Egyptian Views on Family and Their Connection to The Thief and the Dogs
Family is an important part of Egyptian life and “the needs of one’s family” will normally “take precedence” over a person’s own needs or desires (Scroope).
In The Thief and the Dogs, Said Mahran debates whether or not to kill Nabawiyya, his ex-wife and betrayer, because he wonders who will be left to care for his daughter, Sana. Although he believes that killing Nabawiyya “would be a triumph”, Said decides to “spare [Sana’s] unfaithful mother for [her] sake” (Mahfouz 69).
In Egypt, the women in a family are typically responsible for raising children and performing household duties, like cooking and cleaning (Hopkins).
In The Thief and the Dogs, Said desperately wants to
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The novel, The Thief and the Dog, explains that Said, as the male of his family, was forced to “take over [his] father’s job as custodian for the building...at an early age” after his father died (Mahfouz 103).
Most Egyptians tend to believe that having children, regardless of gender, is “the greatest blessing of all”, though the general preference is to have a son (Hopkins).
In The Thief and the Dogs, the first thing Said does after he gets out of prison is visit his daughter, Sana, with the hopes of regaining custody of her. After she rejects him, he feels “crushed by a sense of total loss” (Mahfouz 21) and wonders if Sana knows “how much [he] loves her” (Mahfouz 22).
Egyptian households are patriarchal and “the most senior male” of a house generally holds the highest authority (Scroope).
In The Thief and the Dogs, Ilish Sidra, as head of his household, chooses to move his family twice to escape Said’s fury. Ilish moves his family “right after [Said’s] visit and then again “after Shaban Husayn” was accidentally killed by Said instead of himself (Mahfouz
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It is much more difficult for Egyptian women to file for divorce than their male counterparts and they must provide evidence supporting one of the grounds for divorce: illness, negligence of financial support, “absence or imprisonment”, or physical or mental abuse (Deif).
In The Thief and the Dogs, it is revealed that Nabawiyya was able to divorce Said while he “was in jail” and gain full custody of their daughter, Sana; a “subject” that Said does not wish to discuss (Mahfouz 87).
In Egypt, a divorced woman has the right to full custody of her child until they reach the age of 15 if “she remains unmarried”. However, a divorced woman who remarries may only keep custody until the child reaches the age of 7, unless a judge extends her custody in the “child’s best interests” (El-Din).
In The Thief and the Dogs, after Said is released from prison, he wishes to regain custody of his 6 year old daughter, Sana. However, Said will be forced to “go to court” (Mahfouz 18) when Sana reaches 7 years old and let a “judge decide” who will gain custody of her because Nabawiyya, Said’s ex-wife, “will never give [Sana] up, except in compliance with the law” (Mahfouz