Importance of the Childhood Home The most critical time period of one 's life is his/her childhood. It is during that time that people are shaped into who they become later on in life. In Nawal El Saadawi 's novel, Woman at Point Zero, the main character, Firdaus, reveals her pure hatred towards men along with all of her insecurities when talking to the narrator. As Firdaus verbally paints a picture of her childhood hut it may be clearly seen that her childhood made a immense impact on the rest of her life and her relationships with other people. Thus, the setting of Firdaus 's childhood home has the most critical effect on her as it causes her to develop hatred towards men and prevents her from developing any emotional attachments. From
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As a child Firdaus considered her uncle to have been "closer to [her] than [her] father," thus conveying that despite her distant relationship with most of her family there was someone who displayed affection towards her (18). With the imagery that Firdaus creates by illustrating a bond between people closer than between a daughter and a father it portrays an image of a safe and caring environment. Nonetheless, such an image was just an illusion of a strong relationship as in reality her uncle would often use his power as a male to take advantages of Firdaus as he would repeatedly "press against [her] thigh with a grasping, almost brutal insistence," (13). The irony between the relationship of Firdaus and her uncle as he was suppose to be someone who cared for Firdaus yet he sexually abused her displays how during her childhood she did not have an exemplary male figure around her. With harsh diction such as "brutal" and "insistence" it is conveyed that Firdaus did not agree to her uncle 's actions however the diction of "almost" portrays that despite her disapproval there was nothing she could do as she was a girl and she could not stand up to a man. Hence, Firdaus 's childhood setting of her family home was not only a critical moment, why she began hating men, due to her father 's selfishness but also because of her uncle who was suppose to be the second closest man to her, or as she describes it even the closest man, and yet he used her. It was because of her childhood where she came in contact with the first men that led her to develop a negative opinion about them and from that point on Firdaus 's judgment of men was poisoned by her prior
As a child Firdaus considered her uncle to have been "closer to [her] than [her] father," thus conveying that despite her distant relationship with most of her family there was someone who displayed affection towards her (18). With the imagery that Firdaus creates by illustrating a bond between people closer than between a daughter and a father it portrays an image of a safe and caring environment. Nonetheless, such an image was just an illusion of a strong relationship as in reality her uncle would often use his power as a male to take advantages of Firdaus as he would repeatedly "press against [her] thigh with a grasping, almost brutal insistence," (13). The irony between the relationship of Firdaus and her uncle as he was suppose to be someone who cared for Firdaus yet he sexually abused her displays how during her childhood she did not have an exemplary male figure around her. With harsh diction such as "brutal" and "insistence" it is conveyed that Firdaus did not agree to her uncle 's actions however the diction of "almost" portrays that despite her disapproval there was nothing she could do as she was a girl and she could not stand up to a man. Hence, Firdaus 's childhood setting of her family home was not only a critical moment, why she began hating men, due to her father 's selfishness but also because of her uncle who was suppose to be the second closest man to her, or as she describes it even the closest man, and yet he used her. It was because of her childhood where she came in contact with the first men that led her to develop a negative opinion about them and from that point on Firdaus 's judgment of men was poisoned by her prior