Money
Firdaus grows up in a poor family in a community of poor families, and
she further recognizes the power of money when she moves to Cairo. As
Firdaus tells it, she never really had money of her own until she started
prostituting herself. Before this, she was at the mercy of her stingy
father, uncle, husband, and Sharifa—because they had money and she did not.
All of them recognized this fact, and they were careful not to give her any
money of her own, lest she escape their grasp. When Firdaus first ventures
out on her own—after leaving Sharifa’s house—and learns that her body has a
monetary value to men, she also learns that she can command more money from
them because she has something they want. To men, her body is a commodity,
just as food and clothing are a commodity: the more difficult it is for them
to obtain, the more money they will pay. In this way, Firdaus begins to
amass money of her own. She despises her work, and she loathes the men who
come to see her, but she greatly values her newfound power. She is not at
the mercy of men anymore.
When she is slandered in public, Firdaus uses her “shameful” money to
pay a lawyer to clear her name. At this point, money is everything to
Firdaus. It even has the ability to cleanse her public image. But by the
time Firdaus kills the pimp and demands $2,000 from the prince, money has
come to mean something very different. It becomes just another symbol of the
hypocrisy of her society. It gives power to the unworthy and makes the
despicable seem respectable. It allows men to rule over women, and makes the
prince think that he can buy Firdaus. When Firdaus tears up the $2,000, she
demonstrates to the prince that his money has no power over her. Because of
this demonstration, the prince declares that she must really be a
princess—i.e., one outside the reach of money’s power. Because of Firdaus’s
newfound understanding of the treachery of money, the prince is right.
Firdaus is truly outside the reach of money’s power.
Books
Firdaus’s uncle gives Firdaus her first taste of the power of books
when he secretly teaches her how to read. Books become a symbol of the
kindness of her uncle, who takes an interest in young Firdaus and tries to
teach her. Through reading, Firdaus comes to realize that there is more in
the world than her poor village and humble family. Even before her uncle
teaches her to read, she views the books he brings with him from Cairo as a
kind of passport to a life in which she, too, could be a scholar. When she
moves to Cairo and goes to school, Firdaus spends the few happy years of her
life immersed in books and learning. The time that they spend reading
together is a time of bonding between Firdaus and her uncle.
When her uncle gives up the life of a scholar and marries his boss’s
daughter, he sends Firdaus to boarding school. Essentially, her uncle gives
up books in exchange for wealth and status. This feels like a betrayal to
Firdaus, but boarding school proves more advantageous for her than living
with her uncle and aunt. She soon develops a reputation as a bookworm, and
often spends long evenings in the library. She becomes an excellent student
and wins many academic prizes. Books become more important to Firdaus than
people. Yet when Firdaus is married off to Sheikh Mahmoud, books virtually
disappear from her life. Firdaus has to fit herself into the role of
submissive wife, and there is no room for her to be a prize pupil
or a reader. Books, which represented her uncle’s kindness and the
potential for a better life, disappear.
