Half A Day

Recognized as a prominent author in his own country of

Egypt, Naguib Mahfouz was not widely known in the Western
world until receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988. After
receiving the award, he gained international recognition as one
of the more important writers of the twentieth century.
In 1989 “Half a Day” was first published in Arabic as part of
a short story collection entitled The False Dawn in 1991
“HalfaDay” was included in an English-language collection
entitled The Time and the Place.
“Half a Day” belongs to the later phase of Mahfouz’s literary
career, which is characterized by a shift from social realism to a
more modern, experimental mode of writing. It is a very short
(5-page) allegorical tale in which the narrator begins the day as
a young boy entering school for the first time, but leaves the
schoolyard an old man whose life has passed in what seemed
like only “half a day.”

The central allegorical implications of this tale are a

commentary on the human condition; an entire life span is
experienced as only “half a day” in the school of life. The story
also alludes to the cycle of life, whereby the narrator passes
through childhood, middle age and old age in the course of one
day.
Critic Rasheed El-Enany, in Naguib Mahfouz, has called “Half a
Day” a “technical tour de force.” El-Enany explains that “brief as
it is, the story must count as the author’s most powerful
rendering of the dilemma of the gulf between observable time
and mnemonic time.”
Author Biography
In 1911 Mahfouz was born in Cairo, Egypt, the youngest of
seven children in a lower middle-class family. His father was a
strict Muslim and he was raised in a strong religious
atmosphere. He earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy
from the University of Fuad (now Cairo University) in 1934.

Although his first short story was published in 1932, Mahfouz

did not decide to become a writer until two years after
graduating from college. He also maintained a career as an
Egyptian bureaucrat. His first position was in the Ministry of
Waqfs, the body overseeing pious Muslim foundations.
He held many bureaucratic positions—primarily in relation to the
national film industry, as director of the Censorship Office,
director and chairman of the Cinema Support Organization, and
counselor for Cinema Affairs to the Minister of Culture. He
retired from bureaucratic work in 1971, after which he has
continued to publish novels, short stories, and memoirs.
Mahfouz has traveled abroad only twice in his life: once to
Yugoslavia, and once to Yemen, both on government
assignment. For many years, he has been part of a close social
group of men who congregate in coffeehouses in Cairo, calling
themselves “al Harafish” (“common people”).
He has published more than thirty novels and fourteen
collections of short stories. His first three novels, written
between 1943 and 1945, are historical novels set in ancient
Egypt. His next three novels, referred to as “The Trilogy,”
published between 1956 and 1957, are set in lower middle-
class sections of modern Cairo. This series of novels
established Mahfouz as the foremost novelist in Egypt, and
attracted international recognition.
In addition to novels and short stories, he has written many
screenplays for the Egyptian film industry. Between 1945 and
1960, he wrote many screen adaptations of the stories of other
writers. After 1960 many of his own stories were adapted to the
screen by other screenwriters. In 1988 he was awarded
the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first Arabic language writer to
be given the prize. As a result, many of his works were
translated into different languages and international interest in
his work grew.

In 1994, Mahfouz was stabbed in an attack orchestrated by

Islamic extremists, who had taken to heart condemnation by
religious leaders based on their belief that one of his novels
(first published seventeen years earlier) was blasphemous. He
survived this attack, and those who orchestrated the
assassination attempt were arrested and executed.
Although notoriously private about his childhood and personal
life, Mahfouz published a personal memoir in 1994,
entitled Echoes of an Autobiography. Written as a collection of
vignettes, it is beautifully written and provides some insight into
his life and career.
Plot Summary
As the story opens, the narrator is a young boy walking to his
first day of school. The boy is delighted with the new clothes he
is wearing for the occasion, but is apprehensive about going to
school. As he walks along, holding onto his father’s hand, he
occasionally turns to ask his father why he must go; he feels
that perhaps he is being sent away from home as a
punishment.
Although his father reassures him, he is not convinced that
“there really was any good to be had in tearing me away from
the intimacy of my home.” At the gate to the school, the boy
hesitates again, and must be gently pushed by his father to
enter the schoolyard. Telling him to “be a man,” the father
explains that “today you truly begin life.”
Upon stepping into the yard, the boy sees the faces of the other
boys and girls, but feels “like a stranger who had lost his way.”
One boy approaches and asks the narrator who brought him to
school; when he replies that it was his father, the other boy
states that his own father is dead.
The narrator soon becomes one of the group of children, and
the narrative voice changes from the first person singular “I” to
alternatively speaking in the third person plural “we.”
The narrator makes friends with some of the boys and falls in
love with some of the girls. He describes the school day in a
manner which is meant to be interpreted as an allegory for
human life, with its ups and downs, trials and tribulations.
When the bell rings to announce the end of the day, the narrator
steps outside the gate, but his father is not waiting there for him
as promised. He encounters a familiar middle-aged man; they
greet one another and shake hands before the man moves
along.
The narrator finds that the street and surroundings have
completely changed since the morning. These changes are
meant to be understood in allegorical terms, as representing the
effect of modernization and urbanization in radically changing
the face of the city within the lifetime of one man.
He is unable to cross the street because of heavy traffic. Finally,
a “young lad” offers to help him across, addressing him as
“Grandpa”—the little boy has passed an entire life time in what
seemed like only half a day, and is now an old man at the end
of his life.
Characters
The Father

It is the young boy’s father who, “clutching” his hand, takes the
boy to school. When the boy asks if he is being sent away from
home for being a bother, his father assures him that school is
not a punishment, but a “factory” which turns boys into men. As
he enters the school the boy hesitates, but his father gently
pushes him and tells him to “be a man.”
The boy’s father is an important character in both a literal and a
symbolic sense. As a coming-of-age story, “Half a Day”
concerns themes of fatherhood and the different stages of
human life. The boy’s father is seen to represent the narrator
himself, at a different stage of life.
He may also symbolize God, who ushers each human being
both into and out of life.
The Middle-aged Man
When the narrator leaves the school, he encounters a familiar
middle-aged man. This man approaches the narrator, greeting
him and shaking his hand. When the narrator—now an old man
—asks how he is doing, the middle-aged man replies, “As you
can see, not all that good, the Almighty be praised!” The man
then shakes the narrator’s hand again and continues along his
way.
The Mother

The image of the boy’s mother appears only once, at the

beginning of the story. As he sets out for his first day of school,
his mother stands at the window “watching our progress.” The
boy occasionally turns to look back at his mother, “as though
appealing for help.”
The mother is a significant part of the coming-of-age process.
The father initiates this process by taking his son out of the
home and away from his mother, “tearing me away from the
intimacy of my home.” Although he occasionally looks to his
mother for comfort, the boy must separate from his mother in
order to become an adult. (It is interesting to note that Mahfouz
lived with his own mother until the mature age of forty-three,
when he married for the first time.)
The Narrator

As the story opens, the narrator is a young boy going to his first
day of school. Apprehensive about being away from home, he
soon begins to fit in and enjoy his time as a member of the
class.
When the bell rings to announce the end of the day, the narrator
steps outside the gate. His father is not waiting there for him,
and he starts to walk home by himself. He finds that the street
and surroundings have completely changed, a sight that leaves
him overwhelmed and disoriented.
He attempts to cross the street, but the traffic is heavy and he
hesitates. Finally, a “young lad,” offers to help him across,
addressing him as “Grandpa”—the little boy has passed an
entire life time in what seemed like only half a day, and is now
an old man at the end of his life.
The Other Children

Although he at first feels like a “stranger,” the narrator soon

becomes a member of the class. His identification with the other
children is indicated in the narrative by the fluctuation between
first-person singular narrative voice (“I”), and first-person plural
(“We”). The children represent humanity, and their experiences
are meant to be interpreted as symbolic of the human
experience of life.
The Teachers

The primary teacher introduces the children to some of the

wonders of life; she is also a harsh disciplinarian who frequently
“would resort to physical punishment.” On an allegorical level,
the teacher is not an individual person, but life itself, which
offers many wonders and many punishments.
The Young Lad

The “young lad” appears in the closing lines of the story. He

extends his arm to the narrator, addressing him as “Grandpa.”

Themes
Life/The Human Condition
“Half a Day” can only be fully understood if interpreted as an
allegorical tale, in which each element is symbolic of some
greater meaning. The central allegorical motif of “Half a Day” is
that a morning spent in school is symbolic of an entire lifetime
spent in the school of life.
Everything that occurs in the story represents common
experiences of the human condition: birth, childhood, old age,
death, the afterlife, religion, love, friendship, pain, fear, joy,
learning, memory, and nostalgia, as well as the cycle of life from
generation to generation.
Media Adaptations

 Mahfouz has written numerous screenplays for the

Egyptian cinema. Many of his stories have been adapted
to the screen, including sixteen of his novels. These films
are not readily available in the United States.
Coming-of-Age

“Half a Day” is a “coming-of-age” story, meaning that one of its

central themes is the transition from childhood to adulthood.
The narrator, a young boy, is at first reluctant to be “torn” away
from “the intimacy of my home.” As his father leads him by the
hand toward school, he looks back “as though appealing for
help” to his mother, who stands in the window, “watching our
progress.” This scenario suggests the early stages of life.
As he matures and moves farther away from the security and
intimacy of home and family, however, he symbolically looks to
his mother for comfort and reassurance. When the young boy
protests that he does not want to be sent away from home, his
father describes the school as a place in which boys become
men. At the gates of the schoolyard, the boy is still reluctant to
take the first step in the transition from childhood into adulthood,
but his father instructs him to “be a man,” telling him “Today you
truly begin life.”
Time, Memory, and Old Age

The title “Half a Day,” indicates the story’s central concern with
the human experience of time and memory. The narrator
emerges from the gates of the school unaware that his entire
life has passed, and that he is now no longer a young boy but
an old man.
He is confused and disoriented as his surroundings are barely
recognizable. It is not until a “young lad” addresses him as
“Grandpa” that the narrator,

What symbols can be found in "Half a Day"?

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"Half a Day"?
As he walks toward his first day of school, accompanied by his father, the young
boy is apprehensive. Although he is proud of his new clothes, he is uncertain as
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Latest answer posted July 12, 2019 7:15 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

In the story, the narrator goes into school and doesn't

do something that normal school children do, yet
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incredibly apprehensive about going to school for the first time. The young boy
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Latest answer posted August 9, 2019 6:48 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

What is meant when the narrator of "Half a Day" says,

"there was no question of ever returning to the
paradise of home"?
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on the relative brevity of human life. When the story opens, a young boy is
reluctantly going off to his first day of...

How does Half a Day reflect education in today's

world?
The diverse population of students in today's educational system reflect the
broad spectrum of life's experiences outside the classroom. The needs and
demands placed on students has changed. Our...
Latest answer posted November 8, 2007 3:55 am UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

What are three examples of foreshadowing in Half a

Day and where are the specific lines?
Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz's short story "Half a Day" is constructed as
an extended metaphor comparing school to life. As a child, the narrator enters
school one morning and is seemingly let...

Which blurred memory does the narrator have of his

early days?
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metaphorical representation of how quickly life passes. The memories seem
"blurred" because at the beginning of the story, the...
Latest answer posted December 8, 2019 6:53 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

How does "Half a Day" present a link between the

distant past and the present?
The link between the distant past and the present is most visible in the personal
interactions which bookend this short story. As the narrator arrives at school, he
clings to his father's hand, not...

What things does the narrator experience in school in

"Half a Day"?
In “Half a Day” by Naguib Mahfouz, the narrator experiences his very first day
of school, but he is not at all excited. Rather, he asks his father why he must
go, for he thinks it is a punishment....
Latest answer posted August 11, 2021 7:34 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

In "Half a Day," what is the concept of time and how

does it connect with death?
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goes off to his first day of school. The story is a metaphor for life and how short
a life can be. No sooner has the boy...
Is Naguib Mahfouz against the modern school system
in the story "Half a Day"?
In “Half a Day,” the writer Naguib Mahfouz isn't presenting us with a withering
critique of the modern school system, or any school system, come to that.
Rather, he's giving us an allegory, a story...
Latest answer posted February 14, 2021 12:53 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

What are the rhetorical questions the boy utters in

"Half a Day"?
“Half a Day” is a short story written by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, first
published in Arabic in the author’s 1991 short story collection The False Dawn.
It centers on a young boy who...

What does the woman in charge of the school say to the

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It is important to focus upon the symbolism implicit in this story, and the way
that in this "half a day," the school that the boy attends is paralleled by the way
that life is like a school and...
Latest answer posted October 24, 2011 12:55 am UTC
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HALF A DAY

How does Mahfouz uses elements of surrealism and

setting in "Half a Day" to communicate his message to
the reader?
There is a clear indication of surrealism in this short story through the symbolic
significance of the school that the speaker attends and how, in retrospect, we
can see that the speaker actually...

Who took the boy to school in "Half a Day"?

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the boy, who is also the narrator of the story, says that he "walked alongside
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Latest answer posted January 4, 2020 2:34 pm UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY
I am looking for the morals of Half a Day. Where can I
find them?
One way to think about your question is not in terms of "morals" or "themes"
but "how might the author want the reader to respond to the story?" or "what
are some...

What does the narrator's choice of words tell you

about his emotions on the first day of school in "Half a
Day"?
The short story "Half a Day" by Naguib Mahfouz begins with a young boy
clinging to his father's hand as he heads for his first day of school. He is
delighted to be wearing new clothes, but...
Latest answer posted August 8, 2021 1:24 am UTC
1 EDUCATOR ANSWER
HALF A DAY

Where can I find the e-texts of Naguib Mahfouz?

I have searched Project Gutenburg, Books on Board.com, and other ebook
distributors, but am not able to find any e-texts by Mahfouz. However, Google
appears to have a site that has digitized the...

How can I write a research paper on "Half a Day"?

The way to start writing a research paper on this excellent short story would be
to identify one central theme or meaning depicted in this tale that you feel
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