Scribd
Upload
4K views

The Thief and The Dogs

In the document, the author analyzes Said's motivations and actions in seeking revenge against his enemies Ilish, Nabawiyya, and Rauf in the novel The Thief and the Dogs. However, Said's attempts at revenge primarily harm innocent people like Husayn and Rauf's doorkeeper. While Said justifies his actions through his personal beliefs and ideals, the reader sees the negative impacts of his actions without being influenced by Said's logic. Said refuses to take responsibility for harming innocents, instead blaming fate or others rather than acknowledging his own role.

Uploaded by

Ken-Terika Zellner
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
4K views

The Thief and The Dogs

In the document, the author analyzes Said's motivations and actions in seeking revenge against his enemies Ilish, Nabawiyya, and Rauf in the novel The Thief and the Dogs. However, Said's attempts at revenge primarily harm innocent people like Husayn and Rauf's doorkeeper. While Said justifies his actions through his personal beliefs and ideals, the reader sees the negative impacts of his actions without being influenced by Said's logic. Said refuses to take responsibility for harming innocents, instead blaming fate or others rather than acknowledging his own role.

Uploaded by

Ken-Terika Zellner
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

In The Thief and the Dogs, revenge only serves to harm the innocent rather than Saids enemies.

In messy attempts to kill Ilish, Nabawiyya, and Rauf, Said takes the lives of Husayn and Raufs doorkeeper and instills in Husayns wife a punishment worse than death; fear of death, unrelenting terror [cite (pg. 72)] The affluent citizens from whom Said steals are another set of innocents that are victimized by Saids attempts at revenge. As an egalitarian, Saids true enemy is the capitalistic system which is responsible for the uneven distribution of wealth, not the bourgeoisie itself, which is merely a product of society. [Evidence from the text or selfevident?] In Saids quest for vengeance, he justifies his actions by his ideals. [Find statement that demonstrates Saids belief about Ilish marrying his wife and how Ilish betrayed that]. Said uses this fact to justify killing Ilish. Said saw Rauf as "not just a revolutionary student, but revolution personified as a student" [cite]. By betraying the philosophy Said has embraced [how long?], he feels that he should avenge himself of Raufs intellectual infidelity. [quote showing this]. Even Saids arguably unreasonable belief that Nabawiyya should have waited for him is used to warrant taking her life. Through the hurting of innocent people, the reader is able to see the product of Saids actions without the [crutch, maybe?] of his personal logic. [Though killing Rauf, Ilish, or Nabawiyya requires the same action as killing a doorkeeper], Saids bad luck changes his epithet from avenger to terrorist. His idealism does not excuse his crime.[make this more clear] [Relate back to thesis]. The language employed by Said and his remarkable confidence in his homicidal abilities show that he believes the deaths of his enemies are certain. Phrases such as Ill strike like Fate [cite (pg. 13)] and It was not right that Ilish Sidra should stay alive [cite (pg. 59] show Saids belief that he must kill Rauf, Nabawiyya, and Ilish. The frequent use of the imperative You must pull together all the cunning you possess, to culminate in a blow as powerful as your

endurance behind prison walls [cite (pg. 14)] and it is imperative that criminal and vicious elements be eradicated [pg. 70] implies a sense of duty. Additionally, Saids confidence in his aim and his ability to get away without a scratch [pg. 70] from a murder scene further emphasizes the certaintyor at least perceived certaintyof his revenge. The security and selfassuredness Said derives from his vengeance plans mimic the security and self-assuredness of the Sheikh. The similarities in this way between the Sheikh and Said indicate that Said feels that his actions are not only justified but righteous. [Whoever kills me will be killing the millions (pg. 133)] By adding a spiritual element to Saids motives, the reader can [assume] that Said believes that he is an agent of some higher power [God, fate]. [Relate to thesis and find an ACTUAL argument] Said refuses to take responsibility for his actions. According to Said, the dead are the root of the trouble. Theyre the ones whove made creatures like Nabawiyya, Ilish, and Rauf Ilwan possible [pg. 84]. Rather than accepting blame for the death of the innocent doorman, Said wonders whether the public will forgive the gun its error [pg. 133]. On another occasion, he calls the death of Husayn a painful irony of fate [pg. 95] rather than a careless mistake on his (Saids) part. [Does he use passive voice? Because if so, that would fit perfectly here.] [Maybe he doesnt fully believe in his own revenge]

[Revenge is purely selfish]

[Motivated by emotion instead of reason]

You might also like