The protagonist, Firdaus, in Nawal El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero (Zed Books 2005, English trans.) is a prostitute on death row in Egypt who shares her story of neglect, abuse, and how she went from one bad situation to another.
El Saadawi writes about a woman who was a victim of sexual predators. Her first molestation happens in her childhood. Books like Judith Herman's Trauma and Recover (Perseus Books 1992) and Patrick Carnes' Don’t Call it Love (Bantam Books 1991) show that childhood molestation is a common thread among women in sexually and physically abusive adult relationships.
Using Woman at Point Zero as a Case Study
Don’t Call it Love specifically tracks the typical behavior of the predator. He or she woos the person (child or adult) with nice words, gifts, and behavior. The predator creates a situation where the person is completely dependent upon him or her for the basic essentials of life. In order to break free from the abuse -- once the person realizes that something is wrong -- means that the person must give up their home, their basic needs, their sense of security, their job, their life, and/or any other thing or circumstance that may seem that the abused cannot live without.
This is the exact situation Firdaus experiences in her life from childhood throughout her adulthood. As a psychiatrist, El Saadawi understood these patterns and recognized them in Firdaus’s story. El Saadawi depicts Firdaus through the story in such a way that another psychiatrist, counselor, or friend could use this book to help an abused adult understand the patterns of their own behavior.
Firdaus describes her hatred of men because she has been used and abused by them in every relationship. “I became aware of the fact that I hated men, but for long years had hidden this secret carefully," says Firdaus. "The men I hated most of all were those who told me that they wanted to rescue me from the life I was leading” (96).
This is a natural reaction because of what she has experienced. Even when she let herself feel something for a man, and let him supposedly rescue her, he ends up just the same as all of the other men that have come into her life.
When the Abused are Blamed
Besides her hatred of men, another way Firdaus' life exemplifies an abused is that as people observe an abused person they want to try to blame her, and they say that she is the cause of the abusers’ behavior. Some even say, “If she would do something different with her life, or if she would do this or do that, then the abuser would stop.”
Although this is a natural reaction, it is important to understand that prostitution seems to be the only way Firdaus believes she can survive and be in control of her life. For other abused people, staying in a marriage or relationship, defending the abuser, or blaming self for the situation, all remain typical responses and ones that we also see depicted in the story of Firdaus.
Significance of Woman at Point Zero
Even though El Saadawi is an Arab woman, the whole point of the story would be missed if only studied as literature from the Arab world. It is easier to analyze the novel, the author, and only look through the lens of academia, however the novel holds significance beyond a classroom. El Saadawi is truly a feminist activist who has written a novel that can be analyzed as literature, but can also be used to help and understand an abused person.
El Saadawi goes beyond the political, beyond woman as nation, beyond the Arab woman’s experience, and she brings readers a story that can be used to help women break an abusive cycle. Firdaus wants to die because she has no hope. She has never had anyone to walk beside her, take her hand, and truthfully say, “There is nothing wrong with you. You are a real person who has real needs and desires. It is okay. I am going to help you.”
Firdaus realizes the patterns and sees no way out – death is the answer and even its uncertainty seems better than the certainty of continuing in the cycle of her life. Abused women usually cannot break free on their own. When they only have themselves, then they usually stay in the continuing pattern of abuse, attempt or commit suicide, and many end up murdered because of domestic violence. Firdaus’s death sentence covers both aspects of this pattern. The suicide is her decision not to appeal, and the murder is her capital punishment.
Conversations for Change
Even though this book seems morbid and hopeless, using Firdaus’s story could help open conversations with women in abusive relationships. Instead of their lives ending in death, Firdaus’s death could mean their salvation. El Saadawi is a true activist who took a risk and wrote a book that can help women around the world.
Additional Reading
Arab Women Writers
College Writing: How to Write Term Papers
Paula Wilder - Paula is a freelance writer and speaker. She also teaches developmental reading and English at Guilford Technical Community College. She ...
Join the Conversation