The Painted Door Zeinat Analysis

Similar settings and different decisions of Ann and Zeinat
In life, people come across situations that require them to make risky decisions that may impact their life. Making life changing decisions are portrayed in both stories, by the protagonists Ann from “The Painted Door” and Zeinat from “The Ghobashi Household”. Ann from “The Painted Door” is a farmer’s wife who is dealing with loneliness thus, decides to cheat on her husband with her neighbour, which leads to a tragic end. Zeinat from “The Incident in the Ghobashi Household” is a mother who is dealing with her daughter, Ni’ma’s pregnancy with an illegitimate baby. Ni’ma’s pregnancy pushes Zeinat to send her away to Cairo in hopes of protecting Ni’ma’s reputation. Although both protagonists …show more content…
The decision made by Ann was more self- centered as compared to the choice made by Zeinat, which was selfless and for the greater good of her daughter. In “The Painted Door”, Ann’s decision to sleep with Steven was selfish because she didn’t think of how John would feel if he was to find out. From the beginning of the passage, her unhappiness is only one sided as she disregards the reason why John usually leaves the house; to give her a better life. It is important to know that here problem she had was only one sided from the start, which lead to her making a life changing decision which ruined her marriage. As stated in the passage, “John was the man. For tonight, slowly and contritely through the day and years to come, she would try to make amends” (Ross 7). This quotation explains that Ann realizes the selfishness of her decision and would have to gain forgiveness from John. Zeinat’s decision to send her daughter, Ni’ma, to the city to give birth to her baby, was to benefit her daughter. Zeinat is aware that her husband and neighbours will judge her daughter due to her pregnancy (with an illegitimate child). In addition to protecting her daughter’s reputation by sending her away, Zeinat is willing to take full custody of Ni’ma’s child after she returns. Zeinat says, “Isn’t it better, when he returns, for your father to find himself with a legitimate son than an illegitimate grandson “(Rifaat). Zeinat refers to the unborn child as a legitimate son because she is preparing to accept the child as her own and by doing so; she is taking Ni’ma’s responsibilities as a mother upon herself. The nature of the problem leads to each protagonist making vastly different decisions. In Ann’s case, her one sided problem leads her to make a selfish decision while in Zeinat’s case, her daughter Ni’ma’s problem leads to her, Zeinat to a make a