Firdaus: A Victim of Gender Inequality

Written By: Farkhunda

Edited By: Happy

Firdaus is the protagonist of the novel Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, an Egyptian writer. The novel depicts the story of a Firdaus in a male-dominant society where her rights are being discriminated against from childhood to womanhood. In every phase of her life, Firdaus wants to fit in, but, in order to gain what she wants, she must rebel. Her rebellion leads her to be imprisoned and charged with death. Through the novel, the author illustrates that a woman never finds peace and respect in a society where they are treated as objects.

As a daughter, Firdaus is beaten by not only her father but also her mother, indicating that women have seen so much oppression that it is normal for them to oppress another woman. After her parents’ death, Firdaus’ uncle takes her into his custody. Her uncle is just like any normal man in a male-dominant society. He, too, harasses Firdaus sexually, even when her parents were alive. At her uncle’s house, Firdaus does all the housework and uses her to fulfill his sexual urges. Having grown up in an abusive environment, Firdaus does not know that her rights are being violated. Firdaus’ condition gets worse when her uncle gets married. Firdaus helps her uncle’s wife with the housework in order to please her, but she is unable to do so. Her uncle’s wife urges that it is time for Firdaus to get married because she has reached an age that women in her society get married. Her uncle’s wife decides to marry Firdaus with her uncle (Firdaus’ uncle’s wife) who is sixty years old. Firdaus is forced to marry because if she does not, she may be left on the streets since her uncle’s wife does not like Firdaus.

As a wife, she is beaten all the time. Her husband forcefully takes her body without her consent. One day she leaves her husband and goes to her uncle’s house. Her uncle and his wife send her back, saying that it is normal for a husband to beat her wife. Once again, Firdaus becomes imprisoned in her husband’s house. Finally, she loses her patience and runs away from her husband.

Firdaus then meets a man called Bayoumi who seems to be very sympathetic and gives her shelter. After a period of time, Firdaus demands independence and wants to work, but Bayoumi locks her in his house. Again, Firdaus is beaten and sexually harassed not only by Bayoumi but also by his friends. For a third time, Firdaus runs away. This time she meets a prostitute called Sharifa. Sharifa provides Firdaus a luxurious life and teaches her to know her value. Similar to every other man in Firdaus’ life, Sharifa uses Firdaus by pimping her and keeping all the profit. Firdaus finds out about the truth and again escapes. After this incident, Firdaus decides to make her own business through prostitution.

At this point, Firdaus has control over her body and the profits. However, one of Firdaus’ friends tells her that the work she is doing is not respectable. This leads Firdaus to work at a very low wage at an office. In the office, she works days and nights but never gets a promotion. Firdaus falls in love with a colleague called Ibrahim. Ibrahim shows that he loves her back. However, Firdaus is betrayed once again when Ibrahim gets engaged to another woman. This event becomes a catalyst to push Firdaus to return to prostitution.

During her return to prostitution, Firdaus becomes very popular, more popular than Sharifa. In this phase, she meets a man pimp called Marzouk who takes Firdaus’ profit. This time when Firdaus tries to escape, Marzouk attempts to kill Firdaus by stabbing her with a knife, but she takes the knife and buries it “into every part of his body”. Finally, Firdaus feels relieved. The story does not end here as at the end of the book she becomes imprisoned and punished to death for committing murder. However, Firdaus prefers this prison over the prison of her uncle, husband, Bayoumi, Sharia, Ibrahim, and Marzouk.

Through this novel, El Saadawi shows the sufferings and hardships of every woman as a daughter, niece, wife, colleague, and prostitute. Every person she met in her life was a criminal but Firdaus had to sacrifice and “pay the price” because “the world was full of lies.”

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Works cited:

El Saadawi, Nawal. Woman at Point Zero. Translated by Sherif Hetata, London & New York, Zed Books, 2015.