In Naguib Mahfouz's The Thief and the Dogs The Stranger by Albert Camus, we are exposed to two very different characters, Said Mahran and Meursault. Both of these characters are alienated from their societies and change drastically as a result of this rejection. Using these novels as examples, we can better understand the minds of two contrasting characters and the extent to which alienation leads to their change. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay To understand the change these characters undergo, it is important to understand the characters themselves. Said Mahran is a passionate man, but full of hatred and in need of revenge. After spending several years in prison, Said cannot face what has changed. He feels alienated from the life he lived and the friends he had. Throughout the book, he searches for his purpose in life: “I want nothing, I desire nothing, more than to die a death that has meaning” (Mahfouz 251) and it is through violence that he intends to find meaning. He has very clear ideas about what he must accomplish and rarely deviates from what he considers his personal duty. Initially, Said presents himself as a rational man, who readers can easily sympathize with, but over the course of the book his sense of rationality and sanity seems to disappear. Meursault is a completely different character, emotionless and detached. He experiences no significant emotions beyond those related to his most basic physical desires, such as eating or sleeping. He has difficulty grasping natural human concepts such as love or remorse. For example, when his fiancée Marie asks him to marry him, he responds that he “didn't care” and “that it didn't mean anything” (Camus 41). And during the trial, Meursault admits that he “…has never been able to truly feel remorse” (100). Both of these characters are outcasts in their own ways. Said's criminal ways and his desire for revenge ostracize him from the rest of society, while Meursault is despised for his apparent indifference to everything. The way Said changes in The Thief and the Dogs is very different from that of Meursault. Ironically, it is Said, the free man, who changes for the worse, and not Meursault, the imprisoned man. Even though Said is physically free, his need to avenge his enemies keeps him mentally imprisoned. Said's change in character begins at the beginning of the book, after his first meeting with his daughter. Stupidly said he expected his daughter to greet him with open arms despite him having been in prison for most of her life. When he sees that she does not recognize him, his desire to avenge Ilish and Nabawiyya quickly surpasses his desire for his daughter. Said is unable to cope with the changes that occurred while he was in prison. Not only did his hatred for Ilish and Nabawiyya grow, but also for his former close acquaintance, Rauf Ilwan, who prospered greatly after his imprisonment. Instead of trying to accept what happened, Said chooses revenge. Gradually, his obsession with revenge grows and Said's character begins to deteriorate. His transformation from a Robin Hood-type figure to an assassin happens quickly. It is through his acts of violence that we see this transformation. Said creates a distorted self-image, seeing himself as much larger than he actually is. This is clearly seen after the news of his attempted murder against Rauf (as well as the actual murder of an innocent) came out: “Whoever kills me will kill millions of people. I am the hope and the dream, the redemption of cowards; They are the good principles, the consolation, the,.