The Egyptian Short Story Of The Other Face By Salma Shalash

The other face was written by Salma Shalash. She is an Egyptian author of short stories in 1970s and 1980s. She wrote a big collection of Arabic short stories. She wrote this story as she realized that almost all of us do not show the people we love who we truly are. We try to be our best to hide the personalities we think they will not like. Every person is made up of many individual structures or many personalities or what we should call subpersonalities. The first key to success in your relationships and all areas of your life, is for you to understand your personality and accept all of it. By doing that, you are conscious of all parts of your being and can therefore experience who you truly are.

The story is about two people who are engaged, the girl and her fiancé Fuad. They showed each other the best of them so they liked each other but after marriage and living together they will find who they truly are. The girl woke up and thought of her fiancé. She thought she might be unfair to him as she showed him her best part and best personality. They might get divorced after the union as they may not accept each other. She went to her fiancé’s house after she got out of bed directly, he opened the door and did not know her at first. Actually showing who they truly are before the marriage made him think again and he broke off their engagement telling her family that he is going to travel overseas and does not know when he will come back.

She was right about what she did. They deserve to know what they will face after the union and how they will see each other to avoid any complications after the marriage. She thought he will accept her as she is, but he was shocked when he saw her. He looked only for the appearance not for the c...

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...nd a woman should have personalities that match with each other, most probably they will be the opposite of each other. For example, a business man who is firm with his employees will be attracted to a woman who is kind and gentle with other people.

In conclusion, what the girl did was strange. It did not come from her primary personality. It was one of her subpersonalities which made her think that Fuad will accept her however she looks. Fuad did not deserve her as he did not accept her real personality. When you are getting married to someone, you should be honest about your personality and not deceive each other. One should make sure to find someone who praises him not to complete them. Oprah Winfrey said “You should never look for someone to complete you. A relationship consists of two whole individuals. Look for someone complimentary … not supplementary”.