The beggar

Author / Creator

Maḥfūẓ, Najīb, 1911-2006

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Summary

In The Beggar, Mahfouz expresses his disdain with the current political situation in Egypt by using his characters as symbols of the past, present, and political views of his country. Omar al-Hamza...

In The Beggar, Mahfouz expresses his disdain with the current political situation in Egypt by using his characters as symbols of the past, present, and political views of his country. Omar al-Hamzawi's daughter Buthayna is one of the female protagonists in this story who symbolizes Egypt post the 1952 revolution. She is like Egypt, youthful and optimistic but naïve and ill-experienced. She is at a point in her life where the decision of poetry vs. science will determine how she develops and where she will go in life. Quite similar to the situation Egypt is facing after the revolt and establishment of a new government. Egypt was and is a country mired in fundamentalism and traditionalism. Should Buthayna be radical or should she accept what Egyptian society has already set forth for her? These were the problems confronting her. So it is easy to see where the comparison of Buthayna to Egypt post revolution comes from.

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