Characters and Characterization in Al-Saqa Mat by Yusuf Elsibai

Characterization is one of the important elements in fiction. The study of this element and the way it is accomplished can reflect the author's perspectives and feelings toward the society where he lives in. Yusuf Alsibai, a modern Egyptian novelist, has produced literary works in different genres including novels, short stories and plays, with realistic and romantic slants. This study attempts to survey one of his novels Alsaqa Mat and investigate its character development the influence character development has on the development of the storie's events. There are several characters in this novel that have been modelled on lower class people in the society and have little effect in the storie's events. The author's method of characterization is an analytical-allegorical blend. He initially describes the character's traits from the narrator's point of view; then, he corroborates the character's explicitly mentioned qualities by their actions, speech in the course of the story.