Character Analysis "Firdaus" in Woman at Point Zero

Name : Muhammad Rifai Asnawi

NIM : 180705069
Character analysis “Firdaus” in Woman at point zero

First of all, as we can see ,Firdaus is a young woman who flees her abusive husband and
becomes a prostitute, then an office worker, and then a prostitute again. She finally kills a man
who forces her to accept him as her pimp. When Nawal El Saadawi meets Firdaus, she is in
prison waiting to be executed

Firdaus is a woman struggling to live a dignified life in a society in which women have limited
options. Throughout the book, Firdaus fights not just to be in control of her own destiny but also
to figure out who she is. But she has little time to devote to self-exploration. She’s got beaten up
by her husband and her uncle wasn’t seem supportive. Her uncle supposed to protect her. So she
run to Bayoumi
The scene in Bayoumi’s coffee shop is an example of. Bayoumi asks Firdaus whether she wants
oranges or tangerines, and Firdaus is unable to answer him, having never considered whether she
might like one thing more than another.
By the time Firdaus becomes a prostitute, she has discovered that she can exploit the desire that
many men have for her by getting money for it. She learns that people with money can also
command respect.
But having money and commanding respect do not make Firdaus feel respectable. Taking
pleasure from a relationship with men is never really an option for her. This is partially because
she needs to be treated like an equal, which never happens, but also because of her
clitoridectomy. This procedure robs her of pleasure during sex.
Firdaus’ tale is exactly an example of gender inequality because she had qualifications, she had
a determination, she had the brain capacity and knowledge to make something out of herself,
but she was just never given the opportunity to do anything. She was just seen and judged
based on her appearance, that she was able to make men lust for her, but not once did they
care about her personality or how smart she was. But even in current modern times we have to
admit that men still look at women and focus on their beauty first. What their skin tone is, what
their body is like, how feminine they look and many other metrics that men use nowadays to
class women into groups of either pretty or ugly. Honestly as Firdaus felt, every woman feels
the same too, that there is more to a woman than just her looks and what is in between her
legs but this was the truth back in those patriarchal days, women were not seen as smart and
only seen as objects to be used by men however they please.
To someone who dreamed of studying and becoming a scholar, the life of a prostitute is
disappointing and demeaning, yet Firdaus also suggests that the life of a prostitute might be a
surer path to dignity and self-determination than the “respectable” life of an office assistant. At
least as a prostitute Firdaus need not show deference toward even the most powerful of men.
For most of her life, it has never been important what she wanted. What was important was what
the men around her wanted. And as Firdaus tells it, all of the men around her are brutes who
exult in the power that they have over women. To some extent, Firdaus’s life becomes about
living in opposition to the men in her life.
It also can be seen as in page 17 “When one of his female children died, my father would eat his
supper, my mother would wash his legs, and then he would go to sleep, just as he did every
night. When the child that died was a boy, he would beat my mother, then have his supper and
lie down to sleep.” which means This of course was also a common custom that existed in the
past, it dates back to when monarchies were still the main governmental system of countries
and all the kings ever cared about was continuing their long and illustrious bloodline with a son.
This crazy ideal was what made the British monarch King Henry VIII very well known as he
would kill his wives that could not bear any sons for him, because he cared very little for
daughters and only wanted sons. In the modern world now however we see that families
rejoice on either gender in a child, they celebrate having a boy just as much as they celebrate
having a girl which of course is a good and civilized thing to see. I hate the thought, personally
as a girl myself, that we would naturally be seen as less even from the moment we are born. It
pains me to imagine what it would have looked like for women who lived 100 years ago or for
women who still live in countries with high patriarchal ideals like in India and Pakistan. This
simple passage from the novel itself gives up quite a glimpse of how worthless girls lives are
considered to boys and if that was the belief then most likely women were seen as nothing
more than just a sidekick to any men. For the men of Egypt, women were nothing more than a
means to an end.
Then the story goes as in page 100 where the passage says “'There isn't a woman on earth who
can protect herself.'
'I don't want your protection.'
'You cannot do without protection, otherwise the profession exercised by husbands and pimps
would die out.'”
It can be implies as Women are still viewed as the weaker species, that is a fact. But when we
look closely is that really the case? I mean the pain of child labour in itself is so strenuous that it
is hard to see how any man could compare to the pain a woman feels when she gives birth.
Another thing that should be pointed out is that even a non-career woman who is tasked with
looking after the house and raising the kids has a larger responsibility than a husband who goes
out to work. Why do I say this? Well raising a child is a lot harder than just doing our duties and
getting money for it at the end of the day. With a job you can mess up get fired and find
another job but with a child once you mess up that’s most likely it, you are left with the burden
and sin your entire life of failing to raise that child. Being a mother is of course a lot harder than
being a dad as well, I mean the children you give birth to are made from your own flesh and
blood, you carry them inside you and with that you give a part of your soul to them. Women
can create life and protect herself during doing so, I firmly believe that women are more than
capable enough to look after themselves.

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Name : Muhammad Rifai Asnawi

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