PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF NAZIRA IN ZULFIYA QUROLBOY QIZI'S MASHAQQATLI HAYOT SO‘QMOQLARI (THE PATHS OF A DIFFICULT LIFE)

This article examines the psychological characterization of Nazira in Zulfiya Qurolboy qizi's novel Mashaqqatli hayot so‘qmoqlari (The Paths of a Difficult Life). It adopts a qualitative close-reading method based on a purposive corpus of seven representative passages. The analysis distinguishes direct characterization, internal focalization, inner monologue, psychological portraiture, embodied detail, simile, metaphor, antithesis, and dream imagery rather than treating these devices as interchangeable. The findings show that the central organizing tension of the novel's psychologism lies between Nazira's outward endurance and her concealed need for affection, recognition, and support. Physical details such as wrinkles, the sparkle of the eyes, trembling lips, and greying hair translate emotional pressure into visible signs, while inner monologue marks moments when controlled endurance approaches breakdown. The dream of an expanding flower and a broken pot is interpreted as a symbolic condensation of accumulated distress and exhausted patience. The study also treats the novel's reported biographical basis as paratextual framing, analyzing Nazira as an artistically reconstructed biographical protagonist rather than as a purely documentary figure. Overall, the devices work as an integrated system that makes changes in Nazira's self-perception and emotional agency narratively legible.