The Crisis of Characters’ Conflict with Reality and Society in the Collection of Short Stories “Stories Shorter than Their Heroes” By Tarek Imam

Abstract

The study examines characters’ crises related to reality and social conflict in “Stories Shorter than Their Heroes” by the Egyptian writer Tarek Imam. The collection portrays characters' struggles against a contradictory society, in which the writer employs an aesthetic method that incorporates irony and contradiction. The language used matches the characters’ visions and ideas that the writer incorporated in the stories. Therefore, the study focuses on characters' ways of thinking and some technical aspects echoed in the content.

            The study adopted two methods: the social to examine characters’ attitudes towards reality, and the technical to explore characters and artistic aspects reflected by the content.

            The study's findings revealed the problems that the characters encountered in dealing with reality, social conflict, and dissatisfaction with life, from which they sought to escape by clinging to the past, dreams, and death.

            The researcher employed multiple technical means, like contradiction and fantasy, to reveal contradictions in characters’ lives.