Children of the Alley

Children of the Alley

In this reflection paper I will analyze the novel “ The Children of our Alley” written by the Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz. The novel is a reflection of the events that were going on in Egypt during the life of the author and touches the theme of religion. In “The Children of our Alley,” Mahfouz criticizes the politics of Egypt through the history of religion.,

In the beginning there is Gebelawi who is a very strong man, respected and rich. He has four sons and one day decides to gather them and tell them about his decision he has made to have the younger son, Adham, run the property of the family. The older son, Idris, rebels and rises up insulting his brother and father. Gebelawi banishes Idris from the house and tells everyone not to help him. On, the other hand, Adham, runs the estate very well but Idris, decided to ruin the family, tempts Adham to go read the book of Gebelawi, where the future of the family is written. Adham gets pushed by his wife to go read their future and one night decides to go. Gebelawi catches him there and he is banned from the house. Adham goes to live in a hut near the mansion and survives by working and has two kids. One day Gebelawi sends his servant for Hummam, who is later killed by his brother Qadri. Gebelawi decides to forgive Adham and everyone returns to the house.

In years that follow, the new generation of the Gebelawi and Adham are not respected and are not getting their share of the estate. The overseer and gangsters who protect him run the estate. The adopted child of the overseer, Gabal, decided to leave the mansion since he saw his people not being treated right. After leaving to go to a marketplace where he got married and learned to charm snakes, he came back and gained the rights of his people with the influence of his ancestor. After Gabal died, the situation of the people living in the alley went back to normal where the estate run by a Trustee and the gangsters...