Philosophical Autobiography in Mahfouz's Cairo Trilogy

The most impressive element of Naguib Mahfouz's "Cairo Trilogy" novel is the passage of time. Mahfouz succeeded in establishing the Egyptian chronicle throughout his life, keeping track of the life of the three generations of Abdul Jawad family. I explained not only the family life, but also society, politics and philosophy of the whole country. change. It is dangerous to read Mahfouz's "essentially artistic" social analysis, but the Egyptian change in the novel revealed the relationship between the characters and the changing Egypt.

These novels trace the 3 generations of Egyptian families from the end of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. They were translated into English in the 1990 's like Palace Walk: Cairo Trilogy I, Desire Palace: Cairo Trilogy II, Sugar Street: Cairo Trilogy III. In his account of the middle class Egyptian struggle, Mahfouz is compared to Charles Dickens and Fyodor Dostoevsky. The third stage of Mahfouz 's literary work, also called his modern or experimental stage, began in the 1960' s and Mahfouz departed from realism that gained him such acclaim. The basin works introducing this new style were "thieves and dogs" announced in 1961.

This is the first volume of Mahfouz's "Cairo Trilogy" covering the period from the end of 1917 to the year 1919. The political events in this novel are as follows. Saad Zaghloul as Admiralty Leader of the First World War, the change of rulers of Egypt, the end of the war, the failure and collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the formation of Wafd Saad Zaghloul The advent of the people from March to April 1919, The occurrence of uprising. The central figure is Al - Sayyid Ahmad. He is a middle class businessman who strictly manages his family according to the Quran and teaches his behavior according to his own wishes. Therefore, while his three sons lived in fear, his wife and two daughters were at home, but Al - Sayyid Ahmad explored the pleasure of Cairo.