Government and Individual Freedoms in The Movie "The Norwegian Rat"

Naguib Mahfouz, a pioneering Arabic author, expresses his frustration with government through themes of individual freedoms in society and the ineffectiveness of government within his short story, The Norwegian Rat. Born on December 11, 1911, Naguib Mahfouz was the youngest of seven in a middle-class family, raised by a strict and religious father. Mahfouz witnessed the 1919 Egyptian Revolution at a young age, which was considered the first mass nonviolent mass protest in the middle east (Bisgaard-Church 18), and this inspired his resentment of the government and encouragement of socialism. Mahfouz was distrustful of his own government and hints at this often within his written works. He graduated with a degree in philosophy from King Fuad I University in 1934--renamed the American University in Cairo-- and later entered the civil service just like his father. After realizing he wanted to be a writer, he published his first book in 1939 and left the workforce (Constantakis 67). He studied writers from both Arabic and English literature, influencing his short story writing style and allowing him to mix ideas of social realism with magic realism. Mahfouz received the Nobel prize in literature when he received “more than half the votes” (Nomination 7) in 1988 for his Cairo trilogy, and was surprised because “he believed was a western prize” (“The Norwegian Rat” 191). His writing became a gateway for the western world to experience Arabic literature as his books gained critical acclaim and circulated worldwide. His writing was considered extreme by those in Islamic fundamentalist circles because of its anti-government and sacrilegious views, and some of his stories were even banned in Egypt. He was eventually placed on a “kill list” and he survived a stabbing in the neck from terrorists. He later died from complications in injury after falling. Proceeding his death, the AUC press created a prize in his honor because of his contributions to Arabic literature (Hewison 2), and it has helped to “discover new talents in Arabic literature” (AUC Press 1).

Mahfouz opens his work, The Norwegian Rat, in media res (in the middle of things). The conflict has just begun and it involves a rat infestation within a small city in Egypt where the nameless main character lives. The time of year is not described, but the mood is tense, as the tenants worry about the impending risk of rats eating their food. When one of the characters, Mr. AM, decides to discuss this risk, “voices were raised around the room” (Mahfouz 1) adding to the growing stress of the situation. None of the tenants are comfortable with the thought of rats overtaking their everyday life. The rats quickly come to embody the tenant’s fears and problems, further amplifying the stress in the atmosphere. The climax of the story occurs when the bureaucrat arrives to inspect the narrator’s apartment. Beforehand, the tenants had been put to wits end through purchasing food for cats, using dangerous rat poison, and cleaning their houses almost twice a day. The tenants had become more distraught and tired, and many began to fight within their families and disagree among themselves. Initially, the bureaucrat’s appearance reminds the narrator of a cat, but later, either through the narrator’s unreliable testimony or through magic, the bureaucrat’s appearance shifts from that of a rat to that of a cat. This change occurs because of the bureaucrat’s voracious appetite, and this results in him eating all of the narrator’s food which is already in short supply. Mahfouz allows the audience to interpret this scene, but the conflict is ultimately left unresolved, as the bureaucrat leaves the house he offers no help to the tenants, even though they needed it the most. The resolution of the story is very open-ended and open to interpretation from the audience, as it closed as the bureaucrat walks away, with “a fleeting Norwegian smile” (Mahfouz 5) meant to leave the reader confused and interested in analyzing the encounter.

Mahfouz incorporates elements of magic realism in his stories, and following this trend, he minimally describes his characters and focuses more on the symbolism and meaningful conversation. In fact, only one character is given a name, and the narrator only refers to himself as a singular being--instead of part of the collective group of tenants. Mr. A.M., the senior householder, is the leader of the tenants in the apartment building. He is the eldest and thus is held with the highest respect compared to other tenants. The emphasis on age difference is another tendency Mahfouz followed, as he wanted to connect readers from all age groups (Teisch 39). His connections to local government agencies further solidify his role as the authority figure in the apartment complex. Mr. A.M.’s tenants are never described physically, but one of the tenants is formally recognized as the narrator. The narrator is also never described physically, but his narration reflects the mental state of the collective body of tenants: He is their mouthpiece in the narrative. Mr. A.M. is able to control the tenants through their strict religious beliefs, as he quotes the Koran to encourage the tenants to continue fighting the rats: “He resorted to the Koran for a reply. “God does not charge a soul beyond its scope.”” (Mahfouz 1). Mahfouz strove to make his characters relatable to an Egyptian audience, as all are portrayed as Muslim, and a large majority are in the lower working class, where a more than half of Egypt’s current population is located (Bisgaard-Church 1). The final main character is an extension of the Egyptian government, the bureaucrat, and is the only character Mahfouz takes time to describe in appearance: “His square face with its short snub nose and glassy stare reminding me of a cat” (Mahfouz 3). This conglomeration of human and animal attributes demonstrates how characters are more metaphysical rather than concrete or defined (Naguib Mahfouz - Facts 8). The shift of the bureaucrat’s appearance plays to this metaphysical sense because later, the bureaucrat morphs and begins to look like a rat, specifically a Norwegian rat. The strong linkage between the rat and the bureaucracy serves to portray the government in a negative light and establishes the bureaucracy as a cumbersome system meant to benefit the rich.

The narrator in The Norwegian Rat, as mentioned before, is never given a name or described physically. Adhering to Mahfouz’s love of magic realism, the narrator remains a part of the collective tenants, mirroring their stresses, desires, and fears. The narrator flips between third person limited and third person omniscient. When the story begins, the narrator is both trustworthy and narrating from a third person omniscient viewpoint. The narrator is part of the collective and is influenced by the same events. “We returned to our home in high spirits and with a sincere resolve” (Mahfouz 1). His narration emphasizes the collective and demonstrates a sense of community. Mahfouz was influenced to write the main character as a part of a collective because of his need to address the common person, specifically the everyday working class Egyptian. This collective narrative was partly influenced by his leave from a government job and bureaucracy (Naguib Mahfouz - Biographical 2). The shift in narration occurs about halfway through the novel when the tenants begin to become more stressed as they anticipate the oncoming rat invasion. The narration becomes unreliable and the narrator essentially splits from the collective. He refers to himself as “I” for the first time when imagining his worst fears: “I imagined the earth heaving with hordes of rats as far as the eye could see” (Mahfouz 2) emphasizing how the stress has split the community. The constant threat of rats weighs on the tenants, causing them to lose sleep, split from each other, and argue over trivial issues. The loss of sleep makes the narrator’s commentary unreliable, as he associates the bureaucrat appearance with a cat, then later sees the same bureaucrat as a rat. This change can be interpreted two ways: Either the stress and lack of sleep has made the narrator hallucinate, or the shift from cat to rat is symbolically representing how government cannot be trusted as it is always changing for its own benefit. The point of view could be affected by Mahfouz’s view of the 1919 Egyptian revolution where the government conscripted workers and lowered pay (Bisgaard-Church 14) thus driving many to poverty. The money was used to build the Aswan Dam causing an influx of pests, specifically rats. These fears of pests and the safety of one’s own family are exaggerated by the narrator in an attempt to drive home the point; The government is untrustworthy and only serves itself.

Mahfouz utilizes symbolism rampantly throughout The Norwegian Rat. The symbolism personifies the difficulties the tenants face and sheds light on the government's blatant disregard for the needs and well-being of the working to lower class of Egypt. The prominent symbol of the Norwegian rat is mentioned many times throughout, and its main purpose is to convey fear felt by tenants. The Norwegian rat is representative of the problems the tenants are up against; famine, loneliness, and a feeling of unpreparedness (Constantakis 78). The famine is a symptom of the government oppression, as the tenants are encouraged to buy cat food, and “new poison” (Mahfouz 2) which was characterized as more dangerous than anything they had previously used. The allocation of resources does not mirror the needs of the tenants and they gradually spend their money in defense of a nonexistent problem. The Norwegian rat and the fear associated with the situation closely mirror the uncertainty of the situation in the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflicts. The civilians in both are disconcerted for social change and fear impending conflict, for which they are not equipped to deal with. The other relevant symbol is the cat. The cats in the apartment complex are meant to negate the rat problem, but the expense of feeding them and housing them soon outweigh their benefits. Mr. A.M. pushes the continued use of cats, “An evil is not warded off by something worse” (Mahfouz 1), arguing that if the cats were not worse than the rats, they would be ineffective. He ultimately alludes to the fact that the cats were not the problem, the rats were. The two fixed symbols of the cat and the rat serve as a deeper meaning to the narrative in The Norwegian Rat and embody the fears of the tenants in the story, and the tenants of modern day Egypt.

Mahfouz’s focus on dialogue rather than meaningful plot development compliments his focus on magic realism. He chooses to write abstractly, but he also utilizes metaphors to link in other relevant topics, such as government and religion, into his literature (The Nobel Prize 8). The short story format of The Norwegian Rat keeps the attention of readers, and as Jessica Teisch puts it best; “Mahfouz draws us onward by continually frustrating our desire for conclusion” (Teisch 45). Mahfouz studied westerns short stories and skillfully adapted them to Egyptian culture, reshaping the long plot driven narratives of typically Arabic literature to fit a template widely accepted by the western world (The Norwegian Rat 196). Using nondescript, nameless individuals and dry humor, The Norwegian Rat examines humanity and subsequently addresses fundamental questions such as; society and norms, collective versus individual needs, and the role of government. The socialist viewpoint taken by the narrative gives off a tone of anxiety and fear towards an unforeseeable future wrought with trouble for the working class. This tone also fosters an examination on the psychological impact of social change on ordinary people (Smith 1). By alluding to religion through subliminal references and quotes from the Koran, Mahfouz has essentially “formed an Arabian narrative art that applies to all mankind” (Naguib Mahfouz - Facts 4).

The ultimate purpose of The Norwegian Rat is to convey the struggles within Egypt to a wider audience of both the eastern and western world. It is also a reflection of Naguib Mahfouz’s experiences with life within the Egyptian city of Cairo. Fear and its effects are also examined within The Norwegian Rat, as the concerns of the people manifest over the spread of pests and disease. The real-life event symbolized by these fears was the construction of the Aswan Dam, referenced within The Norwegian Rat: “attributed it to the negative aspects of the High Dam” (Mahfouz 2). Incorporating aspects of politics into writing was something Mahfouz found to be unavoidable, he found it a characteristic quality that exists in all forms of writing (Qualey 8). Due to their political nature and sacrilegious undertones, some of Mahfouz’s works were considered an offense to Islam, leading to multiple books being outright banned in Egypt and surrounding countries (The Norwegian Rat 198). The controversial topics covered attracted a diverse audience from the whole world. The themes of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of a few resonated with those dealing with government related issues in their country. The government can often become corrupt and overshadow the necessities of life for the poorer citizens. When these people are not allowed to speak up for themselves, they have to “go on submissively, carrying out what (they) had been ordered to do” (Mahfouz 3). Breaking free from the clutches of overbearing governments ill-fated decisions was the message Mahfouz intended to vocalize. Even though government can attempt to cover up a situation and manipulate the media, Mahfouz argues that facing government head on would be more practical than living under an ineffective bureaucracy. Individual freedom is something that comes at the price of fighting and loss of life but is fundamentally necessary for a society in which people live without fear of metaphorical or real Norwegian rats.