A Comparative study of Ba Jin and Mahfouz from the Perspective of Patriarchy

Abstract

Ba Jin and Naguib Mahfouz are two brilliant writers. They lived almost in the same era and both of them experienced social unrest and social change. They almost simultaneously wrote the “trilogy” representing the highest level of modern literature in their respective countries. Fathers are important characters in both writers works. Being typical images of tyrannical parents, these fathers are supreme in the family, and have definite dictatorship over children. The “Father” works as a cultural symbol, an authority and a social norm, the expulsion and absence of “father” also means the collapse of social order. Mahfouz’s novel not only expresses the resistance to patriarchy, but also continues to search for the ideal father after the resistance. The protagonist’s journey to find his father is also the journey to find his faith.