Analysis Of Woman At Point Zero

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Recommended: Islamic revolution and womens rights

Moibanda Rogers
Ms. Studniski
IB English HL (B1-2)
29 April 2014
Analysis of Woman at Point Zero by Nawal Saadawi: The Impact of P.O.V
Point of view (P.O.V) is the perspective from which a writer recounts a narrative or presents information. It can be broken up into three categories: first, second and third person P.O.V. The novel, Woman at Point Zero, by Nawal El Saadawi, is about a psychiatrist’s encounter with a female prisoner, Firdaus, as she explains her entire life story before she is sentenced to death. The story highlights the themes of power, attaining respect and independence as they work hand in hand to build and diminish Firdaus’ character, despite being written from a gender bias perspective. P.O.V is used to emphasize the bias within the narrative, which influences the reader to believe that men devalue women.
P.O.V first impacts the meaning of the story when Firdaus begins to address the theme of power in the novel. The Islamic religion tends to perceive women as ‘slave figures’ towards their fathers, husbands, uncles or any other form of male authority. Within these societies men are permitted to abuse a female in any manner, as women are obliged to men. Throughout the story Firdaus’s first person P.O.V emphasizes that men have power over women; for example, Firdaus’ father overpowers her mother and both her uncle and her husband overpower Firdaus. Upon meeting Firdaus for the first time, the author uses a calm yet hasty tone to address Firdaus’s first account as the first person P.O.V speaker. Throughout Firdaus’s life, “[she has] been searching for something that would fill [her] with pride, make [her] feel superior to everyone else, including kings, princes and rulers”(9). Firdaus begins her story in the ...

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...irdaus from expressing her pride and hatred towards men. Firdaus’s P.O.V highlights a simile in which she makes an analogy representing the act of becoming free, as she rips the notes up she also rips off the veil. The veil in the Islamic religion is mainly used to cover ones face or body and is worn on Islamic women. The act of ripping the notes shows that she has gain total independence for herself and that women are not objects to be bought and left whenever felt like.
The themes highlighted throughout this novel, play an essential role as Firdaus beings to find confluence within her, and seek control over her. The gender bias perspective influences the P.O.V as it causes a generalization that all men are bad. The P.O.V is used to emphasize the biases of the author, influencing the reader to believe that men do not know the true value of women.

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