Woman at Point Zero was a book written in 1979 by Nawal El Saadawi. It is set in contemporary Egypt.

[edit] Plot summary

A psychiatrist is asked to examine the mental health of a female inmate, who was prosecuted for killing her former pimp; she has been granted parole but she has refused it every single time it has been granted to her. Reluctantly, the inmate, who is named Firdaus, tells the psychiatrist her life story.

Firdaus was born into a farming community. She is forced to undergo female genital mutilation as a pre-adolescent. The pain subsides but she never regains clitoral sensitivity. Throughout the novel, Firdaus experiences incomplete sensations; a void, where there was once pleasure. Repetition of this theme signifies its importance.

After the death of her mother and father, she is sent to her uncle's house so she can attend school. While there, she falls in love with a female teacher named Miss Iqbal, who does not return her feelings. Her uncle loves her very much, but her aunt hates her, and accordingly, she is married off to a man who repulses her. To punish her for her ungratefulness, she is beaten, and she runs away from him. She rests at a coffee shop where she meets Bayoumi, who offers to board her until she gets a job. After a few months, she confronts him, and he gets angry. Afterwards, she is repeatedly raped first by Bayoumi, then by other men Bayoumi knows. She escapes from Bayoumi's place, becoming a prostitute on the streets of Cairo.

Over time, she is drafted into the harem of a female friend. Another acquaintance of Firdaus tells her that her living is not respectable, so she leaves it all behind and takes a job at a government agency. She falls in love with a co-worker, who does not return her feelings, as he wishes to climb the proverbial social ladder. He marries the daughter of the agency's president instead. Crushed, Firdaus goes back to prostitution, and is threatened by police action by a local pimp. He eventually drafts her as one of his women.

He is cruel to her, and many times, he locks her in the bordello for hours and even days. One day, he started to beat her up; she picked up a knife and stabbed him. She made her escape and lived on the lam. A high-profile Arabian prince offers her money in exchange for sex. As soon as the transaction is over, she tells him that she killed a man. He doesn't believe her, and she scares him to the point that he is convinced. He has her arrested, and she is sentenced to death. She stays in the prison, and for ten days is approached by a woman who wants to speak with her—a psychiatrist researching neurosis. The day of her execution, she tells the writer—the author Nawal El Saadawi–her story in its entirety.

[edit] Editions

A paperback edition was issued in London by Zed Books in 1984 with ISBN 0-86232-110-7.

[edit] External links

• Podcast of Nawal El Saadawi discussing Woman at Point Zero on the BBC's World Book Club
• www.wmich.edu

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