He even seems to side
readers in the 21st century might expect. Rather, Kirsha wishes Hitler success like those mythical figures of pre-Islamic Arabic literature, Antar and Abu Zaid. References to the Jews in the novel are generally positive: Jewish women appear to be the only people in Cairo. The Jewish Quarter offers bars where Muslims can partake of a forbidden pleasure. Kirsha earlier in life takes place in the Rebellion of 1919, which involves vandalism and warring against Armenians and Jews, but it is commonplace in the Middle East for these two groups and the Greeks to incur popular wrath when their entrepreneurial talents elevate them too highly above the Arab masses.
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Style Point of View An impersonal narrator tells the stories of Midaq Alley as a simple narrative of events. This narrator is privy to character’s thoughts and reveals them, particularly when they conflict with what that character is saying out loud. A great deal of the novel is given over to dialog. The narrator shows tenderness towards run-down, shabby, backward Midaq Alley and for most of its inhabitants. Two inhabitants leave to seek their fortune. The narrator sides with the one who is sad to leave and makes it difficult for the one who hates it to return as a prodigal son. The narrator shows no compassion for Zaita, the filthy, recluse peeping tom who creates cripples, extorts money, and robs tombs. Mrs. Afify’s pretend qualms about remarrying are handled tongue-in-cheek, but despite her miserliness, she is not portrayed unkindly. The minor characters are there to provide color and are handled neutrally.
In general, the narrator stays neutral on issues one might not think would crop up in such a back alley environment: drug dealing and consumption, homosexuality, black marketeering, election fraud, and discrete solicitation to prostitution. He usually states arguments for and against each issue and then leaves it as a matter of personal choice. Several times the neighborhood holy man, Radwan Hussainy, is consulted on moral matters and he delivers black-and-white answers based on his admittedly non-scholarly understanding of Islam. The narrator has great fun showing how those who disagree with him squirm in his presence, but the narrator does not pass judgment if they reject his advice. He even seems to side with Kirsha, who believes in “live and let live” and “men are like that”. Hamida is so tightly wound, grasping, and materialistic that she verges on villainy, but shows a tender, vulnerable side that redeems her until she manipulates Abbas in precisely the way she is earlier manipulated into prostitution. Then the narrator turns scornful, and when Abbas and his friend debate whether she or the pimp is guiltier, he shows compassion for neither. This he reserves for Abbas who dies because he is in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Setting Midaq Alley is set in Cairo, Egypt, during World War II. Internal indications are that it begins in the autumn of 1944 and ends in the spring of 1945. Italy’s withdrawal from fighting on the Axis side suggests late summer/fall of 1944, and it is said that Salim Alwan’s heart attacks occurs during the cold months, while his return to work comes in the spring. There are no references to great battles fought between the British and Germans at Tobruk or El Alamein in 1941; the British simply are present, preventing rent increase, doing little about the black market, keeping prostitutes busy, and at first stimulating the economy considerably. By the end, they are laying off Egyptian day workers, which also suggests the conflict is ending. Characters lament that Hitler appears unwilling or unable to fight on for another ten years. A political rally is depicted
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He even seems to side was first posted on October 31, 2019 at 3:02 pm.
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