The Lawsuit: An Analysis

"This women robbed us and deprived us of our legal rights". The narrator says this to his lawyer after finding out that his father's widow was demanding maintenance in other words money. If one reads this short novel one does not know anything about his fathers widow by reading this first statement declared by the narrator. The interesting thing about this first quote is that it entices you to learn more about this women whom apparently is desperate for money or maintenance. Once you read the novel you are dealt with two cards. A) Is this women just money hungry or "gold - digger" who just cares about herself or B) She has the right to ask or petition what is rightfully hers. The truth is the depiction of this woman in the short story is quite one sided. The description given in the story is that she married his father in her 20's (the father much older 55 i believe) she is described as beautiful, young, etc. It seems that the father was quite mesmerized by this woman and didnt see past the truth of the matter. This woman was not the narrators real mom in the story the father and the real mother separated which gave the father opportunity to find another love. In this case a younger woman. But the father was no dummy in the novel he is described as a brilliant accountant who knew how to handle his money. The thing is he was quite over powered by this younger woman. The illusion of love can bring any man to his feet and thats what happened to the father. So she sues the family because she deserves what belongs to her after the father died but this didnt happen right away it took years for her to finally sue which is the odd part if you though. If you deserved alimony or maintenance should have claimed it as soon as possible not when apparently you are broke and need it because of your current economic status. That sounds cheap and absurd. She needed it badly and we can assume this by the lawyers quote " Necessity has its own rules" a powerful and clear quote which sums up the "mothers" (quotes cause its not the real mom, the real mom passed away in the novel) intention and desperateness. She seems weak and apologetic for what she is doing to the narrator like she didnt want this to happen but it was the only way.

This story comes down to karma which is what Naguib Mahfouz writes a lot about. Is that karma will come bite you back in the ass. And apparently karma hit this woman hard, very hard.
At the end she seems to get what she wanted (though it left me in a little cliff hanger) but the narrator after being furious throughout this story seems to be at peace with himself and with the decisions made. Yes he is the victim not her, but he felt an inner peace and at the end he tell her "dont worry - let the lord do as He wills" In other words not caring anymore and living it all on karma. The last quote "Why not? Even a farce must continue right to the final act". I took it as a revelation from his part he realized the truth of the matter he pitied her and yes she was a farce. We all know that the law is blind and in this case it was not only blind but, deaf, unreasonable, and ignorant..