Woman At Point Zero By Nawal El Saadawi

1219 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of women

In the novel Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi El Saadawi reveals a narrative about a woman named Firdaus who is sentenced to death after murdering a pimp in a Cairo street. Nawal, who is both the author and a narrator of the book, is a physiatrist that almost instantly forms a certain interests for Firdaus. As Firdaus’ stubbornness attracts Nawal to her physiatrist journey, El Saadawi notes Firdaus’ desire to be executed and accept death even though she was given the opportunity to spend a life in prison rather than be executed, As the novel progresses, Firdaus reveals her anger and bitter life to El Saadawi that revolves around the setting Firdaus has been from childhood to adulthood. With this, El Saadawi creates sympathy and admiration towards Firdaus because of Firdaus’ environment. As a result of this empathy, the setting is essential to Firdaus’ characterization as her surroundings prove her to be a brave and independent woman during the mid-1970s.
Immediately, El Saadawi implies the character of Firdaus should be admired through her writing style and dialogue. Entering the Qanatir Prison, El Saadawi notes Firdaus’ “indifference to everything” (3) and her attitude of “total rejection” (3) Right away, a physiatrist like El Saadawi can note the significance of a person and immediately spots it in Firdaus. As Firdaus refused to speak to anyone in prison, this reflects the theme of power throughout the novel. In the Arab culture, it is rare for a woman to demonstrate power and Firdaus’ refusal to speak to anyone and welcome death show her power overrules the power that is inferior to men that makes her brave. Because the impression of Firdaus’ is first made in prison as a “real woman” (1), this emphasizes El Saada...

... middle of paper ...

...ller” not only takes a lot of courage in the Arab society while being a woman, but portrays the mentally strong character, in this case, Firdaus.
Nawal El Saadawi unfolds the bitter life of Firdaus but develops her character through the setting she overcame. Firdaus serves a significant character not only to the Arab society, but to all cultures. Her character represents a woman striving for the control of her own body, thus acquiring power and freedom despite the position of men in society. As a result of this, the environment corresponds with Firdaus that allows this character to be an inspiration and looked at with sympathy. Even though the murder that Firdaus committed can be viewed as insensitive, it was her way of fighting for a woman’s power and control of herself in the Arab society that ultimately makes her brave and independent as she won her battle.

Show More
Related

  • Guests of the Sheik by Elizabeth Warnock

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Elizabeth Fernea entered El Nahra, Iraq as an innocent bystander. However, through her stay in the small Muslim village, she gained cultural insight to be passed on about not only El Nahra, but all foreign culture. As Fernea entered the village, she was viewed with a critical eye, ?It seemed to me that many times the women were talking about me, and not in a particularly friendly manner'; (70). The women of El Nahra could not understand why she was not with her entire family, and just her husband Bob. The women did not recognize her American lifestyle as proper. Conversely, BJ, as named by the village, and Bob did not view the El Nahra lifestyle as particularly proper either. They were viewing each other through their own cultural lenses. However, through their constant interaction, both sides began to recognize some benefits each culture possessed. It takes time, immersed in a particular community to understand the cultural ethos and eventually the community as a whole. Through Elizabeth Fernea?s ethnography on Iraq?s El Nahra village, we learn that all cultures have unique and equally important aspects.

    Read More

  • Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys, is one of the most famous historical fiction books ever written. This 352 paged book has inspired many teens to acknowledge the Genocide of Baltic people. Ruta Sepetys was inspired to write a fiction book instead of a non-fiction book based on the stories she heard from survivors of the genocide during a visit to her relatives in Lithuania. She interviewed dozens of people during her stay. Between Shades of Gray was her first novel that she had written. This book was interpreted well enough by the readers to become a New York Times Bestseller.

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joyce, James. “Araby”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 427 - 431.

    Read More

  • What Do Women Want By Kim Addonizio

    873 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stereotypes. Something that many women are subjected to in society and are forced to accept it like it is something that should happen. “What do women want”(Addonizio) examines the stereotypes most women face when wearing certain clothing, and the objectification of women, that is frowned upon but all women secretly want. It points out the objectification and stereotypes that women are subjected to, challenges them, and connects them to everyday life.

    Read More

  • Mariam: A Legitimate End to a Life of Illegitimate Belongings

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a woman. You remember that, Mariam” (Hosseini 11). Mariam, a child born out of wedlock, grew up lacking the genuine love she yearned for. Despite everything, her mother told her, she believed that her father, Jalil, meant the best for her. That was until she made the shocking discovery on her own; he actually wanted to get rid of her. Pressured by his many wives, Jalil forces Mariam to marry an abusive shoemaker. As the last tear rolls down her cheek, she starts to understand the hardships that her mother went through. Emotionally neglected, they left her alone to live in a two-story house in Kabul; this becomes a life changing experience. On her journey through life, a quiet girl transforms into a potent female persona that eventually gives her life for a justifiable cause. Mariam overcomes the obstacles and hardships of her inferiority to the male gender through her courageousness and endurance.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of After The Bomb By Gloria Miklowitz

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    After the Bomb written by Gloria Miklowitz is a thrilling novel that takes place before, during, and after a bomb which supposedly was sent from Russia by accident. L.A. and surrounding cities are all altered by the disastrous happening.

    Read More

  • Female Gender Roles in Haggard’s She and Haddawy’s The Arabian Nights

    1317 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.

    Read More

  • The Decline of Chivalry Explored in Araby and A&P

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joyce, James. “Araby.” The Norton Introduction to Literature, Shorter Eighth Edition. Eds. Jerome Beaty, Alison Booth, J. Paul Hunter, and Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W.Norton.

    Read More

  • The Mother, by Grazia Deledda

    906 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is perhaps no greater joy in life than finding one’s soul mate. Once found, there is possibly no greater torment than being forced to live without them. This is the conflict that Paul faces from the moment he falls in love with Agnes. His devotion to the church and ultimately God are thrown into the cross hairs with the only possible outcome being one of agonizing humiliation. Grazia Deledda’s The Mother presents the classic dilemma of having to choose between what is morally right and being true to one’s own heart. Paul’s inability to choose one over the other consumes his life and everyone in it.

    Read More

  • Arby

    1404 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of these issues show up early on in the story "Araby." To begin with, the narrator--the voice of a young Joyce, surely, if not entirely autobiographical--lives in a house whose former t...

    Read More

  • Alone Together by Sherry Turkle

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (2011) written by Sherry Turkle, presents many controversial views, and demonstrating numerous examples of how technology is replacing complex pieces and relationships in our life. The book is slightly divided into two parts with the first focused on social robots and their relationships with people. The second half is much different, focusing on the online world and it’s presence in society. Overall, Turkle makes many personally agreeable and disagreeable points in the book that bring it together as a whole.

    Read More

  • My Two Lives by Jhumpa Lahiri

    1620 Words  | 4 Pages

    In “My Two Lives” Jhumpa Lahiri talks about her hardship growing up in America coming from two different cultures. At home she spoke Bengali with her parents, ate with her hands. According to Jhumpa’s parents she was not American and would never be. This led her to become ashamed of her background. She felt like she did not have to hide her culture anymore. When Jhumpa got married in Calcutta she invited her American friends that never visited India. Jhumpa thought her friends would judge from being part of the Indian culture and isolate her.However her friends were intrigued by her culture and fascinated. She felt like her culture should not be hidden from her friends anymore, and that coming from an Indian-American culture is unique. Jhumpa believes that her upbringing is the reason why she is still involved with her Bengali culture. Jhumpa says“While I am American by virtue of the fact that I was raised in this country, I am Indian thanks to the efforts of two individuals.” Jhumpa means that she is Indian, because she lived most of her life and was raised here. In the story Lahiri explains that her parents shaped her into the person she is. Growing up coming from two different cultures can be difficult, but it can also be beneficial.

    Read More

  • The Woman in Love by Simone de Beauvoir

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    Simone de Beauvoir, the author of the novel The Second Sex, was a writer and a philosopher as well as a political activist and feminist. She was born in 1908 in Paris, France to an upper-middle class family. Although as a child Beauvoir was extremely religious, mostly due to training from her mother as well as from her education, at the age of fourteen she decided that there was no God, and remained an atheist until she died. While attending her postgraduate school she met Jean Paul Sartre who encouraged her to write a book. In 1949 she wrote her most popular book, The Second Sex. This book would become a powerful guide for modern feminism. Before writing this book de Beauvoir did not believe herself to be a feminist. Originally she believed that “women were largely responsible for much of their own situation”. Eventually her views changed and she began to believe that people were in fact products of their upbringing. Simone de Beauvoir died in Paris in 1986 at the age of 78.

    Read More

  • Book Report: Return of the Pharaoh

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Perhaps the main reason I liked this book was the unfaltering courage of the author in the face of such torture as hurts one even to read, let alone have to experience first-hand. Where men give in, this woman perseveres, and, eventually, emerges a stronger person, if that is even possible. The book’s main appeal is emotional, although sound logical arguments are also used. This book is also interesting as it shows us another face of Nasir – the so-called “champion of Arab nationalism” – who is also the enemy of pan-Islamism. The book is also proof of history repeating itself in modern-day Egypt.

    Read More

  • A Journey into Self-Discovery in Araby by James Joyce and Katherine Mansfield’s, The Garden Party

    1267 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout “Araby”, the main character experiences a dynamic character shift as he recognizes that his idealized vision of his love, as well as the bazaar Araby, is not as grandiose as he once thought. The main character is infatuated with the sister of his friend Mangan; as “every morning [he] lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door…when she came on the doorstep [his] heart leaped” (Joyce 108). Although the main character had never spoken to her before, “her name was like a summons to all [his] foolish blood” (Joyce 108). In a sense, the image of Mangan’s sister was the light to his fantasy. She seemed to serve as a person who would lift him up out of the darkness of the life that he lived. This infatuation knew no bounds as “her image accompanied [him] even in places the most hostile to romance…her name sprang to [his] lips at moments in strange prayers and praises which [he] did not understand” (Joyce 109). The first encounter the narrator ex...

    Read More

More about Woman At Point Zero By Nawal El Saadawi

Open Document