Said as a tragic hero

Aristotle defines a tragic hero as "a person who must evoke a sense of pity and fear in the audience. He is considered a man of misfortune that comes to him through error of judgment".

• What is Said's tragic flaw? (harmatia)

Said's constant desire for revenge can be interpreted as his main tragic flaw that had later on in the novel lead to his downfall. An example from the text from chapter seven, "“To kill them both—Nabawiyya and Ilish—at the same time, would be a triumph”, his constant expressing of hate towards other characters in the play is considered as his main tragic flaw, since it lead to him getting shot at towards the end of the literary text.

• How does he display excessive pride? (hubris)

Said throughout the novel keeps blaming Nabawiyya, Illish and Rauf for being the main reason behind all that is happening to him, never having himself to blame. He even blamed Sana for not recognizing him, when he told Rauf in chapter three "I have no faith in all her sex", the previous line shows how naive he is, blaming Sana when she hasn't seen him for the past four year. This shows how excessively his character displays pride, as he sees that he himself is flawless and never to blame to what is happening between him and the other characters in the novel.

• When is his reversal of fortunes? (peripeteia)

Said's reversal of fortunes was at the moment when Rauf rejects for who he is, he says “If I set eyes on you again,” Rauf bellowed, “I’ll squash you like an insect.” This shows how Said is now left with no one and hopeless, due to the fact that Rauf once used to be his mentor and close friend, but now he is nothing other than another upperclass individual who Said attempted to rob. 

• At what moments in the text does he recognize that the reversal was due to his own actions? (anagnorisis)

Because Said deliberately broke into his house during dawn when Rauf was sleeping. “Yes, I do, but please don’t.” Said says that after Rauf said, “No? Don’t you deserve it?". This shows how Said acknowledges his mistake (perhaps just to avoid going back to jail), and begs Rauf not to call the police, showing that he knows that the reversal of fortunes is due to his own actions.

• Is his fate greater than he deserved? (nemesis)

His fate was tragic, no tragic ending is considered "greater than deserved" since all tragic endings have had some events leading up to him, contributing to a somewhat similar tragic fate.