QUESTIONS

IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a list of characters in the front of the book. It is helpful to refer to this often as you read the book, because some characters are referred to by different versions of their names. The glossary in the back of the book has definitions of Arabic terms, organizations, historical personages, etc.

1. The novel caused controversy when it was published in Egypt. What do you think led to the controversy?
   

2. One of the themes of the book is power. Which characters are powerful? How do they exercise power over other, weaker members of society?
   

3. How do characters who are in “outsider” groups (homosexuals, women, the poor) try to gain status?
   

4. Most of the male characters range from unlikable to despicable. Is this surprising, coming from the pen of a male author?
   

5. Aswany portrays contemporary Egyptian society. Do his themes translate to other cultures? Are his messages universal?
   

6. Is Taha’s devotion to Sheikh Shakir a result of religious conviction?
   

7. What examples of religious hypocrisy are there in the novel?
   

8. Aswany’s characters could easily have become symbols or types. How does he avoid this and make them living and breathing individuals?
   

9. Egypt of today is an ally of western nations and is considered a democracy. Were you surprised at the expose of Egyptian politics and the extent of government corruption and repression?
   

10. Which characters are sympathetic? What about their situations arouses sympathy? Did your opinions of some characters change in the course of the book? Which ones?
    

11. Who are the victims and who the victimizers in this novel?
    

12. What role does fatalism play in the characters’ lives?
    

13. How does the author convey the despair that drives some characters to extreme actions?
    

14. What do all the characters have in common?
    

15. Do the successful characters who rise from poverty to positions of wealth and influence use their success to help others?
    

16. Why does the author end with the wedding? Does it rescue the novel from cynicism?
    
    

Questions compiled by Suzanne Fisher (fishers@uhls.lib.ny.us)
January 3, 2007