A Critical Reading of Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point ZeroÓ
Sawsan A. Al-Darayseh, Department of English Language and Literature,Yarmouk University,Irbid,Jordan
Abstract
Women all over the world, and Egypt specifically, have been looked upon as second-class citizens for a long time in comparison to men. However, this paper argues that it is unethical for feminists, specifically here Nawal El Saadawi, to discuss this issue in an extreme way where the truth is lost. Hating men and holding them wholly at fault for the plight of women while giving alibis to and even praising women for their self-destructive decisions is not the solution. The paper takes the reader through a step-by-step reading of El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero discussing the very methods and elements that El Saadawi makes use of in the novel, criticizing them and revealing her to be a person who states one thing publicly and does another on the personal level. She misrepresents her protagonist. She commits misandry, and she gives life to a character who deals with choice as an obstacle. On top of that she uses literary stylistic devices through which she attempts to force her point of view on her readers.
Keywords: El Saadawi, feminism, blame, choice, misandry, misrepresentation.