader, but for the characters it is and inescapable past that was set onto paper.