How can examining a literary text from different perspectives enrich our understanding of both the work and the techniques used by the writer. Base on two works studies.

In The Thief and the Dogs and Things Fall Apart, both novels are complex in meaning, and using different perspectives and critical lenses, the reader is able to gain more understanding of the novels, in terms of understanding character motivation, allegorical meanings, and wider social implications made by the novels.


When focusing on the reader response for both of the books, and more specifically the context of production, a lot of the allegorical meanings behind the characters and overall conflicts are more obvious in both novels.

-        -  Mahfouz wrote The Thief and the Dogs after the Egyptian revolution, and uses Said’s character as a way to express his disappointment towards the Nasserite regime. The time period of modernist literature also allows for stream of consciousness.

-         -  Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart, before the Nigerian independence, and used Okonkwo’s character to show the dangers of being resistant to change.

There are also perspectives that can apply more effectively to the different books in specific. Interpreting Things Fall Apart through a gender critical lens allows for a deeper insight into Igbo culture and Achebe’s overall expression of duality. Because expressing the culture of the Igbo people was important to Achebe, there is also Igbo words present.


\On the other hand, for The Thief and the Dogs, applying Marxist theory lens offers a deeper understanding of not only Said’s motives and characterization, but also a criticism of the society in Egypt after the revolution.