Semiotics of Characters in the Novel of “In Order That My Heart Be at Ease” by Adham Sharqāwī

Since novels help novelists express their feelings and thoughts, they have attracted the scholars’ and critics’ attention. At the same time, due to the privileged position of semiotics among linguistic and critical studies, semiotics has also received researchers’ attention because it reveals the significance of this form of narrative. Excavating characters in novels is one of the crucial topics in semiotic studies since each character is selected by the author for a specific purpose. To continue the course of a narrative, different tasks are selected for that character. Therefore, choosing characters’ names and actions is the sign of particular signification.In the novel “In Order That My Heart Be at Ease” by Adham Sharqāwī, a contemporary Palestinian writer, there is a good background for studying characters because each character bears historical, cultural, and social information. For this reason, examining the personality in the context of semiotics helps clarify the author’s intentions and the hidden golas of the text. This article tried to answer the following two questions:How are the characters in the novel “In Order That My Heart Be at Ease” revealed as a sign?What is the nature of the relationship connecting the signified characters’ names with their characteristics, as well as the title of the mentioned novel?

This study was done by using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on the semiotic criteria of personality. Based on the characters’ psychological, social, and ideological dimensions, the authors of this research examined the characters of the mentioned novel both in terms of the signifier and signified and a set of criteria, according to which the relationship between the signified names of the maijor and minor characters and their characteristics and the signified relationship between the characters’ names and the title of the novel was analysed. Then, using morphological semiotics, the authors studied the morphological structures of the characters’ names and their frequencies by using the statistical data both quantitatively and qualitatively in two descriptive tables.

Examination of the signified characters’ names in the novel of “In Order That My Heart Be at Ease” and their association with the characters’ characteristics and behaviors showed that the name of Karīm signifying all kinds of goodness, honor, and virtues comprehensively (Ibn Manzūr, 2007, p. 3861) was appropriate for that character having valuable attributes. Another name for the maijor character of the novel was Wa’d, which was taken from the promise corresponding to her moral and behavioral characteristics; she deceived Karīm with many promises and eventually married another man.In this novel, there were some minor characters, such as Āminah’s aunt, whose name was taken from security. Choosing the name of Āminah for the character of Aunt Āminah, who, despite her cancer, was full of peace of heart and satisfaction with her destiny determined by God Almighty, was the best and most conscious choice among the other names. Another minor character of this novel was Hishām, who was an atheist. Hishām’s name was derived from breaking, well corresponding to his character for being a mixture of question and doubt. The name of Māher meaning skilled was a good match with the related character’s personality traits because he skillfully used religious and historical documents to convince Heshām. Ahmad was another character, who was blind. His name was derived from praise. Perhaps choosing Ahmad’s name, which conveyed more praiseworthy meanings, was due to his unbroken character with blindness as with the help of a good wife, he overcame his problems and achieved peace. Rayhān was another character, who was deprived of childbearing and thus, her husband separated from her and then, she was employed in an orphanage. Rayhān literally means basil, which is a “fragrant plant” (Naṣr al-Ḥittī, 2003, Vol. 1, p. 84). It seemed that using the name of Rayhān with its pleasant smell was a good choice for the relevant character, who, with the spread of her kindness among the oppressed children and orphans, evoked the same smell of basil. Muhammad, who was very interested in poetry, was a classmate and friend of Karīm. His name was derived from praise. The choice of Muhammad’s name was commensurate with Muhammad’s poetic nature and good morals.Another issue studied in this research was the relationship between the signified characters and the title of the novel, which could be examined in the three obvious, hidden, and contradictory relationships due to the existence of a cause-and-effect relationship, subjective presuppositions, and lack of an obvious relationship, respectively. The names of Karīm, Āminah, Muhammad, and Ahmad, which implied positive meanings, were clearly related to the title of the novel and referred to self-confidence. Rayhān and Māhir did not have a cause-and-effect relationship as the title of the novel, but since the fragrant scent of basil was soothing and gaining solace required skills, the names of these two characters showed a hidden relationship with the title of the novel. The names of Wa’d and Hishām had negative connotations and were inversely related to the title. Personality dimensions are represented by psychological, social, and ideological dimensions (see Ghaṭāsha and Rāṭī, n.d., p. 127). These dimensions are related to feelings and emotions, individuals’ social positions, and characters’ intellectual views, respectively. Each character in this novel was a sign and his or her signified characteristics could be examined according to his or her personality dimensions. The signified character of Wa’d was the seductive beauties of the world and Karīm’s character meant attachment to these beauties. Āminah’s lack of belonging to the world and her pure submission to God indicated the most important meanings in her personality. The characters of Māhir and Hishām were associated with the rational and logical dimension and lack of understanding of the facts due to incomplete justifications, respectively. Accepting difficult living conditions and flexibility signified the characters of Rayhān and Ahmed, respectively. Muhammad’s character reflected the true beauty of the world.Another topic studied in this research was the morphological semiotics of the characters’ names. Of the 8 characters used in this novel, 5 were male and 3 were female. These numbers might seem to indicate the dominance of male characters in the novel, but the female character of Wa’d as the maijor character of the story could reject this claim. What was most evident in the morphological analysis of the characters' names was sharqāwī’s tendency towards using derivatives and adjectives. In terms of frequency, the characters of Karīm, Wa’d, Hishām, and Māhir were at their peaks.

The characters’ names in the novel “In Order That My Heart Be at Ease” had been chosen carefully and there was an acceptable match between the signified characters’ names and their behavioral and moral characteristics and between the signified characters’ names and the title of the novel. The signified characters' names and the title of the novel could be examined in the three overt, covert, and contradictory ways. All the characters in this novel played a major role in the reader’s relationship with the text because they made semiotic systems that had cultural, social, and religious implications. By portraying Karīm’s failure in his love for a girl named Wa’d, Sharqāwī tried to lead Man towards detachment from the apparent beauties of the world. The other signified characters in this novel contradicted the those of Karīm and Wa’d because these characters, unlike Karīm, often reached a kind of calmness. The morphological semiotics indicated frequency of an adjective structure in the choice of characters’ names due to the special characteristics of that structure, which allowd the proof and continuity of the characteristics desired by the author to be in his characters. The frequency of male characters in this novel was more than that of female characters. However, the special role of  Wa’d in the novel indicated a kind of equality in the choice of gender. In terms of repeating the characters’ names, it was clear that the characters, who played a major role in advancing the events, had to be repeated more than the other characters. Karīm and Wa’d were two maijor characters and hence, their names were expected to be repeated more than those of the other characters. Hishām and Māhir were among the characters whose names were repeated more than the other minor characters because the scientific-religious debate between them provided a solid and reliable basis for this novel, which was peace of heart.