Nawal El Sadaawi is both the author and the narrator of Woman at
Point Zero. As the author, she presents a fictionalized version of
two real people: Firdaus and herself. Though the fictional characters closely
resemble the two real people, they are distinct. The fictional El Sadaawi
struggles with feelings of insignificance, and by the end of the book she is
consumed with helpless rage over the condition of women, including herself, in
her country. Undoubtedly, the author El Sadaawi also has these feelings, but by
the time she wrote Woman at Point Zero, she had long been a
significant figure in her country’s consciousness, as well as a crusader for
women’s rights.
The fictional El Sadaawi is first introduced when she visits the prison in
which Firdaus is awaiting her execution. El Sadaawi approaches her meetings with
Firdaus with desperation. Firdaus is an imprisoned prostitute, and El Sadaawi,
an educated and wealthy doctor, occupies a much higher social position. Still,
El Sadaawi is devastated by Firdaus’s initial refusal to be interviewed; it
makes her feel insignificant. When Firdaus finally agrees to meet El Sadaawi, El
Sadaawi approaches her like a petitioner. This is because El Sadaawi, despite
her education and status, is still subject to discrimination and feels
insignificant most of the time. Because the imprisoned Firdaus refuses to be
“put in her place,” El Sadaawi suspects that Firdaus might have some sort of
strength or knowledge for which El Sadaawi is desperate. The doctor therefore
approaches the prisoner for wisdom and guidance.
El Sadaawi’s reaction to the end of Firdaus’s tale—the helpless fury and
sorrow she feels after Firdaus goes to her execution—further demonstrates her
feelings of insignificance. The truth of Firdaus’s story, which shows so starkly
the position of women in El Sadaawi’s society, is such that El Sadaawi feels her
own lack of power all the more keenly. She has spoken to someone who had been
oppressed for much of her life before finally seizing power. Yet El Sadaawi does
not act on violent impulses to destroy the oppressive forces in her society
after Firdaus is killed, and she is disappointed in herself. The book ends with
character El Sadaawi’s realization that Firdaus has more courage than she, El
Sadaawi, has. Here, again, it is important to separate the fictional character
from the figure of the revolutionary author. The real El Sadaawi was galvanized
by her encounters with the woman who inspired the character of Firdaus. Among
other things, the encounter inspired her to write the book, Woman at
Point Zero, to illuminate the sufferings of Egyptian women for a
larger audience.
