Blog #11-Quotes/explanation from the novel

Uncle sees the fear because his wife is in a higher class than he is. In addition, Uncle's sister, or Firdaus's aunt, is paying for his schooling (p.23).
The theme of the novel is hierarchy because Firdaus mentions the power she wants to gain that men has; she wants to be as strong as she can be. She is living in an era, or the society, where men are pushing women down, so that they can be dominant over them. In page 28, Firdaus describes all men as evil and all the same. Patriotism goes hand in hand with religion (Allah). In page 33, Firdaus is scared because she is alone and does not know what to do. In page 37, Uncle's wife calls him, "Your holiness." She respects him as a king, or something higher than that. She seems to be exaggerating a bit. In page 87, Firdaus says, "I hope for nothing, I want for nothing, I fear nothing, I am free." It seems that Firdaus found out what she wanted to do with her life.

Blog #10-Introducing the characters

In the beginning of the novel, Nawal El Saadwai, or the psychiatrist, is one of the main characters. In addition, Firdaus is also a main character, who is introduced and most mentioned in the novel. The psychiatrist was interested in a case study so she started researching neuroses of women prisoners, this is how she came to meet Firdaus, who was also a prisoner at that time. She was convicted as a murderer, who would be sentenced to death. She was very anti-social and she did not care about anything because her death was approching to her very soon, which was the next day. Her uncle is introduced in the begining and throughout the novel. He is very religious and he is a Muslim. However, despite his strong religious belief, he molests her and touches her. Whenever he hears someone approching, he would wuthdraw his hand. This tells me that he knows it is wrong to do such a thing, but does it anyway because he feels like it. Firdaus does not seem to take any action regarding this because he is her uncle and he is providing her education, so she thinks it is okay because he is much older than her and is more 'mature." Her uncle not only lives with Firdaus but also lives with his wife and this is not acceptable.

Blog #9- Woman at Point Zero

El Saddawi is such an amazing author/ psychiatrist because she seemed to be interested in a subject that other people want to hide and not want to talk about. She was interested in the prisoners and their reason for being there. She did not give up on Firdaus, who was not willing to see her, because she knew she was a psychiatrist and did not wanted to talk about her story. However, because of her determination to meet her was so strong, it led her to finally agree to meet her. Then the journey begins from there.

I believe that meeting the "right people" is one of the most important tasks in life. Meeting that one person can completely change one's life, either good or bad. In this novel, the psychiatrist met Firdaus, which seemed to broaden her spectrum of what life is and can do to a human being. Everyone has problems in their life, and Firdaus was one of the many, who has several problems in her life. She does not know who her dad is, and when she asked her mom about it, her mom punished her by performing a female circumcision on her. I believed that she should not have been punished for asking such a question like that. Of course, she wants to know who her dad is, because it is her dad. There is nothing wrong about asking such a question. Not only that, but she is being sexually harassed by her one and only uncle. He would try to sneak in his hands to touch her legs and when he would hear someone approaching, he would withdraw his hand. She must have gone through so much emotional pain from that because she cannot defend herself by telling someone about it because he is older than her and should know better. However, it is so frustrating to admit the fact that adults sometimes do not know better and act immature compared to their age:[

Blog #8-Sula

What does Sula mean or represent to the Bottom?

Sula is a disgrace to the Bottom. They do not even consider her as a human being; they do not want her at all in the community because of what she does---sleeping with the White men, which is not proven to be true. Hating Sula is how they found the community to be what it is, which sounds ironic.

What is Shadrack's relationship between Sula and Nel?

Shadrack's relationship between Sula and Nel was that they were "a guest, friend, and visitor" to him. Having a visitor once a year to his house can be very meaningful. To him, they were very precious companions to him. For Sula, it was terrifying for her see him.

How does the tunnel represent?

Tunnel represents a unity in Black and White community/ culture. Racial divide started in 1941 to 1965. In 1965, Black people started moving to the valley and they abandoned the Bottom, which they once called it "home."