A Study of the Critical Function of Theme in Abdu-Rahman Munif's Novel " an-Nehayat"

Like the rest of Abdu-Rahman Munif’s novels، “an-Nehayat” possesses eminent humanistic، social، and political themes. Although this novel is among Munif’s shortest novels، it contains some brilliant ideas. The novel is set in an arid، famine-struck desert in a village called Tiba. In such a context، the content is reflected in a metaphorical and symbolic manner to render an inclusive reflection of the problems of human and Arab societies. This article first introduces the personal characteristics of Abdu-Rahman Munif، who is a renowned contemporary Arab author، then it studies the position and role of this particular novel in the development of Arabic fiction، afterwards this study attempts to explore and examine the most important themes and motifs in this work. These themes have been implicitly incorporated by Munif in the fabric of the work and are only accessible through an analysis of the characters. The themes revolve around the subject of famine and reflect Munif’s ideas and tendencies which are in turn deeply rooted in his futile and frustrating political activism. This activism led him to seek refuge in writing fictionwith the hope of finding a new outlet for his unfulfilled human aspirations. Munif’s storehouse of political experiences along with his expertise in the fields of law and petroleum industryform the very basis for these high and deep themes and motifs، thus enabling him to exercise his critical and reformist intentions in such a forceful and pragmatic manner. Therefore، considering the essential role of theme as the central idea of any work and taking into account the crucial role of the novel in popular and public reformist movements، especially a novel focusing on ends and fates، the present study probes the internal issues of the novel in order to reveal the main theme by employing an analytic approach.