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Y suf Idr s and William Faulkner both considered that the principle purpose of the author is to examine the human spirit. Each focused on his corner of the world, populating his fiction with characters that typify the society and with issues relevant to modern Egypt and to the American South. Throughout their short stories, the opposition of the individual to society becomes a macrocosm of the conflict of the individual with his or her own principles and limitations. Idr s and Faulkner illuminate central issues of survival, justice, need, family and community by means of antithesis, skewing established social and cultural binaries. Their stories are powerful because of the skillful inclusion of antithesis in style and theme.

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Ranya Farouk Shalaby received her bachelors and masters degrees in comparative literature from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. A dual national, she chose to focus her dissertation on the similarities in form and function between Egyptian and American short fiction. Her work was nominated for awards on the study of Egyptian literature.

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