Sweet Escape

There's something about dreams of owning a candy store that makes you look twice at Kamal.

He's certainly the youngest, and a boy for that matter. He attends an all boy school where his father's influence reaches him even out of the household. Mahfouz writes how the boy is like, " a prisoner waiting to be struck at any time...(47)" and he can't stop but just wait to be punished or bullied by the other boys because he's around it at home all the time. As Mahfouz describes how Kamal dreams of owning a candy shop, the reader is reminded he's just a innocent kid who can't have fun because his dad's power will not let him. When you think of a candy shop, we think every inch of the facility is made of sweet, sweet candy that makes every kid feel happy. Happiness, that's what Kamal needs to find at home but doesn't because his dad thinks he's trouble but what I think Mahfouz is hinting at is that the father just doesn't understand how different this boy is from his elder brothers who probably avoided telling their dad of childish dreams.