A MAN OF AWESOME POWER ANALYSIS PDF– NAGUIB MAHFOUZ

A Silent Song and Other Stories

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Tayyib al-Mahdi knows that he will be eternally haunted by an awesome sadness after losing an uncanny potency because of his imprudence.

He is unable to control the excitement and intoxication that comes with power. Power corrupts him. 

He becomes corrupt and abuses his position for personal or selfish reasons. 

Some of his actions lead to negative consequences to the people he was supposed to serve. 

A Man of Awesome Power is a story written by Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz. It revolves around the protagonist Tayyib, who gets divine power but later on loses it when he misuses it. He has a chance to fulfil his dream of making his country and the world better but because of some avoidable errors, this opportunity slips through his fingers – like a dream.

Characters in A Man of Awesome Power

• Tayyib al-Mahdi
• Haniya – Tayyib’s wife
• Sulayman Bey al-Hamalawi

 

Focus

1. Power corrupts
2. Misuse of power
3. Regret

 

Key Areas in A Man of Awesome Power 

• Self-actualization (pg. 1) his mission in this world had come to an end.
• Awesome power (pg. 1-2) “You shall have the power to tell something, Be – and it will be!”
• Acceptance (pg. 2) Tayyib accepts the awesome power
• Taxi Incident (pg. 2) shatters rear wheels of taxi
• Brute on the bus (pg. 2-3) Tayyib strikes violent man with severe cramps
• Memorable services (pg. 3) Tayyib performs some memorable services
• Unforeseen illness  (pg. 3) makes radio announcer sneeze spontaneously
• Pay taxes (pg. 3) Compels Sulayman Bey al-Hamalawi to pay millions of pounds owed to the tax prosecutor
• More services (pg. 4) keeps applying his ability
• Proper planning and awareness (pg. 4) proper planning and awareness is necessary
• Surprise attraction (pg. 4) Tayyib is strongly attracted to a gorgeous and enticing woman
• Miracle gone (pg. 5) Tayyib loses his magical capability.

 

A MAN OF AWESOME POWER SUMMARY

Tayyib al-Mahdi feels that he has completed his mission in the world. He lives in his own apartment in Nasr City, which he won as a reward for many years of exemplary work abroad. (By the way, Nasr City is a suburb of Cairo, Egypt. The word also means ‘victory’ in Arabic). 

All his daughters are married. He has nothing left to do but enjoy tranquil evenings with his wife Haniya watching television, reading newspapers or listening a radio station dedicated to the Qur’an. 

He has sufficient health insurance and pension. He is indeed content.

One night, a man appears to him as a ghost in a strange dream and tells him:

“From this moment onward and for as long as God wills, you shall have the power to tell something, Be! – and it will be. Do with it what you please.” (pg. 1)

Naturally, he soon forgets the dream but oddly it recurs for many nights on end. He keeps this revelation as a guarded secret from everyone including his wife.

Tayyib is a devoutly religious man, a virtuous man who lives as though he bears the worries of the world as his responsibility. As though he is being somewhat rewarded for his goodness, he feels pervaded with physical energy, confidence, inspiration and joy. 

Tayyib establishes that he is indeed bestowed with transcendent power when he mentally commands the television to switch channels without  him leaving his chair. He can also order chairs to rise and return to their original positions. After this manifestation, he is engulfed in contrasting emotions of fear and elation. 

Tayyib is the man of awesome power!

When he confirms that he possesses miraculous powers, Tayyib recalls kind and generous dreams he has that could transform his country and the planet.

“His purpose in the world was not yet fulfilled. Indeed, it had not even begun.” (pg. 2)

It seems Tayyib has some generous and benevolent plans for his country and the world. With the awesome power firmly in his grip, he entrusts himself to God, even as he goes about his day to day business.

As much as the man of awesome power knows that he must use his power only for good, he is sometimes overcome with negative emotions such as anger – which cloud his judgement and he ends up severely punishing those who irritate him.

For example, he uses his awesome power to shatter the rear wheels of a taxi whose driver ignores him when he tries to hail it. Tayyib is resentful and enraged simply because the man drove past him. Never mind that he is a pious man of God. For a brief moment of imprudence, he even considers making the driver suffer an accident!

Tayyib goes about the rest of his day randomly applying his newly found capability. He strikes a brute who had slapped a woman on a bus, with severe cramps making him moan and scream in pain. He feels satisfied and that the man deserved the retribution.

He performs other memorable services such as filling a gaping pothole, locking a dangerously hanging electrical box, removing a pile of rubbish and draining an alley flooded with sewer water. This is testament to the state's laxity and inefficiency. Ironically, many in the neighborhood credit the state for the services.

At the café, when he hears a radio announcer explicating promising future developments, he is annoyed. In the past, such predictions excited him. Filled with fury, he makes the announcer to spontaneously sneeze incessantly until he cannot speak anymore. Instead he plays a recorded song, ‘Walk Around and See’.

This gives Tayyib inexplicable happiness. He plans to cleanse and censor the mass media which he deems dangerous. He plans to punish any speaker who says anything that displeases him by making them sneeze spontaneously, emit shrill sounds like women at a wedding, or suffer uncontrollable diarrhoea.

The next miracle he performs is compelling a man called Sulayman Bey al-Hamalawi to pay millions of pounds in taxes he evaded paying.

Tayyib then performs more services at a maternity hospital, a consumer’s cooperative, an electrical factory etc.

After dishing out random blessings and curses whenever he deemed appropriate, Tayyib ultimately decides that he needed proper planning and awareness of need in order to utilize his powers in the best in manner possible. He obtains guides to the departments of government, factories and private companies. He plans to come up with a comprehensive plan to correct his country and indeed the world.

Tayyib plans to rectify the lairs of official bureaucracy, centers of production and services, the People’s Assembly, the prisons, commercial markets, Press, political parties, schools and universities. He goes to the tea garden at the zoo to draw up the plans.

Before he embarks on his profitable ambitious plan, he is distracted and derailed by a gorgeous woman. The beautiful woman barely notices him. Her eyes are glued to the green lake and floating ducks.  

Tayyib haughtily feels that he could set her head-over-heels. He uses his power to send her a secret message. She instantly notices him. Tayyib is overcome with a spirit of passion, desire and ecstasy. He forgets his faith, his life and the gargantuan task ahead of him. Before repairing the world, he first chooses to heal himself. The two surrender to their fate.

And because of this folly, Tayyib loses his magical powers. Even he knows that he had erred. He brushes it off as a cold when Haniya observes his dampened mood. His inner confidence is also gone. Tayyib vows never to repeat his mistake but the damage is done. It is too late.

He figures out that his awesome power was gone when he tries to mentally control the TV channels to no avail. The miracle was gone – like a dream – the same way it came.

The costly mistake costs him his magnificent capability.

“Pleading is pointless. Distress is useless. Regret has no effect. An awesome sadness will haunt Tayyib  al-Mahdi until the day of his death.” (pg. 5)

Issues in A Man of Awesome Power 

Power corrupts 

• Taxi Incident 

Tayyib misuses his power when he shatters the wheels of the taxi out of anger, to punish the disdainful driver. His irritation now is greater than in the past when he did not have the power. He feigns sympathy for the driver but in real sense he is resentful and enraged.

• Brute on the bus  

Tayyib also misuses his power when he strikes the man on the bus with severe cramps. The man moans and screams in pain after Tayyib focusses all his anger on his stomach. Tayyib watches with satisfaction, concluding that he had applied his power in the best manner possible. 

• Unforeseen illness 

Moreover, Tayyib abuses his power when he makes the radio announcer to sneeze uncontrollably simply because he annoyed him. Unlike in the past before he got the power, now such prophecies make him furious. He makes the announcer to sneeze massively without warning. The broadcaster is unable to talk because of the sneezes. Tayyib is intoxicated with a rapture of happiness and victory. He also plans stop any talk that displeases him in future. 

• Surprise attraction 

Tayyib also abuses his power when he makes the gorgeous woman at the tea garden to fall for him. He is overcome with a surge of delight when the enticing woman catches his eye. He forgets his faith and is engulfed in desire and ecstasy. Tayyib puts off his benevolent plans and surrenders to his fate. 

Tayyib loses his power because he abuses his position. Before, he was contented, pious and had kindhearted and humane plans. When he gets power, he is unable to control his selfish emotions like anger and fury. 

When he comes back to his senses, he realizes that he had erred. He is filled with eternal pain, regret and sadness.

 

Do you remember how Tayyib uses his awesome power?

·       Switching TV channels

·       Orders chairs to rise and then return to their original places.

·       Shatters rear wheels of taxi

·       Strikes man with severe cramps

·       Fills gaping pothole

·       Locks dangerously hanging electrical box

·       Removes a pile of rubbish

·       Drains sewer water flooding an alley

·       Makes broadcaster ill

·       Compels Sulayman Bey al-Hamalawi to pay taxes

·       Maternity hospital, consumer’s cooperative and electrical factory

·       Charms gorgeous woman.

 

How does Tayyib plan to make the best use of his awesome power?

He obtains guides to departments of government, factories and private companies.

·      Official bureaucracy

·       Production and services

·       People’s Assembly

·       Prisons

·       Commercial markets

·       Press

·       Political parties

·       Schools, Universities

We find happiness when we use power for the betterment of humanity. When we misuse it, we are wallow in agony.  

 

A Man of Awesome Practice Questions 

When someone is given too much power, they can abuse their position. Write an essay in support of this statement citing illustrations from A Man of Awesome Power.

A good person can be corrupted by power. Write an essay in support of this statement citing illustrations from A Man of Awesome Power.

In your view, does Tayyib al-Mahdi use his power well? Leave a comment. 

Next: Incident in the Park analysis 

ESSAYS: Read A Silent Song and Other Stories Essays and Answers PDF here