Mahfouz's Half a Day

I very much enjoyed this piece because it shed light on many ideas, two of which were education and time lapse. Mahfouz speaks of all the things he learns at school and of the windows that it opens for him. He at first believes that he shouldn't be torn apart from the nurturing intimacy of his home, but when he gets to school, he realizes that the goal is to create the same sort of environment. Mahfouz even says that "there was no question of ever returning to the paradise of home." I think his experience at school relates to most peoples first impressions. Another thing I found relatable was that after leaving school, his eyes widened and he became aware of so many things. I too have experienced this when, for example, I learned how to read and suddenly I became aware of street signs around me and anything with words on it began to make sense.  To address the idea of time lapse in the story, I think the implication is that a child's life goes by so quickly and they don't even realize the changes they're going through until they are done changing. We see this in the story when he ends it by saying he is an old man now and everything in his past moved so quickly.

-s.sacks