Tatiana Karpova

Dr. Shattuck

The Wiki Project.

The Role of the Narrator.

            The narrator plays s very significant role in The Thief and the Dogs novel. The narrator is there to tell the story (as a third person) in the most efficient and clear manner.

            In the English version of The Thief and the Dogs, unlike the original Arabic one, the narrator’s story is separated from the main character’s thoughts by italics. Italicizing the main character’s thoughts and emotions has both a positive and a negative effect on better understanding the novel. The positive side is the fact that the main character’s thoughts and feelings stand out. It is important because by looking at what’s going on in the main character’s head the reader can better understand, if not even relate to, the motives behind every action that the main character makes through out the novel. On the other hand, there is also a negative side of italicizing the thoughts and emotions of the main character. Unfortunately, the inconsistency of the italics through out the novel can be very confusing and throw the readers of. By having to focus on separating the thoughts and emotions of the character (the ones not in italics) it takes away from focusing on the novel itself.

Cortez Goffer

The Role of the Narrator

     In The Theif and the Dogs, the narrator is able to give us insight inot Said's head, and the let us see what he's thinking and feeling. This gives one the feeling that the narrator is like this higher power since we are able to here Said’s thought, but at the same time one can start to question the importance of the use of italics in this novel.  One would think that the use of the italics is in first person, by the way that Said uses I when speaking out loud to himself, but then at other times you would think that the italicized words could have been regular dialogue. So a few questions arise after completing this story; What’s the importance of italics and how important is the narrator in this story? These are all questions of great importance because one person can read this novel and gain a whole different interpretation by what he or she is reading based on their understanding of the role of the narrator.

     The Narrator is important in this story by the fact that he is able to let us completely understand Said's outter emotions, as well as his inner most feelings also. This helps one gain a better since of feeling and grasp around Said as a person. Without the Narrator telling us what is happening from this god-like point of view many details and influences for the main characters actions would be lost. By being able to give us all this great insight and personal feelings of Said the Narrator is a great asset to this story; without the narrator alot of the meat of the story would be lost and that since of knowing Said in-and-out would be lost.

     Next is the importance of the itallics which to me is very confusing at some points in the story. Orignally there weren't even itallics used in this novel, but the english translators felt it necessary to add them in for some kind of special effect, I would say. At some points the itallics are used for when Said is speaking with himself inside is head, and then at other places seems that he can just basically be speaking out loud. Whatever the reason I feel that the itallics are helpful for understanding Said's personal feelings, but then on the other had can be a little misleading and confusing. But overall I think the use of the itallics sevred it's main purpose for letting us know that Said was speaking within himself, rather than outwardly making these statements.

     While it's a little hard to distinguish the Narrator from Said, and the itallics being a little misleading at times I feel that both are great helpers throughout this novel. The Narrator gives us the view of every feeling and emotion which over comes Said, in turn giving us that bond that helps us in understanding his pain and stuggles. Next, the itallics clearly express Said's inner thoughts and anguish, but in some parts of the story could have been taken out because they seemed to just be repetitve and confusing, but in the end leaves us with a clear picture of what to interpret. So when u finally reach the conclusioin of this amazing tail of man betrayed by his loved one's and friends, think to yourself about the importance and role of the Narrator and the way the itallics are used.