SOURCE: Gordon, Haim. “Flight from Freedom.” In Naguib Mahfouz's Egypt: Existential Themes in His Writings, pp. pp. 21-7. New York: Greenwood Press, 1990.

In the following excerpt, Gordon explores the struggle of Mahfouz's Egyptian characters to live an authentic and spiritual life.

I shall tell you a great secret, my friend. Do not wait for the last judgement, it takes place every day.

—Albert Camus

Like Saul Bellow's Albert Corde, Albert Camus's Bernard Rieux, and William Faulkner's Gavin Stevens,¹ Naguib Mahfouz's characters are not exceptional, yet many strive to live authentically and to relate spiritually in their daily endeavors. … Here I discuss some of the difficulties which the contemporary Egyptian must overcome to live such a life. In Egypt as in Europe or in the United States to live authentically and spiritually often means a daily attempt to reject evil and suffering, and a constant battle with the forces...