Cities, in their essence, are really nothing but a collection of buildings. The urbanites spend their days making their way from building to building, eventually making their final stop at the one they can call home. In these inhabited buildings, a distinct society forms that is nevertheless dependent on the outside world for its continued existence. This symbiotic relationship between the building and the city is portrayed in Alaa Al-Aswany’s The Yacoubian Building and M.M. Tawfik’s A Naughty Boy Called Antar. The two works show a distinct, but yet similar, way of representing Cairene society through the portrayal of a dominating building in the novel.
The very title of Alaa Al-Awany’s novel-The Yacoubian Building-shows its significance in the author’s message. The history of the building shows the changes Cairene society went though from the year 1934, when it was built by an Armenian millionaire, to the sometime in the near past. It began as the home of the “cream of society” of the 1930s-ministers, big landowners, and foreigners. With the Revolution of 1952, the new group in power, the army officers, moved in. In the 1970s, the wealthy and influential began to leave the downtown area for El Mohandiseen and Medinat Nasr, and the composition of the building changed once again. Business gained importance, and many apartments were turned into offices. Money becomes the impetus for most changes in the building, as “the connection between the iron rooms and the building’s apartments was gradually severed and the former stewards and servants ceded their iron rooms for money to new, poor residents coming from the countryside.” The building is always the residence of the elements in power during a certain period-first the aristocracy, then the army officers, followed by business owners. Even the ownership of the building reflects the shifting climate of the city, as it passes from the wealthy Armenian to being under the control of a corrupt lawyer, who will agree to anything for a share of profits. Al Aswany never goes beyond a description of the history of the building, but yet that is enough to provide a detailed narration of Cairo itself beyond the building.
The history of the Tower of Happiness, the main building of A Naughty Boy Called Antar, is quite different. In a sense, it has no real history. It is one of the new constructions in Ma’adi, and it does not really have any outer distinguishing characteristics. When Malak is on his way to the Tower, he sees “the first of the extended chain of towers that have sprouted along the Nile Bank in Maadi”, and wonders “which one was the tower with which his fate had become intertwined.” The Tower simply blends in with its surroundings. The Tower of Happiness has no story tell, similar to that of the Yacoubian Building. Rather, it is a reflection of the emergence of a new dominant class in society: the new rich. They do not care much for tradition, social norms, or propriety. Their Tower needs no history because they place no value on such things. Their number one priority is money. Society has changed to accommodate these changes, and now money can buy a distinguished image. When Aslah meets a resident of the Tower of Happiness, she immediately points out what the Tower is known for: “I envy you, such a distinguished building and sophisticated neighbors, nobody ever hears about improprieties here.” In reality, the worst possible sins have taken place in the Tower, but the monetary power of the rich inhabitants prevents this from damaging their reputation.
The inner layout of the Yacoubian Building allow for the development of two distinct communities. In the main part of the building, the occupants form part of the upper middle class. Each character represents a certain segment in this part of Cairene society, from the remnant of old aristocracy Zaki Bey to Hagg Azzam, who has worked his way up in society through his own work and acquired wealth. Each one has control of a certain kind of power that allows them to exploit others, whether it is the social aristocratic power of Zaki Bey, or the economic power of Hagg Azzam. When someone tries to defy their control, they use whatever means necessary to maintain their dominance. When Souad’s brother confronts Hagg Azzam’s son about the murder of Souad’s baby, he gets the reply: “If you and your sister make problems or start talking, we know how to put you in your place. This country is ours, Hamidu. We have a long reach and we have all kinds of ways of dealing with people. Choose the kind you want.” Each in his own way, every inhabitant of the building have the power to control the lives of the subordinate, lower classes.
The lower classes of the Yacoubian community do not occupy a physical space that is under the wealthier inhabitants. Rather, they reside above them, on the rooftops. There, they lead their own lives, separate from those in the main body of the building. “The children run around all over the roof barefoot and half naked and the women spend the day cooking, holding gossip sessions in the sun, and, frequently, quarreling...” The physical barrier between the roof and the rest of the building keeps the two segments of the Yacoubian community separate, most of the time. This is how the upper class prefers to keep things. Although they depend on those of the rooftop to satisfy their needs, they do not want to witness the negative effects of their exploitation.
The Tower of Happiness also has its own social segregation, but in a different way. The wealthiest and most powerful occupants occupy the top of the building, instead of the poorer class. As one moves vertically up the building, the residents become richer and more distinguished. The first floor is occupied by Sambo’s ‘Hairdresser to the Stars’, there to provide for the superficial beauty needs of the inhabitants of the Tower, as well as the movie stars, another example of those who have recently made their own wealth and reputation. The visitors use the salon to cover up their personas and forget about the truth of their illegitimately accrued wealth through stylish haircuts and glossy makeup. In the background of the salon, one can hear music that is “almost imperceptible, like the whisper of a neglected conscience.” The salon can defy the reality of their customers’ physical appearance but as everyone in the building sooner or later realizes, the truth is impossible to ignore forever. It is always present, and no amount of wealth or power can make it disappear.
The vertical arrangement of the Tower of Happiness is based on the popular definition of “happiness”. This superficial definition equates happiness with success and wealth. As one rides up the Tower of Happiness, these two factors keep increasing, culminating with the apartments of the owner of the building, who occupies all of the top four floors. The sixth floor consists of a prestigious employment office, the tenth floor is home to Farah and the pretentious Madame Gawdat. The twelfth floor houses the notorious bellydancer, Senora Esmeralda. The thirteenth floor, the focus of the story, was once rented by the incredibly wealthy Shoukry Shaker, and is now in the hands of the billionaire Tawab. The richest and most powerful inhabitant, the owner himself, controls the building from his apartment in the very top. The Tower of Happiness thus forms a flip image of the Yacoubian Building, since those of higher standing occupy the top part of the building, while the less influential reside in the lower parts.
The Tower of Happiness also distinguishes itself from the Yacoubian Building by its lack of a physical divide between the various sections of the building. The Yacoubian Building has two distinct communities that lead separate daily lives and for the most part are not forced to come into contact with each other. In the Tower of Happiness, there are no sharp divides between the various segments. The change, as you go up the building, is very gradual, and not well established. The apartments keep changing hands, reflecting the fluid state of modern society. The inhabitants of the Tower see all the other inhabitants of the building on a daily basis. They share the gossip about each other, so that as soon as a secret is let out, it spreads through the Tower. However, the residents make every effort to keep it within the confines of the building, to maintain its distinguished reputation. Their unwillingness to disclose the details of the night of Ahlam’s murder makes it hard for Islah to discover the truth. Everyone knows about the sins that have built the Tower of Happiness, but they try to keep this knowledge locked inside, so that its outer grandiose appearance is all people see.
Much of what goes on in the Tower of Happiness is controlled by the elevator. It seems to have a mind of its own, as it appears just at the right moment, and frequently insists on taking characters up to the 13th floor against their will. It forces people to meet “by chance”, such as the encounter between Malak and Farah. When a character tries to take control of his life and defy the forces pushing him in a certain direction, he decides to ignore the elevator and take the stairs instead. When Ashmouni first witnesses the revelation of Ahlam’s voice through Ankar, “not waiting for the elevator, he rushes down the twenty-six flights of the marble staircase, muttering as he gasps for breath.” Ashmouni does not want to take any more risks with fate or the supernatural, and thus avoids the elevator and tries to use his own physical abilities to transport himself to the bottom of the building. Malak also takes the stairs when he goes up to Farah’s apartment with a knife, intent on killing her, and then descends through the staircase, having abandoned his original intentions. He wants control over his own life and the life of Farah, and takes the stairs in an attempt to achieve this. The elevator is a space of dreams, as exemplified by Ashmouni’s erotic fantasy of himself and Zuzu in the elevator. It is also a space of tragedy, the location where Ahlam’s dead body was discovered, “innocent and dreamy, just like your [her] image on the screen.” The elevator is the heart of the Tower-the place where emotions are born, where destinies are decided, and where everyone comes together, like blood vessels, and then separate in their own paths, only to reunite again later on.
The Yacoubian Building, on the other hand, has no elevator that controls the destinies of its occupants. Instead, the residents themselves create the interactions that bind them together. The occupants of the building lure in people from outside to serve their interests, and thus make them part of their Yacoubian world. Hagg Azzam brings in Souad to satisfy his sexual needs, as does Hatim Bey with Abduh. These characters are brought in as prey to the tenants of the building, and when they try to assert themselves, the results are not too pleasant. Abduh must murder Hatim to get rid of the power Hatim has obtained over him. Souad, meanwhile, loses her unborn child: “They pounced on her and one of them smothered her mouth with the pillow while the others grabbed her hands and feet….They were strong and well trained and one of them rolled up the sleeve of her pyjamas and she felt something like a sharp thorn being stuck into her arm.” The original tenants of the Yacoubian building always end up on top-they control the rest of Cairo. If anyone tries to defy them, they have the power to bring them down.
The Yacoubian building represents the social group in control of Cairo, but it also stands for another power presence in Cairo: foreign colonizers. The building owes its existence to a foreigner, the Armenian Yacoubian, and an Italian engineering firm. It is built in “high classical European style, the balconies decorated with Greek faces carved in stone, the columns, steps, and corridors all of natural marble, and the latest model of elevator by Schindler.” Every beautiful aspect of the building is due to some European, not Egyptian, influence. The original foreign inhabitants had to move out after the Revolution, but even so they were able to control the fate of the building from abroad. Yacoubian’s heirs continue to receive the profits while living in Switzerland. The administration is left first to an Armenian agent, and then to a Coptic lawyer, the member of a community that is never fully integrated into “Egyptian” society, and thus is in many ways on the same level as the foreigners. Not matter what history has in store for Cairo, the Yacoubian Building is always under the control of the foreign influence that built it.
The building is also surrounded by the foreign influence from outside. Downtown Cairo was built by the European elite to serve its needs, to the point that “it was considered quite inappropriate for natives to wander around in Downtown in their gallahiyas and impossible for them to be allowed in this same traditional dress into restaurants such as Groppi’s, À l’Américaine, and the Odéon…” Gradually, this influence waned as foreigners left after the Revolution, the poor moved in, and religious influence grew. Nevertheless, the Europeans had managed to etch a permanent stamp into the heart of Cairo. The inhabitants of the Yacoubian BuildingEgypt for a better world abroad. continue to frequent establishments owned by foreigners. Hatim is a regular at Chez Nous, the gay bar owned by a man nicknamed “the Englishman” because of his European appearance. Zaki only feels at home at Maxim’s, owned by the Greek Madame Christine Nicholas, who is always there to console and give him advice. The Egyptian inhabitants try to become more like the foreigners: the rich upper class speaks in French and the inhabitants on the roof, such as Busayna, dream of leaving
The true appeal of the foreign lifestyle is in the power that the Europeans were able to establish and maintain within Cairo. Malak aspires to replicate the colonization of Egypt within the building: “Like some great colonial power, Malak Khilla’s objective is extension and control…Since arriving on the roof he hasn’t stopped expanding in all directions.” Like the European colonizers, Malak is prepared to use any means necessary, moral or not, to achieve his goals. He and Abaskharon team up to seduce Zaki with Busayna and are almost able to convince Busayna to get Zaki to sign off the rights to his apartment. Ultimately, though, poetic justice prevails, as Zaki Bey suffers a stroke at just the right moment when Busayna realizes how much she loves him.
The inhabitants of the Tower of Happiness also try lure in outsiders, to use them for their own purposes. Ashmouny sometimes receives money from the Tower’s residents, but he knows that “when they gave, it was not out of the goodness of their hearts but to relieve their consciences of their philandering and immorality. They thought they could buy divine blessing, and sometimes his silence, too.” He is convinced to visit the thirteenth floor by promises of Kebab, the food of wealthier people. Didi is also lured into the Tower, by the wealth and power of Shoukry. But unlike the residents of the Yacoubian Building, those in the Tower of Happiness aren’t able to conquer their victims. Ashmouny breaks his silence and Shoukry never gets to enjoy Didi. The wealth of the rich inhabitants may be able to buy them a lot, but money cannot buy everything.
The Tower of Happiness seems to be controlled by some invisible, mystical presence. The real owner of the building is never present-he only comes to Egypt a few times a year, seduced by the wealth abroad. Aslah is lured inside the Tower of Happiness by a non-human presence: the ghost of Ahlam. The ghosts of the Tower are able to inhabit the building because the Tower of Happiness is not like the other towers surrounding it. When stepping inside, it is like “crossing a dual barrier in time and space.” The thirteenth floor forms the center of the activities of the entire building, it is were revelations are made and secrets unfold. Everyone is somehow drawn to this floor and end up in Apartment 1301 just when the time is right. The owner of Apartment 1301 Everyone is trying to hide some secret, and they believe that they can control the truth. But truth, and the ghosts, win in the end. The new rich of Cairo cannot ignore the means they used to acquire their wealth. The ghosts of their sins will always follow them, making their “happiness” only an illusion. points out “that we are living pieces on a chessboard. We may believe we make the world go around, but it is the higher powers who direct us according to their whims.”
Al Aswany and Tawfik convey two different messages on the society of the same city Cairene society. Al Aswany portrays the different segments of upper middle class Egyptians, from remnants of the Old Aristocracy to those who have just recently made their own millions. In Tawfik’s novel, the focus is on those who have just entered the upper class through their fame or wealth. While the historical influence of the Yacoubian building frequently allows the upper-class residents to control those below them socially, the new wealth of the Tower of Happiness does not buy its inhabitants much besides luxury and pretence. Ultimately justice always prevails, whether it is in the form of Al Aswany’s poetic justice, or the revenge of the ghosts of the Tower of Happiness. High social standing and wealth an illusion of control, but in the end we are all the same. We cannot control the invisible higher powers that govern fate. No matter how much prestige and wealth a someone may have, we are all equal in death, and in the end, all one can say is: “I blew some air…so what?”
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