The Yacoubian Building

Many of the characters in this novel lead hidden lives. There are very few morally pure characters in the text, at least when they are at home. Many enjoy vices of all sorts, or behavior that society might consider immoral or scandalous, whether alcohol, homosexuality, or drugs. These vices cause the characters to create a distinction between their private and public lives. Hatim keeps his sexuality secret (though it is something of an open secret), Hagg Azzam runs a narcotics trade behind the façade of legitimate business, and Busayna claims to work in a shop but earns most of her money from offering her body to employers who expect sexual favors. The disconnect between these overt lives and the hidden lives reveals the shame and guilt that define the existence of so many characters.

Such hidden lives eventually come to tell. Hagg Azzam’s secret narcotics trade is revealed to be a known concern to the government. Hatim’s homosexuality is known and tolerated by his neighbors, who then consider the sounds of fighting coming from his flat to be part and parcel of his hidden life. Busayna’s bitterness almost comes to define her, and it is only Zaki Bey’s kindness that can penetrate her cold exterior and reach the hidden warmth within.