In Egypt, women are conditioned to be subordinate to males, accept sexual harassment, and abuse while remaining reticent. Women have miniscule amounts of control over their lives. Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero protagonist, Firdaus, is oppressed due to her socioeconomic status and gender. An avid feminist, El Saadawi, spoke about her hatred of oppression, “We cannot be liberated as women in a society built on class oppression or gender oppression or religious oppression” (Mayton 1). El Saadawi’s feminist novel Woman at Point Zero exposes the effects of gender roles and class through the symbols of money, food, education, and weight to create a calumnious tone towards the thematic aspect of oppression felt by women of lower socioeconomic
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But I don’t want to use force. Perhaps we can agree quietly and without a fuss. I’ll give you a pound: a whole pound. What do you say to that?” (El Saadawi 62). The repetition of the word ‘pound’ combined with the patronizing diction exposes the corruption of policemen and the abuse of females in Egyptian society. The policeman manipulates his power over Firdaus by taunting her with a semblance of power with the taunting of money. Likewise, Firdaus’ desire to gain autonomy through work contradicts Bayoumi’s desire for Firdaus to remain subservient. When Firdaus expresses her desire for a job, Bayoumi responds, “How dare you raise your voice when speaking to me, you street walker, you low woman?” (El Saadawi 49). The derogatory diction ‘street walker’ and ‘low woman’ characterize Bayoumi as abusive and unwilling to give Firdaus the power to gain economic autonomy. Similar to Bayoumi, Firdaus despises the executives at her company because they only condone the existence of women as subordinates. She believes they act imperiously and abusively, “I looked into his eyes. They clearly said, ‘You’re a poor, miserable employee, unworthy of esteem, running after a bus to catch it. I’ll take you in my car because your female body has aroused
But I don’t want to use force. Perhaps we can agree quietly and without a fuss. I’ll give you a pound: a whole pound. What do you say to that?” (El Saadawi 62). The repetition of the word ‘pound’ combined with the patronizing diction exposes the corruption of policemen and the abuse of females in Egyptian society. The policeman manipulates his power over Firdaus by taunting her with a semblance of power with the taunting of money. Likewise, Firdaus’ desire to gain autonomy through work contradicts Bayoumi’s desire for Firdaus to remain subservient. When Firdaus expresses her desire for a job, Bayoumi responds, “How dare you raise your voice when speaking to me, you street walker, you low woman?” (El Saadawi 49). The derogatory diction ‘street walker’ and ‘low woman’ characterize Bayoumi as abusive and unwilling to give Firdaus the power to gain economic autonomy. Similar to Bayoumi, Firdaus despises the executives at her company because they only condone the existence of women as subordinates. She believes they act imperiously and abusively, “I looked into his eyes. They clearly said, ‘You’re a poor, miserable employee, unworthy of esteem, running after a bus to catch it. I’ll take you in my car because your female body has aroused