Firdaus Relationships In Nawal El Saadawi

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Relationships come in many forms; romantic relationships, the relationship between a mother and her daughter, or even the relationship between a mentor and a mentee. Throughout a person’s life they will have many of these associations and with each one there is a lesson to be learned. Nawal El Saadawi uses her character Firdaus’ relationships to expose the corruption of Egyptian society and develop her as a dynamic character. Nawal El Saadawi exposes the Egyptian society’s expectations of men in her time through the motifs shown in Firdaus’ relationships and perceptions of the men in her life. In the novel, the experiences that Firdaus has with these men all lead to their own smaller epiphanies. All of these chance meetings lead to the same …show more content…

Saadawi initially introduced the theme of exposing the corruption of Egyptian society by writing a townswoman and Firdaus’ mother cutting “off a piece of flesh from between [her] thighs” (Saadawi 12). Because genital mutilation was normal in her society, Firdaus saw nothing wrong with it. Saadawi chose to write Firdaus not seeing this as someone making a decision about her body for her because it helps support the theme of revealing the corruption of the society. Saadawi writes Firdaus to have many fleeting moments of confidence. A great example of one of these fleeting moments is after she receives her secondary school certificate. Firdaus was excited to get a secondary school certificate because she believed that it would open many doors for her. The confidence lasts until she overhears her uncle and her wife saying that “It’s not easy to find work these days when all you have is a secondary school certificate” (Saadawi 36). Firdaus finally regains that lost confidence with the help of Sharifa. Saadawi wrote Sharifa to be a sort of guardian angel to Firdaus. She motivated Firdaus by telling her things such as “Neither Bayoumi or any of his other cronies realized your worth because you failed to value yourself high enough” and “You belittle yourself, Firdaus” (Saadawi 58). The lessons that Firdaus learns from her relationship with Sharifa are ones that she carries with her until the …show more content…

She shows readers how society valued men over women, how fathers only valued their daughters for the dowry they would receive when she married, and also how young girls had no say in what was done to their bodies. Saadawi also develops Firdaus into a dynamic character with the use of these themes. By definition, a dynamic character undergoes major changes, just as the character Firdaus does. Nawal El Saadawi uses the experiences in Firdaus’ life to develop her as a dynamic character and also unveil the wrongdoings of Egyptian

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