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Estefania Llamas
CWL 100-01 Intro to World Lit.
Professor Cooper
M/W 9:30-10:45 am
Class # 3837, Section 1
The Fate of the Cockroach

Al-Hakim’s Fate of the Cockroach was first published in 1966. In my opinion, Hakim intended to portray humans as arrogant and self-centered. This play is a form of absurdist drama because it does not demonstrate some ideal of perfection, instead it demonstrates that people by nature are self-centered and power plays a vital role in this play. Another important factor is nurture vs. nature. I The beginning of the play displays power in the king and queen’s marriage. The king cockroach thinks he is better and the queen is mean to her husband, but she has more power than him. The king is admiring his long whiskers and she tells him to shut up and not to have pride in them. As a solution to defeat the ants, the minister cockroach suggests that they brainstorm what they do and don’t do, “Ants have discipline, they sacrifice and cockroaches do not (page 596).” The cockroaches argue to determine how to take action against the ants that are so organized and dependent on one another, while the cockroaches by nature self-reliant. For example, by nature I can say that I achieve success from my genetics or by nurture I achieved my success because of the environment or surroundings, in which I was taught.
Llamas 2 On page 597, the savant says: “Yes, I once saw-a very long time ago, in the early days of my youth-several cockroaches gathered together at night in the kitchen round a piece of tomato.” The tomato example refers to capitalism; each one for themselves. The savant also says: “Inferiority is always a cause of trouble, but we must be patient. We cannot bring those creatures who are lower than us up to the same standard of civilization as ourselves. To each his own nature, his own environment, and his own circumstances. The ant, for instance, is concerned with solely with food. As for us, we are more concerned with knowledge (page 605).” Again we have another example of capitalism and it also explains power inequality. Power inequality takes place many things and in Act II you see examples of being portrayed. Adil’s wife Samia rushes to the bathroom to take her bath; both argue on who should go to the bathroom first. While she is in the bathroom, she is ordering Adil to do things such turn the radio on, to turn the tap on. Samia wants things her way and this shows that she is self-centered and people by nature as well. For example, I can be selfless, I care about my family and friends, but at times I can be self-centered. By nature, one self can be self-centered. Not only does power inequality play in marriages, but in social status, justice conflicts, and prejudice and discrimination. In Al-Hakim’s play, it seems as if there is also a battle of the sexes exists. For example, in Act II, Adil says: “I’m sorry, it’s my fault. It’s always my fault…Why am I so weak with you? But-but is it really weakness? No, it’s impossible-it’s merely that I spoil you. I spoil you because you’re a woman, the weaker sex.” In Act III, the doctor speaks with Samia and she says this: “He is always stating that I boss him and make him obey my orders and tyrannize him.” Here is a form of psycho analysis; exercising power on someone normal is being portrayed in this
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absurdist drama. Power plays a significant role in which there is always going to be power whether in a marriage and the world. In Act II, Adil looks at the cockroach with amazement. He notices how the cockroach climbs, then slips, rolls over and falls to the bottoms of the bathtub. I think the cockroach’s struggle to escape the bathtub is a man’s struggle to escape a woman’s prison. Adil feels imprisoned and he relates to the cockroach. The cockroach queen bosses the king and has more power than him; just like the queen, Samia bosses Adil and has more power than him. Adil tries to liberate himself from his wife and rebels against her. In the end of it all, Hakim displays that people by nature are self-centered, that there is always power in marriage and the world. Absurdist plays lack realistic characters and often argue without reason. As in Act I, the king and queen were arguing about the husband’s whiskers and in Act II, Adil and Samia were arguing because of a cockroach. This to me demonstrates that The Fate of the Cockroach is a comedy and absurdist play.

Works Cited 1. Al-Hakim, Tawfiq. "The Fate of the Cockroach." The Bedford Anthology of World Literature. By Paul P. Davis, Gary Harrison, David M. Johnson, Patricia C. Smith, and John F. Crawford. Boston: Bedford/St Martin’s, 2003. 590-647. Print.