Woman At Point Zero: A Literary Analysis
The death of the literary master, Nawal El Saadawi, has brought us back to one of many of her masterpieces. "Woman At Point Zero" is a provocative piece of work, that brings up many unsolved issues that are seen and struggled with in the Arab world. Every female reader of this literary piece, probably finds scattered pieces of her herself within the book. One didn't necessarily had to meet El Saddawi herself to connect or relate, this is a regional collective reality of many Arab women, or female generally in the Middle East.
"I knew why they were so afraid of me. I was the only woman who had torn the mask away, and exposed the face of their ugly reality. They condemned me to death not because I had killed a man – there are thousands of people being killed every day – but because they are afraid to let me live."
Intense, emotional, and unconventional, is how most readers would describe the literary work of Woman At Point Zero.
Analyzing the novel on a deeper level, taking the reader through different themes, that the novel circulated around. The nature of power and dominance took a major part of the text. Firdaus has always seen male figures around her dominating the female figures, whether the abuse her mother suffered form Firdaus's father, or whether the dominance Firdau's uncle exerted on her during her upbringing. These scenes can only been seen through a predictive measure of what Firdaus's future would suffer. A foreshadow of the main character's adulthood and the reality that most women suffer through during the 70s and 80s. Leading to Firdaus's unwanted marriage that mainly constructed of obedience of the wife, accepting the abuse that came her way, silently and oppressively. The 70s society played a huge role in administrating patriarchal dominance, where women were victims, although not seen as one. Everything changes for Firdaus when she meets an unconventional young woman who would empower her, by prevailing the true power women behold. Sharifa changes the concept of power and dominance for Firdaus as she brings her insight of the female capabilities, empowering Firdaus through them, for the first time during the novel. Yet, the rise of our heroine can only be brought back down, through patriarchal dominance. Reflecting the sociocultural reality, as it carries huge power assertion on the society, willingly or oppressively.
Another power struggle that our heroine suffers, is claiming her body. An issue that many females face in the Arab region, to feel safe and comfortable in one's skin away from preying eyes and unwelcome harassment. In a society that believes that men have a right of ownership over a women's body, no healthy relationship can develop between the two sexes. "How many were the years of my life that went by before my body, and my self became really mine, to do with them as I wished? How many were the years of my life that were lost before I tore my body and my self away from the people who held me in their grasp since the very first day?"
Since a young age, Firdaus suffered from harassment form many male figures, at an age that even the character herself didn't understand what was happening to her. The oblivious state that Firdaus was in during such interactions reflect how disruptive such actions must have been, practiced on a young innocent child who wasn't even aware of what was happening to her own body. For every time Firdaus came across another women, they would end up sharing tears. Tears of struggle and heartbreak, tears stored from years of accumulated abuse and oppression. As if these tears of women, a silent language, a unifying practice that women shared, as a mean to tell their stories, silently. And only those who suffered along with them, would truly understand the silent language of tears.
Furthermore, Firdaus is faced with a continuous dilemma of gaining independence and respect. Although through prostitution she gained financial independence, she couldn't uphold the respect that she was looking for. Giving up her practices, and moving on to a desk job, moved her closer to the spectrum of respectability, as society sees fit, yet she was asserting herself back under a male dominated scene, filled with unprofessional harassment. Our heroine spent years searching for independence, whether it was financial, or emotional, or independence of power from under the society's ill-practices, trying to live a dignified life in an oppressive society. The true tragedy can be reflected through the fact, that the only space Firdaus ever felt free and liberated, is the streets. "For the street had become the only safe place in which I could seek refuge, and into which I could escape with my whole being." It was the place she always ran to, when escaping an abusive marriage, or the harassment of Bayoumi, or the unreciprocated love she felt for Ibrahim. The streets always welcomed her, open arms, undefined by a man's control over her.
Furthermore, the depth and true vision of the novel can seen through a simple question that our heroine faced. It all went down, to whether Firdaus wants... Oranges or Tangerines?
Yet she cannot decide or make up her mind, because never before was she asked for an opinion. "I tried to reply but my voice failed me. No one had asked me before whether I preferred oranges or tangerines." A women's thoughts were never that of matter or value, growing up in a society that not only deprived females from of personal choices, but oppressed them to an extent that not even as grown up, could she possibly lead a dignified life for herself, made up by personal choices. A second class citizen, who couldn't make up her mind, or put her needs first, because it was never a choice to begin with.
and as our heroine ends her story, she shares"For the truth is always easy and simple. And in its simplicity lies a savage power."
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