Abstract
This article examines some themes found in Tewfik Al-Hakim’s Fate of a Cockroach and other plays. The text comprises of four plays, Viz: Fate of a Cockroach, the Song of Death, The Sultan’s Dilemma and Not a Thing Out of Place. However, the article focuses primarily on only one of the plays: Fate of a Cockroach. The play is a philosophical and symbolic drama that explores several deep thematic concerns about human existence, power, and the illusion of control. This qualitative content-based research article employs Existentialism and Absurdity theories as theorethical frameworks for this play. The play presents a symbolic exploration of the human condition, using the plight of a cockroach trapped in a bathtub as a metaphor for the futility and absurdity of existence. Through textual analysis, findings reveal that Al-Hakim employs satire and symbolism to critique human pretensions and expose the fragile nature of authority and control. Ultimately, the play underscores the absurdity of life and the individual’s struggle to find meaning within an indifferent universe.
Keywords: thematic preoccupation, Tewfik Al-Hakim, extentialism and absurdity theories, Fate of a cockroach.
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2026.v01i02.033
author/Hussaini Ibrahim Kaoje & Hassan Ibrahim Kaoje
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(2) | June 2026
