Chapter Nine – Plot Development

In this chapter, Said decides to take refuge in Nur’s home instead of the Sheikh’s in fear of being found by the local authorities and his enemies. At Nur’s flat, Nur questions Said about his family, specifically his wife, or lack thereof before persisting that Said sanitize himself before they have their dinner.

Chapter Nine – A Sense of Place

In this chapter, we are introduced to the exterior of Nur’s home outside Cairo, an area surrounded by “the cemetery” (p.215) and “open country from [there] to Bab al-Noor.” (p.215). The interior of Nur’s home consists of a “bare rectangular hall” (p.214) and a “reception room, square and somewhat larger [than the hall]” (p.214) The isolation and seclusion of Nur’s home serve as a symbol of Nur’s own life; she lives her life in recluse as she has neither a family nor friends since her prostitution and association with thieves leaves her with nobody but clients and acquaintances who could care less about getting involved in her personal life.

Chapter Nine – Characterization

In this chapter, Said’s and Nur’s characters are further developed. Said’s characterization is interesting because of the narrating voice which gives us both a detailed overview of the novel’s plot development and an insight into Said’s thoughts and feelings at various parts of the novel.

 

Still driven by his hatred towards Nabawiyya, Ilish, and Rauf Ilwan, Said thinks of them with utter hate, believing that Rauf “might perhaps be thinking [he has] got rid of [him] forever…” (p.213) showing that although Rauf has let Said go, Said won’t let Rauf go without gaining his revenge. Said also believes that “with [his] revolver… [he] can do wonderful things [such as awakening] those who are asleep, [are] the root of the trouble [and are] the ones who’ve made creatures like Nabawiyya, Ilish and Rauf Ilwan possible.” (p.213) This reiterates the main point of Said’s still being driven by his hatred towards his ex-wife, ex-friend and ex-mentor, thus showing Said’s persistence at eventually gaining his revenge on those who have hurt him the most.

 

Said comes off as remorseful of his failed marriage to Nabawiyya, especially when Nur asks him whether or not “his people” (p.215) will ask about him. Instead of responding bitterly, Said says that he “has no people.” (p.215) Said sounds almost remorseful when he spoke of having no people. When Nur persists with her questions on his wife, Said decides to “close the subject” (p.215) implying that he doesn’t want to talk about it because it hurts too much because she no longer loves him and left him for his best friend. After being told that he deserved a better woman, Said simply says that he “neglected [Nabawiyya] far too much” (p.216) and that he “had no time for love then” (p.216). Again, the guilt in his voice suggests that Said blames himself for his failed marriage more so than he does Nabawiyya–if he had loved her more, then she wouldn’t have left him for Ilish. 

 

Said comes off as manipulative of Nur’s feelings for him. When Nur tells Said she thought he would never show up, Said says that he had made a “definite promise” (p.214) to her and that he would be her “guest for quite some time” (p.215). When his motives for staying with her are questioned, Said tells Nur that he “came to [her] instead of anybody else” (p.216) for a reason. He then asks Nur if she thinks that he “can’t find anywhere else” (p.216) to stay. By showing her that he cares about her, Said is manipulating Nur’s feelings for him just so that Nur won’t object to keeping him safe and secure from his enemies. In other words, he’s putting up a façade so that she’ll give in to his requests and allow him to stay with her.

 

Nur’s character is further developed as she is portrayed as a woman whose actions are driven by her love for Said. When she finds out that Said had been waiting outside her flat for a long time, she runs “the rest of the way up [the stairs] and [stops] in front of him out of breath” (p.214) and apologizes for making him wait on the landing (p.215). Some may call it common courtesy, but I see it as a sign of Nur’s putting Said’s own comfort before her own. Nur even assists Said in obtaining a car by not only fooling one of her clients but by also fooling the local authorities when “they kept questioning (her) at the police station over and over” (p.214). This shows that Nur’s infatuation with Said is so large that she’s willing to deceive the law for his personal gain. When she finds out that Said and Nabawiyya are no longer together, Nur calls Nabawiyya a “bitch” and says that “[Nabawiyya] isn’t the kind of woman that deserves [to be with Said]” (p.215-216). By insulting his ex-wife, Nur attempts to get into Said’s good graces, and by saying that Nabawiyya isn’t what Said deserves, Nur implies that she is what Said deserves since “no one grieved as much as [she] did” (p.216) when Said went to prison.

Chapter Nine – Imagery & Symbolism

Animal Imagery: In this chapter, animal imagery isn’t as prevalent as it is in the previous chapters. Unlike the animal imagery utilized in the previous chapters, the animal imagery used in this chapter is quite positive. While waiting for Nur to arrive, Said thinks that he’d “be better off like a bat” (p.213). Said implies that he’s been waiting in the darkness for so long that he has grown accustomed to the darkness, similar to how a bat spends the majority of its life waiting in the darkness. Towards the end of the chapter, Nur tells Said that she knows that “the guards at the zoo won’t let visitors tease the lion.” (p.216) By saying this, Nur compliments Said by connecting him to something strong and mighty, in the process, showing him how she views him and ergo, how much he means to her. The use of animal imagery in this chapter has been positive, more so the imagery related to the lion. But, why was there a sudden shift in the use of animal imagery from negative to positive?

 

Love: The other type of imagery prevalent in this chapter is related to love. Halfway through the chapter, Said tells himself that Nur will soon discover that “a locked heart becomes increasingly difficult to unlock.” (p.215) By doing so, Said ensures that he doesn’t get hurt by the next person who will try to ‘unlock’ his heart, since the last person who had ‘unlocked’ his heart hurt him emotionally. So, will Nur be the next woman who manages to ‘unlock’ Said’s heart? And if so, will she eventually hurt him emotionally?

 

Nur symbolizing Safety & Security in Said’s life

·        “Stay here all your life, if you like.” (p.215)

·        “Don’t worry; I’ll keep you hidden all right.” (p.216)

Chapter Nine – Themes

In this chapter, several themes are developed and explored, some of which are prevalent in the previous chapters, some of which aren’t. They are listed below.

 

Revenge:

·        “But with this revolver… I can do wonderful things.” (p.213) The ‘wonderful things’ that Said refers to here are, of course, his gaining revenge by hurting and/or killing those who have hurt him such as Rauf Ilwan, Nabawiyya and Ilish Sidra.

Love:

·        “… she’ll only find that a locked heart becomes increasingly difficult to unlock…” (p.215) As mentioned before, Said closes his heart so that no one can hurt him the way Nabawiyya did since she was the last person he opened his heart to.

·        “I had no time for love then.” (p.216) The irony of this theme is that when Said didn’t have time for love, his wife loved him, but when he finally had the time for love, his wife no longer loved him.

·         “When you went to jail, no one grieved as much as I did.” (p.216) Nur expresses her love for Said, something which makes her bend backwards for and break the rules to help Said and to ensure his comfort, safety and security.

Secrecy:

·        “Nothing, whatever, in fact.” (p.214) Said tries to hide the fact that the car Nur helped him steal was used for the murder of ‘Ilish’. By keeping it a secret from Nur, Said ensures that she doesn’t remove him from her home because of the crime he committed despite all the love she has for him.

·        “‘But you haven’t done anything really serious, have you?’ … He dismissed the question by shrugging nonchalantly.” (p.216) Again, by engaging in secrecy, Said tries to put up a façade of a man changed by prison so that, again, Nur won’t remove him from her home despite all the love she has for him.