Floating at the Edge: Eco-Crip Perspectives on Disability and Nature in Muhammad Makhzangi’s "He Was Chasing a Butterfly in the Sea"

Abstract

This paper explores Egyptian writer Muhammad Makhzangi’s short story “He Was Chasing a Butterfly in the Sea”  from his collection Animals in Our Days (2006) through an eco-crip lens, examining how it intertwines disability, ecological vulnerability, and interspecies care. The story follows a man who, mesmerized by the beauty of a fish in the Red Sea—described as fluttering like a butterfly—ventures dangerously far from shore. Upon realizing his isolation and exhaustion, he attempts suicide using his harpoon; however, he is left paralyzed from the waist down and loses the use of his legs. The narrative is framed by scenes of the protagonist in a wheelchair, which transforms into a floating chair yet remains confined to the water’s edge. This image bookends the story, highlighting the tension between the desire to conquer nature and the constraints imposed by both body and environment. The sea resists romanticization: it is alluring, unforgiving, and ultimately indifferent. Yet, at his most vulnerable moment, the protagonist is saved not by human intervention, but through an unexpected assistance from dolphins, suggesting alternative, more-than-human models of care and survival. Rather than portraying disability as lack or tragedy, Makhzangi’s story reconfigures it as a site of ecological revelation. The protagonist’s journey critiques the impulse to dominate nature and dramatizes the emotional and physical costs of such hubris. In doing so, the text challenges extractive and ableist narratives, offering a vision of ecological attunement rooted in humility, bodily limitation, and unexpected solidarities. This reading positions “He Was Chasing a Butterfly in the Sea” as a rare example of eco-crip literature in Arabic, expanding the possibilities for imagining disabled bodies in relation to natural environments, risk, and relational survival.