Woman at Point Zero Themes

Eyes
The aphorism “the eyes are a window to the soul” is a phrase to bear in mind when reading
Woman at Point Zero. Eyes are central to Saadawi’s characterization of key players in the novel.
This is apparent early on in the novel when Firdaus compares her birthmother to her stepmother.
Firdaus’s mother had eyes that looked like “sunlight was pouring into them from some magical
source,” whereas the eyes of Firdaus’s stepmother never had light in them. Firdaus likens them
to extinguished lamps, dull and impervious (Saadawi 46). Here, eyes are used as a system of
comparing and contrasting Firdaus’s close relationship with her mother to her strained
relationship with her stepmother.

Later on in the novel, Saadawi’s uses eyes to describe Bayoumi’s transformation from Firdaus’s
rescuer to her rapist. At first, Bayoumi’s eyes are calm and resigned, not at all the eyes of a
violent man. When Firdaus tries to leave Bayoumi’s apartment to find work, the man and his
eyes morph. Gone is the almost submissive man with his calm eyes. In his place is a violent brute
with lecherous, jet black eyes who beats and rapes Firdaus. Firdaus notes that she doesn’t
remember seeing Bayoumi’s eyes like this before, suggesting that the change in eyes mirrors the
change in behavior.

Betrayal
A core thread running through all of Firdaus’s relationships is the element of betrayal. Each
person whom Firdaus trusts or loves betrays her in some way. Her uncle, a childhood hero,
molests her and eventually chooses his new wife and family over her. Her husband, Sheikh
Mahmoud, beats her and causes her to run away from their home and become a streetwalker.
Bayoumi, the kind man who saves her from the streets, does a complete reversal when Firdaus
tries to exert her independence. He imprisons her, beats her, rapes her, and allows his friends to
rape her as well. Sharifa saves her yet again, but in the end, she uses Firdaus’s body for her own
financial gain. Finally, Firdaus meets the love of her life in the form of Ibrahim, only for him to
betray her too and marry another woman.

Religion
Religion is a lurking specter in Woman at Point Zero. Our heroine is not explicitly religious, and
yet she frequently alludes to Allah, the Qu’ran, and various aspects of Islam. Though Firdaus
isn’t devout, she understands that religion is an important force in the lives of the people around
her. Firdaus points out hypocrisy within the faith, particularly as it pertains to the treatment of
women. The first example of this happens with Firdaus’s father. When he walks back from the
imam’s prayer, he and his friends comment on the validity of the sermon and how “verily true” it
is that stealing and defaming the honor of a woman are sins (Saadawi 36). And yet, Firdaus slyly
points out that her father steals crops from neighboring fields and exchanged his virgin daughter
for a dowry (Saadawi 35). Firdaus never calls her father a hypocrite outright: she just offers these
two facts to readers and allows us to make our own judgments.

Another example of religion’s importance is when Firdaus flees Sheikh Mahmoud’s house after
he beats her. She returns to her uncle’s household, only for her uncle and aunt to say that all
husbands beat their wives. When Firdaus pushes back, claiming that men well versed in the
teachings of Islam cannot be in the habit of domestic violence, her aunt replies that “the precepts
of religion permitted such punishment...a virtuous woman was not supposed to complain about
her husband” (Saadawi 96).

Overall, whether in the form of outright hypocrisy or a fundamentalist interpretation, religion

seems to be a source of oppression in Woman at Point Zero rather than a source of solace or
strength.

Self-Worth
Self-worth is a theme that appears early in Woman at Point Zero and persists throughout the
novel. Even before the novel transitions to Firdaus’s point of view, the psychiatrist struggles with
her sense of worth. After Firdaus initially refuses to meet with her, the psychiatrist feels as if
“the weight of the whole earth” is pressing upon her (Saadawi 20). She compares it to an
unrequited love she experienced in the past, and a feeling of universal rejection overcomes her.
She likens herself to an “insignificant insect," and only regains her “normal attitude towards
[herself]” when she returns to her car (Saadawi 21). In this example, the psychiatrist’s sense of
self is dependant upon the feelings of other people.

Once we switch to Firdaus’s point of view, we bear witness to Firdaus’s own struggle with self-
worth. Unlike other young women from her community, she successfully finishes school and
earns her secondary school certificate. This is a source of pride, but she still allows her uncle and
aunt-in-law to batter her self esteem. This continues with Sheikh Mahmoud and Bayoumi until
Sharifa finds her. Sharifa, though she ultimately betrays Firdaus, is integral to Firdaus’s
discovery of her own self-worth. Sharifa points out that Firdaus failed to value herself highly
enough and allowed men to determine her value (Saadawi 77). Though Sharifa partially means
“value” in a monetary sense, Firdaus comes to realize that valuing oneself extends beyond
money. When she leaves Sharifa’s house and strikes out independently, Firdaus walks the streets
with her head held high, demonstrating her newfound confidence. These feelings of self-worth
crescendo at the end of the novel, at which point Firdaus reaches a point of total self-
actualization.

Remembrance and Loss

At an early age, Firdaus becomes familiar with the sensations of loss and remembrance. When
her mother removes her clitoris, she stunts her sexuality and sense of femininity. This physical
loss manifests in psychological and emotional losses that haunt Firdaus for the rest of her life.
Every time she has a sexual or physical interaction with another person, the loss of her clitoris
and the subsequent theft of her sexual freedom haunts her like a phantom limb. She describes it
as a pleasure she remembers from a distant past, a fleeting memory that she loses almost as soon
as she remembers it (Saadawi 47 and 79). An episode of remembering something lost marks
every significant interaction Firdaus has. These episodes of remembrance start soon after Firdaus
loses her clitoris, the first one occurring when her uncle begins to sexually assault her. It occurs
again when Firdaus and Iqbal hold hands, and when Firdaus becomes a prostitute.

Dependence and Independence

One of the burning questions Woman at Point Zero poses is whether or not a woman can lead a
life independent of a man’s influence. From a young age, Firdaus lives under the influence of
first her father and later her uncle. Both men dictate the terms of her life, and she depends on
them for her livelihood. When Firdaus’s uncle arranges her marriage to Sheikh Mahmoud, he
passes the responsibility of caring for Firdaus to her new husband, as if he were passing a baton.
Ironically, both Firdaus’s uncle and Sheikh Mahmoud complain about Firdaus’s dependence on
them, but both ardently reject Firdaus’s offers to find work using her secondary school
certificate. This is because if Firdaus were to find work, she would no longer be dependent on
the men in her life, and the idea of that is dangerous to the men around her.

This pattern of dependence continues with Bayoumi and Sharifa, until, finally, Firdaus strikes
out on her own. At this point, Firdaus has an epiphany and realizes that, for years, her body and
her self didn’t belong to her: she was held in the grasp of other people. When she begins to find
her own clients for her sex work, Firdaus gains the independence that’s eluded her since she was
a young girl. However, as Firdaus herself points out, “male noses have an uncanny way of
sniffing out money” (Saadawi 123). When Marzouk comes along and forces Firdaus to take him
as her pimp, he strips her of her independence once more. Firdaus only regains her independence
after she kills him, but as a result, she’s arrested, loses her freedom, and is ultimately executed.
One of the conclusions we can draw from Firdaus’s story is that, for women, independence can
come at a high price.

Fear
For most of the novel, fear is experienced by women. Firdaus points out how fearful female
company employees are of losing their job because they fear becoming prostitutes. Firdaus finds
this ironic because, after being abused and raped as a wife, she realizes that the life of a prostitute
is better than a “moral” woman’s life. It’s not until the end of the novel, when she kills Marzouk,
that Firdaus realizes she’s also been afraid her entire life. She was afraid of men, their power,
and their ability to hurt. As Firdaus stabs Marzouk to death, she also kills her fear. In her own
words, she fears nothing, and, therefore, she is finally free. The moment she stabs Marzouk is
also significant because, for the first time, Firdaus sees fear in a man’s eyes. This fear is mirrored
in the eyes of the prince she meets after she kills Marzouk.
Woman at Point Zero Quotes and Analysis
"Firdaus is the story of a woman driven by despair to the darkest of ends. This woman, despite
her misery and despair, evoked in all those who, like me, witnessed the final moments of her life,
a need to challenge and to overcome those forces that deprive human beings of their right to live,
to love and to real freedom."

Psychiatrist, page 19

This quote is a snapshot summary of Woman at Point Zero. It offers a quick glance of what the
content of the novel is about, while also mentioning the impact Firdaus and her story has on all
those who hear it.

"However, every single man I did get to know filled me with but one desire: to lift my hand and
bring it smashing down on his face."

Firdaus, page 35

By the end of the novel, Firdaus has undergone a remarkable transformation. Gone is the shy and
self-conscious young woman who allows men to dictate the terms of her life. Despite the
pressures of her society, she has gained a sense of self-worth and fearlessness even in the face of
death. By making the bold statement that she wants to physically hurt every man she’s ever
known, Firdaus is demonstrating her hard-won freedom, self-pride, and fearlessness.

“'Any one of them, it doesn’t make any difference. They’re all the same, all sons of dogs,
running around under various names. Mahmoud, Hassanein, Fawzy, Sabri, Ibrahim, Awadain,
Bayoumi.’

I interrupted her with a gasp. ‘Bayoumi?!’

She laughed out loud. I glimpsed her small, white pointed teeth, with a gold tooth right in the
middle.

‘I know them all. Which one of them started it? Your father, your brother… one of your
uncles?'”

Sharifa Salah el Dine and Firdaus, page 111

Although she eventually betrays Firdaus as well, Sharifa does teach Firdaus much about the
world. One of those things is that, in their world, no man is to be trusted. Sharifa demonstrates
this revolving door of abusive men by listing random male names—and, ironically, most of those
names happen to be the names of men who have either wronged Firdaus or will wrong her in the
future. Sharifa also shows how universal Firdaus’s history of abuse is by correctly guessing that
the abuse cycle started with Firdaus’s uncle.
“I abandoned myself to her eyes, and put my arms around her, whispering: ‘Who are you?’

And she replied, ‘Your mother.'

‘My mother died many years ago.'

‘Then your sister.'”

Firdaus and Sharifa Salah el Dine, page 113

After telling Firdaus that all men are sons of dogs that cannot be trusted, Sharifa tries to instill in
Firdaus a sense of female unity. By claiming Firdaus as first her daughter and then her sister,
Sharifa is implying that Firdaus isn’t alone: as women, they need to stand together in the face of
male aggression and abuse. Sadly, this proves to be a noble ideal and not reality, because Sharifa
proves she’s not much better than the men in Firdaus’s life.

“You must be harder than life, Firdaus. Life is very hard. The only people who really live are
those who are harder than life itself.”

Sharifa Salah el Dine, page 114

Again, Sharifa is giving Firdaus advice, which Firdaus takes to heart. Firdaus draws upon this
hardness and resiliency when she finally confronts Marzouk and stops him from ruling her life.

“No… I have no trust in men any more.”

Firdaus, page 128

This line comes just after Firdaus finds out Sharifa has been betraying her. She flees Sharifa’s
beautiful apartment and is wandering the streets of Cairo when a policeman comes up and
attempts to solicit her for sex. In response to the officer asking her to come to his house, Firdaus
says no because she has no trust in men anymore. This quote explicitly marks the moment when
Firdaus’s stance towards men and people begins to shift.

“It was as though money was a shameful thing, made to be hidden, an object of sin which was
forbidden to me and yet permissible for others, as though it had been made legitimate only for
them.”

Firdaus, page 139

When Firdaus gets her first payment from a client, it sets off a "eureka moment" in her mind. She
realizes that this money will allow her to live independently. She also realizes that the men in her
life made concentrated efforts to prevent her from accessing money. One of the ways the men in
Firdaus’s life controlled her was by making her financially dependent on them. Once this means
of control is gone, Firdaus finds that she is free and independent for a time.
“'You poor, deluded woman,’ said she, ‘do you believe there is any such thing as love?'”

Firdaus’s colleague, page 167

During her time working at the industrial company, Firdaus meets a woman even more jaded and
disillusioned than she is. When this woman hears of Firdaus’s romance with Ibrahim, she scoffs
and calls Firdaus foolish for believing in love. Although this is a pessimistic outlook, the woman
turns out to be correct because Ibrahim joins the list of people who betray Firdaus. This quote
also articulates one of the core questions that Woman at Point Zero asks: Does love free of
betrayal exist?

“Yet not for a single moment did I have any doubts about my own integrity and honour as a
woman. I knew that my profession had been invented by men, and that men were in control of
both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their
bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body is that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one
kind or another.”

Firdaus, page 183

Throughout Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus struggles to make sense of her place in the world.
After graduating from secondary school, she searches for purpose. When she gets married to
Sheikh Mahmoud, she tries to be the perfect housewife, but eventually she rebels and leaves him.
She is then unwittingly led into a life of prostitution. Because of her varied life experiences,
Firdaus comes to the conclusions she articulates in this quote. Some women might look down
upon prostitutes, but according to Firdaus, all women are prostitutes to the men in their lives.
Some just get paid. This speaks volumes about the state of women’s rights, sexual autonomy,
and a woman’s right to choose in Egypt during this time.

“I am a killer, but I’ve committed no crime. Like you, I kill only criminals.”

Firdaus, page 199

When the police apprehend her for killing Marzouk, Firdaus is unapologetic. In this quote, she
asserts that Marzouk was a criminal, and thus she was justified in her actions. This is a
revolutionary idea in Firdaus’s society, that a man should be punished for his abuses towards a
woman. This is yet another example of how Firdaus is a person before her time.
Secondary School Certificate (Symbol)
Despite being born into a lower class farming community and having little to no education as a
young girl, Firdaus excels in school. Not only does she earn her secondary school certificate, but
she also graduated second in her class and seventh in the country. Thus, the certificate is a
symbol of achievement, evidence of her intellect, and a source of pride for Firdaus. Later on,
when she returns to her uncle’s house and when she lives with Bayoumi, she suggests to the men
using her certificate to find work, but they scoff at her. They claim it will be impossible for
Firdaus to find a respectable job with only a secondary school certificate, and that she needs to
remain dependent on them for her livelihood. At this point, the certificate symbolizes Firdaus’s
thwarted hopes and dreams for her future.

Drowning / The Sea (Motif)

In Woman at Point Zero, the powerful sea and the feeling of drowning are a prominent motif. It’s
first mentioned when Firdaus describes trying to walk for the first time. She kept falling,
“buffeted...like an object thrown into a limitless sea...slashed by waters when it starts to sink”
(Saadawi 31). Here, Firdaus likens herself to a piece of jetsam that the sea manipulates. Later on,
when Firdaus meets Sharifa Salah el Dine, the green of Sharifa’s clothing, along with the green
of the Nile, envelope Firdaus in a green light that makes her feel as if she were drowning
(Saadawi 73). Firdaus recalls “gradually sinking without getting wet, gradually dropping without
getting drowned” (Saadawi 74). Based on these examples, the overall intent of this motif is to
illustrate how disoriented and powerless Firdaus feels at times.

Money (Symbol)
Firdaus’s father gives her a piastre after she begs him and does extra chores. This is the first and
only piece of money Firdaus holds in her own two hands until she gets her first ten-pound
payment from a john. Firdaus compares the moment she receives the ten pounds to having a veil
lifted from her eyes (Saadawi 88). Suddenly she realizes the newfound freedom and
independence money gives her. She no longer has to depend on the men in her life for her
livelihood.

Later on in the novel, Firdaus tears up the money the prince gives her for sex. As she destroys
the money, she feels as if she were also destroying all the men she’s ever known, and finally
freeing herself of them (Saadawi 131). At this point, money no longer symbolizes independence:
it now symbolizes toxic men, and by further extension, the systems they use to control women.
When Firdaus reduces the money to ash, she says the final veil shrouding the truth from her is
torn away. She can now see the complete picture.

Rebirth (Motif)
The motif of rebirth is first introduced when Firdaus moves to Cairo with her uncle. When
Firdaus steps into her uncle’s house, she wonders “whether a person can be born twice”
(Saadawi 34). This is her gut reaction to seeing all the technology and modern conveniences in
his home. The moment she turns on a light switch, she shuts her eyes against the glare and
screams. When she opens them again, she feels as if she were using her eyes for the first time
again, or as if she were being born a second time.

This feeling of rebirth occurs again when Sharifa takes Firdaus under her wing. Sharifa helps
Firdaus bathe, combs her hair, and dresses her in soft clothing. After this, Firdaus feels as if she
were being born again with a new body (Saadawi 75). Both of these rebirth moments mark the
beginning of new chapters in Firdaus’s life.

The Clitoris (Symbol)

In the modern day, the clitoris represents female sexual freedom, independence, and pleasure. In
some countries, the removal of the clitoris is practiced as a way to limit and control female
sexuality. The clitoris is an unnamed but very present symbol in Saadawi’s novel. Firdaus’s
mother has her daughter’s clitoris removed after Firdaus asks about her birth father. For the
remainder of the novel, this missing piece haunts Firdaus. Whenever she has a sexual encounter,
she feels its absence acutely (Saadawi 28, 38, and 79). In this way, Firdaus’s missing clitoris
symbolizes all the attempts people have made to control her, along with the stunting of her
sexual freedom.

Woman at Point Zero Metaphors and Similes

Insects (Metaphor)
“My normal attitude towards myself (an attitude which rarely deserts me) gradually returned. I
turned the ignition key and pressed my foot down on the accelerator, firmly stamping out the
sudden feeling (which occasionally haunts me in moments of failure) of merely being an
insignificant insect, crawling on the earth amidst myriads of other similar insects” (Saadawi 22).

After Firdaus refuses to speak with her, the psychologist returns to her car dejected and defeated.
In this quote, she uses a metaphor to compare herself to a lowly, insignificant insect. This shows
how highly the psychologist regards Firdaus, and how impactful it is that Firdaus refuses to meet
her.

Children (Simile)
“For, like most people, I had many brothers and sisters. They were like chicks that multiply in
spring, shiver in winter and lose their feathers, and then in summer are stricken with diarrhoea,
waste away quickly and one by one creep into a corner and die” (Saadawi 35).

In this quote, Firdaus uses a simile to describe her siblings and how they succumbed to sickness
and died. She compares them to chickens, which have many offspring, most of which don’t make
it to adulthood. Although Firdaus is speaking about her own personal experience, this quote also
alludes to the high infant mortality rates plaguing Egypt during the time Woman at Point Zero
was published.

Pebble (Metaphor)
“There I was, just a pebble which someone had tossed into its waters, rolling along with the
crowds that rode in buses and cars, or walked the streets, with unseeing eyes, incapable of
noticing anything or anyone” (Saadawi 65).

After running from her uncle’s house, Firdaus walks the streets of Cairo by herself. Like many
people who find themselves alone in a big, bustling city, Firdaus is overwhelmed and feels small,
insignificant, and invisible. She compares herself to an insignificant pebble in a river that gets
pulled and pushed by the current, unnoticed by anything or anyone.

The Veil (Simile)

“It was as if he had lifted a veil from my eyes, and I was seeing for the first time” (Saadawi 95).

The first time Firdaus gets paid for sex is also the first time in her adult life that she has her own
money. This moment, when Firdaus realizes that she can make her own money and not be
dependent on men for her livelihood, is like having a veil lifted from her eyes: this is the first
time she realizes she can be an independent woman.

A Feather (Simile)
“My body was as light as a feather, as though its weight had been nothing more than the
accumulation of fear over the years” (Saadawi 138).

When Firdaus kills Marzouk, all of the fear she’d accumulated over the course of her life left her
body. She says at this point her body felt light as a feather. This demonstrates how heavy and
oppressive her fear of men was.

Woman at Point Zero Irony

Sins (Situational Irony)
“For was it not verily true that stealing was a sin, and killing was a sin, and defaming the honour
of a woman was a sin, and injustice was a sin, and beating another human being was a sin…?”
(Saadawi 28.)

After hearing the imam speak, Firdaus’s father and the other men of their farming community
would meet and talk about the weekly prayer. They would remark on how eloquent and
convincing the imam was when talking about being honorable and nonviolent. This is ironic
because Firdaus’s father frequently stole from his neighbors and beat his wife, among other sins.

Hunger (Situational Irony)

“After he [Firdaus’s father] had eaten his meal, and beaten my mother and calmed down, he
would ask me, ‘Are you hungry?'” (Saadawi 72.)

Firdaus’s father is a common source of irony in Woman at Point Zero because he often does and
says ironic and/or hypocritical things. Here, after eating all of the food his wife prepared and
leaving none for his starving children, he turns to Firdaus and asks, “Are you hungry?” This is
highly ironic considering he is the principal reason Firdaus has no food.

A Prostitute's Life (Dramatic Irony)

“I came to realize that a female employee is more afraid of losing her job than a prostitute is of
losing her life. An employee is scared of losing her job and becoming a prostitute because she
does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers. And so she pays the price
of her illusory fears with her life, her health, her body, and her mind” (Saadawi 111).

For a time, Firdaus returns to the life of an “honorable” woman. She stops selling her body and
gets a company job. After toiling at her firm for a time, she makes the realization that the life of a
prostitute is better and more secure than the life of a female employee. It is ironic, then, that
female employees fear losing their jobs and becoming prostitutes, for they would have a higher
quality of life as a prostitute.

Firdaus the Murderess (Dramatic Irony)

“'And have you killed anybody yet?’

‘Yes, I have.’

He stared at me for a brief moment, laughed and then said, ‘I can’t believe that someone like you
can kill’" (Saadawi 142).

This quote is taken from an exchange between Firdaus and her last client, the prince. Firdaus
confesses to the prince that she has indeed killed someone, but he refuses to believe she’s
capable of killing. This is an example of dramatic irony: although the prince doesn’t know
Firdaus is a man killer, the reader does know. Furthermore, we also know that, if he threatened
Firdaus, she would be capable of killing him, too.
Woman at Point Zero Imagery

Meeting Firdaus
Based on how Saadawi describes the psychologist’s first meeting with Firdaus, it’s clear that
Firdaus has a celebrity-like status. When the prison warden comes to get the psychologist for her
meeting, “[the prison warden’s] eyes and face reflected a violent emotion” (Saadawi 29). The
prison warden is so excited that the psychologist thinks the President of Egypt wouldn’t elicit
such a response from her as Firdaus has. When the psychologist meets Firdaus herself, she also
has a powerful reaction. Her heart starts racing, she walks effortlessly as if her body was
weightless, and she compares the meeting to when she met her first love (30). Furthermore, when
she enters Firdaus’s cell, she is so taken with Firdaus’s face and demeanor that her senses of
sound and hearing become muted. The ground is cold, but she doesn’t feel it’s chill, and
Firdaus’s voice floats towards her as if she’s in a dream. All of these details create an image of a
woman who defies logical feelings and actions.

Firdaus’s Father Eating

Firdaus’s father is the first male figure in her life to mistreat and abuse her. When his wife cooks,
he frequently devours the food and leaves nothing for his wife or children. When Firdaus tells
the psychologist about her father’s eating habits, she uses loosely repetitive sentences. She
compares his mouth to a camel’s, reducing her father's status to that of an animal. His upper jaw
clamps up and down and makes a loud grinding noise as if it were hinged, and his tongue is
described as having a mind of its own. By describing her father’s eating habits this way, Firdaus
paints a picture of a mindless, sloppy, and selfish man.

Eyes
As one of the major themes in Saadawi’s book, eyes are given much attention throughout
Woman at Point Zero. The eyes of several key characters are described and analyzed in detail.
For example, the light in Iqbal’s eyes is described as being magical (Saadawi 68), whereas
Bayoumi’s eyes give Firdaus a cold shiver of death (106). Juxtaposing these descriptions reveals
much about these two characters and Firdaus’s relationships with them.

Killing Marzouk
The moment Firdaus kills Marzouk is the climax of the novel. It’s the moment when all the
feelings of rage and disgust Firdaus has been accumulating towards men reach a boiling point.
It’s also the moment that Firdaus loses the fear that had been within her all this time. As such,
Saadawi painstakingly illustrates this moment using various action verbs. Words like “thrust,”
“buried,” “plunged,” and “stabbed” help create a vivid tableau in the reader’s mind of how the
murder played out (Saadawi 191). Saadawi follows this up with descriptions of Marzouk’s eyes
and Firdaus’s astonishment as she kills him to further stress how incredible this event is.
Woman at Point Zero Literary Elements

Genre
Historical fiction

Setting and Context

The frame of the novel is set at the Qanatir prison in Cairo. When the point of view of the novel
shifts to Firdaus in Chapter Two, the initial setting is the small farming community Firdaus is
born into. When Firdaus's parents die, her uncle takes her to Cairo, which is where the remainder
of the novel plays out.

Narrator and Point of View

Chapters One and Three of the novel are from the psychiatrist’s point of view. Chapter Two is
from Firdaus’s perspective. Both sections are told in the first person.

Tone and Mood

The tone and mood of the psychiatrist’s section of the novel are different from the tone and
mood of Firdaus’s section. This difference serves a stylistic and structural purpose because it
helps to characterize the psychiatrist and Firdaus.

The tone in the psychiatrist’s section is investigative and urgent. The psychiatrist desperately
wants to meet with Firdaus, and the reader feels the rollercoaster of emotions the psychiatrist
experiences as Firdaus first refuses, and then agrees, to meet her. Thus, as the reader finishes the
psychiatrist’s section of the novel, the mood is anticipatory.

Alternatively, the tone in Firdaus’s section is calm, reflective, and confident. Although Firdaus is
telling the psychiatrist and the reader about horrific events, she is a calm and collected
storyteller, and she takes pride in the life she led before being incarcerated. Because of the events
Firdaus details, the mood for the bulk of the novel is disheartening, until Firdaus breaks free
from fear. The mood then shifts to bittersweet triumph.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Part of what makes the Woman at Point Zero so interesting is its universal nature. While Firdaus
is our obvious protagonist, she symbolizes any woman who has ever pushed and pulled against
the yoke of men. Similarly, while there are many villains throughout the novel, the true
antagonist is the male-dominated society that oppresses women. This is personified in characters
like Firdaus’s uncle, Sheikh Mahmoud, and Marzouk.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in Woman at Point Zero is whether or not Firdaus will find a way to free
herself from the misogynistic society that oppresses her and other women.

Climax
The climax of the book is when Firdaus kills Marzouk. All through her journey, Firdaus has
become increasingly disillusioned with and resentful of men. During her altercation with
Marzouk, her feelings reach a boiling point, and she finally acts on those feelings.

Foreshadowing
"Little did I know that one day I would step through the same gates, not as a psychiatrist, but as a
prisoner arrested with 1,035 others under the decree issued by Sadat on 5 September 1981”
(Saadawi 17).

This quote, taken from the psychologist’s section of the novel, explicitly foreshadows Saadawi’s
own incarceration at the Qanatir prison a few years after she meets Firdaus.

Understatement
“Firdaus, however, remained a woman apart” ( Saadawi 18).

Throughout the novel, we are given countless examples of how Firdaus is exceptional. In school,
she is a star pupil, and when she goes to her industrial job, she’s the only woman who doesn’t try
to curry favor with the men in charge. Finally, when Firdaus murders Marzouk, she does what no
woman before her has done: strike down her oppressor. With all these examples in front of us,
it’s clear that calling Firdaus “a woman apart” is an understatement.

Imagery
See the separate "Imagery" section of this ClassicNote.

Paradox
“I felt like exploding with laughter at the ridiculous stance he was taking, the paradox he
personified, his double moral standards. He wanted to take a prostitute to this important
personality’s bed, like any common pimp would do, and yet talk in dignified tones of patriotism
and moral principles” (Saadawi 182).

Here, Firdaus points out the paradox of a police officer who was trying to blackmail her into
having sex with a government officer while simultaneously talking about moral principles.
Parallelism
In grammar, parallelism is the repetition within one or more sentences of similar phrases or
clauses that have the same grammatical structure. Below is an example of this from the text:

“How to grow crops, how to sell a buffalo poisoned by his enemy before it died, how to
exchange his virgin daughter for a dowry when there was still time, how to be quicker than his
neighbour in stealing from the fields once the crop was ripe” (Saadawi 35).

Metonymy and Synecdoche

"The whole school went out." This is an example of synecdoche, where the school denotes pupils
and the staff.

"The word went round." This is an example of metonymy, where the word denotes rumors.