Dangerous Desire

"With his mouth hanging open, he advanced gently and cautiously. He was oblivious to everything except the mountain of flesh spread at his feet. To his greedy eyes this body appeared to be preparing itself to receive him. He hesitated before her legs. Then, almost unconscious of what he was doing, little by little he leaned down over her, driven by urgent internal and external stimuli. Before he knew it, he was sprawled out on top of her. He had perhaps not intended to go this far all at once. Perhaps he had not intended to indulge in some of the foreplay that ought to precede the final violent motions, but terror, and a resounding scream escaped, before his hand could stifle it. The pervasive silence was shattered and his brain was dealt a blow that brought him back to his senses. He put his hand over her mouth as he whispered anxiously and fearfully in her ear, "It's me. Yasin. It's Yasin, Umm Hanafi. Don't be afraid""(277-278).

Mahfouz reveals the outrageous behavior of one of Ahmad's children. He uses up to about a page and a half to describe the various actions of one child that lead up to the one action of desire. Yasin was craving the body of another woman but settled for what was already being offered to him at home. Yasin knew the consequences of everything he was doing but wasn't listening to anything besides that strong desire that told him to do what he would in order to quench the thirst of his lustful desire. Mahfouz uses ethos through description as done through this entire chapter or any other chapter to present the uncontrollable yet disciplined desires of the men in this culture. Yasin really presents the reader with a scene that will give a sense of how much a woman's body isn't something revealed every where and every day as it is now, and how there are many regulations to live by. Talk about temptation. It only made sense -logos- that when there is a body laid there for you, when your body and mind are craving lust, you will jump to devour what is basically handed to you. Mahfouz really sets the scene to present the thoughts and actions of Yasin as he analyzes everything although he is very drunk. Although Yasin is drunk, he finds it in himself to not take chances of getting caught and not quenching his desire and stay at home to quench it with the body that was " preparing itself to receive him"(277).

Out with the Old

“ Fahmy listened to the speech with rapt attention. His eyes were fixed o nthe speaker, and his heart was beating rapidly. He would have liked to climb up there too and pour out the contents of his raging heart, but he did not have a background in public speaking. He was content for someone else to repeat the outburst of his own heart. He listened to the speaker attentively and enthusiastically until the first pause. Them Fahmy shouted along with all his comrades at the same time, ‘Independence!’” (357).
Desire and emotions reached an all time high in a few characters and in the nation. Fahmy in particular reflects the desire in the nation to be independent. This is important because Fahmy is known to control his emotions and yet in this passage he lets his emotions take control with no restraint except for public speaking. His father also longs for independence and is touched by politics but not as extreme as Fahmy. Ahmad is so touched by Sa’d’s exile that he and his company can’t enjoy their usual drinking and banter. Ahmad and Fahmy, the men of the family with the most control over their emotions, are most effected emotionally by political movement for freedom. Why does Fahmy gets so worked up about independence of Egypt? Fahmy tells his mother, “A people ruled by foreigners has no life” (347). A people dominated by strangers drains away culture and nationalism. Foreigners aren’t going to care or do anything about the people’s problems and adversities. In order for things to change there must be a revolution. For a long time Egypt has put up with the indirect rule of the British but now their presence and repression was felt. “The upheaval had been necessary to relieve the pressure in the nation’s breast and in his own” (357).
This situation of revolution seems to relate to marriage especially Yasin and Zaynab’s. Yasin is suppose to be a protector for his wife like Egypt was a protectorate of Britain (Gascoigne) and he does this for a while until he gets bored. Britain in the beginning invested in Egypt and performed financial and political reforms. Then Yasin learns from his father, “Only men could ruin woman, and not every man is capable of being a guardian for them” (315). When Yasin begins to abandon his wife for his thirst for pleasure and entertainment and attempts to rape the maid, he hurts and worries his wife. Britain in a way begins to rape the nation. For example, “European Cairo was a madhouse because of the British and their self-indulgences …The prices began to rise steeply in Cairo while the British soldiers were enjoying things that they had never had before. The people in the countryside began to suffer greatly from poverty and malnutrition” (Egypt: History - British Occupation Period). In a protest to Yasin’s behavior like the protest to Britain control, Zaynab leaves Yasin. She goes on strike like the people in Cairo.
Sa’d inspires hope within Egypt for freedom and his exile sparked a revolution fueled by the desire for independence. Fahmy mumbles to himself “ It’s all the same whether I live or die, faith is stronger than death, and death is nobler than ignominy. Lets enjoy the hope, compared to which life seems unimportant. Welcome to this new mourning of freedom.” Freedom is the key word here. His passion for independence is so great that life is just another sacrifice for freedom in this most extreme case. Through out the novel, characters exercise or strive for their freedoms. . In a way independence can be related to divorce or a child growing up to rely on its own.
Why is Fahmy so ready to rid of British when he lived with them his whole life? The hope Sa’d inspired gave the people of Egypt a glimpse of freedom and the people were not going to let that go just because he was exiled.
Work Cited
"Egypt: History - British Occupation Period." Egypt Travel, Tours, Vacations, Ancient Egypt from Tour Egypt. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. .

Gascoigne, Bamber. "History of EGYPT." HistoryWorld - History and Timelines. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. .