Zahran Al-Qasimi, an Omani novelist, won the Booker International Prize for Arabic Fiction in 2023 for her novel The Alienation of the Water Diviner. Al-Qasimi’s narrative records the struggles of an Omani rural community against the dual forces of nature and human ambition. This paper examines the social realities depicted in the novel through employing a sociological framework in order to explain the structure of social relations as determined by interpersonal interactions within the community. A distinctive feature of the novel, this paper suggests, is its emphasis on a selection of sounds and voices that permeate its narrative line. Al-Qasimi skillfully employs these auditory elements, focusing on both human sounds and the natural environment, to uncover their significance and impact on human existence. This research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach to examine the author’s unique employment of sound as a narrative device. It aims to decode the significance of these sounds, their impact on human life, and their relationship to the villagers’ culture and thought. Furthermore, the study investigates how Al-Qasimi skillfully employs sound as a tool to point to the villagers’ unspoken hardships.
