Docile Bodies in Benyamin’s The Goat Days

Abstract

The Benyamin’s Goat Days portrays the harrowing experiences of Najeeb, a migrant worker in the Gulf, who is subjected to extreme physical and psychological oppression. This research seeks to explore how Najeeb’s transformation into a submissive, compliant, and dehumanized figure aligns with Michel Foucault’s concept of “docile bodies.” Specifically, the study interrogates how mechanisms of surveillance, isolation, normalization, and control are employed by oppressive systems to produce a subject who internalizes discipline and relinquishes autonomy. The problem lies in understanding how systemic structures of power operate not only through overt violence but also through subtle techniques of normalization and bodily regulation — reducing the protagonist to a state of passive endurance. The paper poses several questions: How does Goat Days depict the transformation of Najeeb into a “docile body” in the Foucauldian sense? What role does physical space (the desert, the sheep pen, the sponsor’s compound) play in shaping Najeeb’s docility and loss of agency What disciplinary mechanisms (e.g., surveillance, isolation, routines, punishment) are used to control and condition Najeeb’s body and behavior? Through this analysis, the present paper contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersections between literature and social control.