The World Literature Paper written by me during the first year of IB SL English. The works cited are "The Stranger" by Albert Camus and "The Thief and the Dogs" by Naguib Mahfouz.

1. The Tragedy of the Hero
Word Count: 1,038
Nicolas Parent
IB Candidate number: 000307156
International School Bangkok
May 2012

2. Albert Camus has always been known for his peculiar writing style. The best example of this can
be found in his greatest work: The Stranger. However, the novel is hailed as his best book not only
because of the way he wrote, but rather because of its protagonist, Meursault. He is easily relatable,
and his love of the good things in life makes him a character many people idolize. Naguib Mahfouz has
also been hailed as an amazing author, having been compared to Victor Hugo, Charles Dickens, and
many other leading authors of eras past. This is because of the character he writes. Said Mahran, the
protagonist of his novel The Thief and the Dogs, is an ex-convict bent on avenging his betrayal carried
out by his wife and his best friend, making him a sort of negative protagonist. The absurdity of Said’s
plight is enough to warrant the empathy of the reader, even though he is a convict. As can be seen from
the above statements, these characters share a few features. In fact, the two have enough in common,
be it their conflict with society; their interactions with others; and their end. This common ground will
be explored even more in the next few paragraphs.
The first and most obvious thing both characters share is their seeming unwillingness to
conform to the norms of society. This can be seen with Meursault, both in his unflinching devotion
towards his values and morals and in his apparent aversion towards expressing any of his emotions
towards Marie. In The Thief and the Dogs, Said also has a penchant to go against the establishment.
This is most obvious in his career choice of thievery, but he is given opportunities to reverse the choices
he made in his previous life and start anew. Instead, he decides to exact revenge on the people he
perceives as the cause for his predicament. The reasons for their rebellions of sort vary with each
character. In The Stranger, Meursault is willing to give his life in defense of the ideals he adheres to. In
essence, it is his need to maintain the truth which leads to his martyrdom. However, his lack of
emotions could have for origin a different cause. Throughout the book, Meursault seems to be unable

3. to express his love for Marie despite their extreme intimacy. Instead, he describes their relationship as a
lustful connection, even though she repeatedly hints at getting married. Sadly, the final state of their
relationship is never resolved due to his death. In The Thief and the Dogs, Said is consumed by his
hatred and driven to revenge. His drive, however, prevents him from seeing the opportunities that are
presented to him throughout the book. He ignores the possibility of an honest job from Rauf, and
dismisses the affections of Nur, only realizing at the last possible moment that he could have been
happy with her, which leads to the second point.
The second thing Meursault and Said have in common is their interactions with the people
around them. The similarities can be seen especially within the relationships they have with their love
interests. Both characters are seemingly adored by a female, and yet they do not reciprocate the
feelings. Said is constantly dismissive and manipulative of Nur, a woman who has loved him since he
was young. Although he was given the possibility of having a long and happy life with her, he decides to
follow the brutal path of vengeance that ultimately leads to his death. The same is seen in Meursault’s
actions towards Marie. They go see movies, go swim at the beach, have meals together, and yet he
does not believe he truly loves her. He never goes out of his way to please her, and yet she is still drawn
towards him. She is so in love, or possibly infatuated, with him that she will wait until he has done his
time and is willing to get married with him. This devotion, however, is not reciprocated by Meursault.
In fact, his last thoughts in the novel are not about Marie, now the only person to truly care for him.
Rather, he is obsessed with being greeted at the gallows by the cries of hate of the people that
condemned him. This final point ties in with the third similarity.

4. As has been established before, both of the protagonists are met with untimely deaths. This is
due, in fact, to the reasons addressed within the first argumentative paragraph. Meursault dies for the
preservation of his ideals in a society that destroys them, and Said dies in a last bid attempt to kill the
cause of his betrayal. Although the reasons for their deaths are different, their deaths are both caused
by the same principle. The concept of a character dying for its ideals is known as the “tragic hero” and is
one of the most used archetypes in dramatic literature. The best example that can be thought of is the
death of the character V in V for Vendetta, a graphic novel published by DC Comics. In the novel, V is an
anarchistic terrorist whose goal is to overthrow the totalitarian government that tortured and mutilated
him into a scarred human being. When presented with the chance to live a happy and peaceful life with
Evey (the book’s protagonist), he instead decides to exact his revenge on the establishment and
eventually dies from the wounds he incurred in battle. This event is mirrored in The Thief and the Dogs.
Said decides to forsake a relationship with Nur and instead chooses to attempt to murder both Rauf and
Ilish. Thus dying for his personal ideals much in the same way as Meursault, he assumes the position of
the tragic hero.
Ultimately, the characters of Meursault and Said undergo similar events even though they are
fundamentally dissimilar. This is seen in their resistance towards the norms of society, their relations
with those around them, and finally, their untimely deaths. Undeniably, these characters share a lot of
characteristics and these similarities only serve to enforce the obvious connection between the books.
A combination of situational absurdity and an unjust world are what draw these literary masterpieces
together.

5. Works Cited
Camus, Albert. The Stranger. New York: Random House, 1989. Print.
Mahfouz, Naguib. The Thief and the Dogs. New York: Random House, 1984. Print.