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Treatment of Women Through Boundaries

Posted by Claire Nash on May 10, 2008 at 00:04:08:

Claire Honora Nash
Arab Women Novelists
Dr. Mohammed Jiyad

Women are collectively the most disadvantaged group of people. They have always been, and in most societies they have fewer rights, are more often the victims of violence, double standards, silencing and carry heavier burdens than their male counterparts. The four books which I will analyze, written by Arab women, deal with the lives of women in the Arab: A Woman of Five Seasons, Pillars of Salt, Dreams of Trespass, and In the Eye of the Sun. Thought I will show a progression of thought, this should in no way be misconstrued to be representing a monolithic body of ideas, for these works are rather a multilateral and multi-textured response to the problems and questions facing Arab women. I will also examine the reaction to Arab feminism by western feminists and how this also constrains Arab women.

***
Dreams of Trespass
Fatima Mernissi

This is the story of a childhood spent in a domestic harem. It is valuable because of the poignancy of a child’s narrative. This allows the reader to see how Fatima is molded by the society in which she lives: namely her immediate environment. In this section, I will focus on three topics: the idea of “hadud” or boundary, female solidarity, and the schism women and men, through that of Fatima and Samir.

Fatima looks for boundaries wherever she is; it becomes almost an obsession, one that she finds comforting. The walls of the harem in Fez are clear frontiers, but even within these, there are rules that one must see and obey. There are differences in the manner that certain women in the household are permitted to act and behave. This is based on social rank- partly on age, and their marriage status- whether they are married or divorced. I think that this practice is limiting for women because it places the importance on being wives, instead of being independent. Aunt Habiba is an example in this situation- having been divorced unfairly, she has taken up residence with the Mernissis, which demonstrates the social-welfare aspect of the traditional harem system. Due to her divorce, Aunt Habiba is lower in rank and therefore subject to certain restrictions. This is an example of a man determining the fate of his wife, when Aunt Habiba’s husband decided to divorce her; she is punished for his decision. Aunt Habiba must endeavor to draw as little attention to herself as possible, as if to excuse her presence, so she cannot contradict or disagree with the women who are superior in rank. This aspect includes not only in terms of arguments, but also ideologically; though Aunt Habiba enjoys making non-traditional designs, she is forced to do so secretly. More tangibly, Aunt Habiba does not wear the bright clothing that she loves, and instead wears washed-out and faded earth tones. All of this is so that she is less offensive and less noticeable, to pardon her existence in the harem.

Although the physical boundaries are easily identified, the invisible boundaries are much more insidious. In the countryside, there are few physical signs of hadud. There are no gatekeepers or walls, with the exception of the fragile fence that divides the men’s and women’s quarters. The women who live in the country can leave the compound whenever they so wish, go fishing and horseback riding. Compared to the women in Fez, the wives of Grandfather Tazi have all the freedom in the world. They do, however, have restrictions and rules that they must abide by. Yasmina described the intangible hadud to Fatima, “A harem was a private space and the rules regulating it. In addition, Yasmina said, it did not need walls. Once you knew what was forbidden, you carried the harem within. You had it in your head, ‘inscribed under your forehead and under your skin’” (61). For Fatima, as a child, this idea is more frightening than the physical walls, and describes being overwhelmed each time that she arrive on the farm. In the country, a peasant would raise his hood and avert his gaze from a wife of Grandfather Tazi, because the peasant knows that he is not allowed to look at them. In the countryside, there is still a hierarchy, but Yasmina and the other wives use their logic and wit to overcome Lalla Thor’s domineering behavior.

Female solidarity is a necessary coping tool in a harem. Being born into an inferior position, the women in both the country and the city form methods of producing strong relationships between themselves, in order to overcome feelings of frustration, boredom, and depression.

In the Fez harem, the Mernissi women are by no means a monolithic entity; Although there exists a deep divide between the modernists and the traditionalists they come together for two reasons: story telling and beauty preparations. The storytelling allows a temporary reprieve in the monotony of harem life for women. Unlike the men who have unfettered access to the films at the nearby cinema, attending a movie is a rare event for the Mernissi women. The men also have access to radio programs and speak about politics, the women’s most frequent entertainment is their own storytelling. These stories provide not only entertainment, but also moral lessons. Fatima’s cousin, Chama, is the principle factor in these productions, and they provide the young woman with a productive outlet for her frustrations. She performs the life story of the free-spirited singer Asmahan, who sings,

“Oh yes, I would tell them about the impossible, about a new Arab world, in which men and women could hug each other and dance the night away, with no frontiers between them, and no fears” (107).

These lyrics criticize tradition as being a staid remnant of the past, which has no place in post-colonial, modern Morocco. Chama resents the intrusion of traditions into her life; she wants to live her own life, without restrictions.

Other stories that are told on the terrace include strong women who helped forge the way in Arab feminism. These venerable ladies accomplished remarkable things, but their productions were not very popular among the women on the terrace because they involved very little action, love, or singing. This is due to the fact that they were stuck in harems. “The life of Aisha Taymour was the worst. Born in Cairo in 1840, all she did, nonstop until her death in 1906 was write fiery poetry against the veil” (129). Another of Chama’s heroes was a Lebanese writer, Zaynab Fawwaz. This too was rather boring to an audience preferring glamour and singing. “But since Zaynab never stepped out of her harem, transforming her truncated life into drama was awfully difficult. From her harem all Zaynab Fawwaz could really do was inundate the Arab press with articles and poetry, in which she vented her hate of the veil and condemn the seclusion of women” (130).

The discussion of solidarity is controversial in Mernissi’s memoir. Fatima’s mother blames women who side with the men as being worse than men, because they are unraveling their own lives. Relationships between the women are strengthened when they help each other through desperate situations. In the Mernissi family, there are three generations of strong women, who buck the system to fight for their rights and happiness: Yasmina, Fatima’s mother, and Chama each work in their own way to rebel. Yasmina teaches her granddaughter to believe in her strength and the ability to change her own life. Her mother teaches Fatima in courage and hope for the future. An important aspect of this is confronting injustice: she condemns the women who leave the harem by the terrace exit, saying that it was cowardly “The terrace route had a clandestine, covert dimension to it, which was repulsive to those who were fighting for the principle of a women’s right to free movement” (60). Fatima’s cousin Chama provided powerful signs of protestation, through her stories. That of Princess Budur is one of female solidarity, for without it Budur would have been doomed. When she trusted Princess Hyat with her secret identity, Hyat sympathized and helped to save Budur.

Women and men in Dreams of Trespass seem to be operating on entirely different planes. Confined to separate spheres, they expected to behave according to the rules and constructs of normative gender roles. This division starts in childhood, when boys are forbidden from going to the hamam with their female relatives. Fatima does not understand why her friend Samir and she are separated. She asks Mina “Why men and women keep playing together even when they’re older? Why the separation?” This distinction is what plagues the lives of both men and women.

***
A Woman of Five Seasons
Leila al-Atrash

This novel chronicles the changes of Nadia’s character and how she is transformed from a weak to strong woman. This growth is juxtaposed with the opposite from Ihsan, who is revealed to be an incompetent and corrupt individual. Nadia overcomes her apathy in order to rebel against the situation in which she finds herself.

Nadia had been raised to be a passive observer in her own life, but she became an active resistant; she went from passivity to action. She remembers being a young girl and learning to serve her future husband in every way,
“I became the daughter of that Arab woman who repeated her mother’s advice on her wedding night. For a whole year we’d sat on the wooden steps in front of our teacher, repeating what the Arab woman had pronounced. “Fall in with everything he commands” (96).
Ihsan had been permitted to treat Nadia like an object, his possession, for ten years. By not protesting, Nadia gave her silently acquiesced to be mistreated. During those ten years, during which Ihsan had made all the decisions: what clothing and perfume Nadia would wear, having two children, and the subsequent termination of her education, Nadia never gave a forceful or even audible protest. Nadia describes the feeling of “having another person inside ”, an opinionated, strong-willed woman. These sentiments indicate that there will be a transformation in her character. The explanation of the title is that there are four physical seasons, but the fifth is the one of the woman.

The first sign of actual rebellion catches Ihsan off guard because during the ten previous years, Nadia had never expressed frustration like this. It had built up inside of Nadia and for the first time she articulated it.

“‘For heaven’s sake, Ihsan,’ she said impatiently, ‘do whatever you want…Just don’t involve me in your games. I can’t take anymore of this.’ (…) and when Ihsan calls her ‘my lovely kitten’ she responds, “For heaven’s sake, Ihsan, will you please stop calling my by that wretched name! Do whatever you like. Just don’t get me mixed up in your schemes” (34).

This is just a trickle of the dissatisfaction that had accumulated under the frustrations of ten years of submission to Ihsan. Ihsan is surprised to see that Nadia is displaying a strong character, because he had thought that she had been trained to obey him unfailingly. Earlier in the book, he had boasted that he had gradually forced her to give up reading, something that she had enjoyed, but he never understood. “At any rate…she obeys you absolutely. She even stopped reading books for your sake. Nadia hardly reads now. She’s done that because she loves you” (28). Ihsan does not treat Nadia as an equal partner in their marriage, but rather someone upon who to project his insecurities, obey demands, someone to control. He treats his wife like a possession that he won. In fact he had won her from Jalal, she just did not know she was the prize.

Ihsan should not be so bewildered by Nadia’s newfound demeanor, for he had been raised by a strong woman. His mother had provided for her family after they had lost their lands in Palestine and her husband had become ill. On his deathbed, their father had called Ihsan and Jalal to him, saying:

“But for your mother’s gold, we’d still be at the mosque where we took refuge when the migration started. Bodies were crammed there, in misery, with women wailing…But for your mother’s gold! She had the wit to bring it with her. With that gold, by God, she kept you from hunger and beggary. She saved us from living in tents, spared us the shame of standing in tatters at the doors of the relief agency” (6).

Because of his father’s respect for his mother, it would make sense if Ihsan was more appreciative of his women. However, this is not the case, and he does not treat Nadia equally. Ihsan calls Nadia demeaning endearments that she dislikes.

“It made her feel ill when he called her his ‘kitten,’ … it hurt her too, that he could never see her as anything but his woman. She didn’t understand. Hadn’t it occurred to him, just once, that she might have feelings beyond the ones he wanted from her” (13). Nadia wonders why she allowed Ihsan to decide her life, and these silent protests reveal her untested capacity for resisting unfair treatment. Her character that was originally displayed changes drastically when she rebels overtly against the codes of behavior prescribed by society and the expectations set for her by Ihsan. Her rebellion follows a track: first were her silent objections, then curt protests, vocalizing her frustrations-the influence of the person inside her, then realizing that marriage to Jalal would have been no different because both brothers view here as merely a sexual object. After Jalal’s intoxicated sexual advances in Greece, Nadia states, “From this moment, I possess myself.” (108). This declaration is caused by her disappointments in marriage to Ihsan, and the dashing of Jalal as an ideal. Nadia and Jalal were supposed to marry each other, which seemed like a good domestic arrangement because they were both idealistic and bookish, until Ihsan had insisted on marrying her. The result of this is that Nadia spent ten years believing that her married life would have been better if she had married Jalal. So when she discovers that Jalal is just as boorish as Ihsan, Nadia is crushed. Jalal was crass and enamored with himself, and it is evident that he was only interested in Nadia for sexual reasons.

Nadia understands the power and significance of her new strength, but does not year realize where it could lead her. She later comes to the realization that her rebellion can be used towards a productive end: she asserts her self-worth by words and makes demands on Ihsan. “How this person inside me has become taller, grown up, learned to attack with strength every now and then. It’s still inclined to sleep, but when it does wake, I rebel, quarrel, impose- and Ihsan submits to me” (94). How different this is from the Nadia we saw originally; it is as if Nadia has awoken from a deep sleep, and will now be able to become independent; she will now control her own destiny and future.

Part of this change is due to Nadia’s friendship with Jessica Raban, Ihsan’s very competent and possibly lesbian secretary. She becomes Nadia’s friend and business partner in their real-estate office. A confident and successful businesswoman, Raban is a good example for Nadia’s burgeoning character,

“She listened with obvious passion as Jessica talked about the real estate office, her beloved friend, her school days in Geneva and her job in London. She was clever without ostentation, and Nadia, listening in rapt admiration then bombarding her with questions, gave you no chance to change the subject” (115).

When the two women met, there was mutual respect, which was the first time that Nadia is respected. It is also an example of women becoming independent of men- both financially and socially.

Nadia displays her confidence when she saves her family’s fortune, by taking responsibility during an economic crisis. Though their banker had sought to receive Ihsan’s permission to sell stocks that were predicted to fail, Nadia took control of the situation. “Ihsan couldn’t believe what I’d done. He just gazed at us silently…I was convinced by what Mr. Black said. And, not knowing how to find Ihsan, I’d acted on my own initiative…” (135-6).

After this incident, Ihsan tells their investment manger to defer to Nadia. Then, Nadia tells Ihsan that she will be studying business administration at a college in London, and when he angrily demands why she did not ask for his permission, she uses logic to discredit him. She knows that he is hiding something, and that he goes away without informing her where.

The final blow to Ihsan and Nadia’s relationship is dealt when she vanishes for several days. He is frantic with worry and apprehension, whereas she is self-possessed and in control. Ihsan thought that she had been involved with a man, while she had in fact been buying photos of Ihsan and Angela to protect the family dignity. He is babbling, deluded, and taken-aback, while Nadia is articulate in despising Ihsan.

“ I won’t act the way you have, Ihsan. It’s not for your sake that I keep myself clean; it’s out of respect for my own humanity, because I refuse to be anyone’s object of enjoyment. I’m doing it for my sake, not yours. (…) You thought you were the axis and I’d go on and on revolving around you” (166).

Rashid and Angela fooled Ihsan into his own ruin because their characters are the same, seeking wealth through deceit and dishonest lies. He realizes his own insignificance as compared to Nadia.

***

Pillars of Salt
Fadia Faqir

Pillars of Salt shows the ramifications of women overstepping their proscribed gender roles. Though Um Saad and Maha began in very different places, because of their words and actions, they finish by being committed to a mental hospital. By Western standards, the two women would not have been considered to be insane, but after a lifetime of injustices being heaped upon their shoulders, their mental breakdowns are entirely understandable.

Family treatment of the two female protagonists is as different as is possible. Maha comes from a line of strong women, for her mother, Maliha, was admired for being her independence. Her father is appreciative of his daughter’s hard work to support the family and is gentle, fair, loving and kind. He told her that he would pass the family’s land to Maha’s child, bypassing his unworthy son Daffash. Sheikh Nimer and Maha have a special relationship. “While Daffash stayed at home, either pretending to be asleep or hiding behind my mother” the father and daughter would hunt together (11). Maha is allowed to accept or decline Harb’s marriage proposal on her own volition. Harb loves Maha and calls her “my Arab mare” he has full respect for her strength. On every level, Um Saad has the most unfortunately nightmarish life imaginable. She is passed from one abusive relationship to another. This starts with her own parents, who don not love her: they do not allow her to marry the man that she loves, Muhammad, because he is Circissian, and force her to marry a repulsive and violent man who is much older. Unfortunately, her troubles continue into her marriage, which she spends as a slave to her husbands will: she cleans, cooks, and produces eight children. Her husband, the offal market butcher, relegates her to domesticity and does not permit her to make friends. Um Saad never grouses or complains until the day that her husband takes a much younger wife, and the most tragic part of her story is that no one helps or stands up for her, not even her own children.

It is telling that when Um Saad does protest her grossly unfair treatment, he husband takes her to be locked up in the mental hospital. The wildly crazy part about the stories of Um Saad and Maha is that no one questions the men who have them committed to the insane asylums-the men have the power to dispose of these poor women without a single question being asked about whether Um Saad and Maha are actually insane.

Society is represented by the storyteller, in Pillars of Salt. He presents a outrageously and shamelessly distorted view of the two women, who are demonized, while the miserable Daffash is lauded and praised with no end. This is an unfair and false assessment of the situations that the characters face, but it does reflect the society’s skewed view of women.

Maha worked hard to provide for her family, while Daffash chased women and helped the British colonialists to rob Jordan of its historical artifacts. Similarly, while Um Saad toils every day to take care of her husband and family, her husband marries another women without repercussions. He kicks her out of her own bedroom, forcing her to sleep in the kitchen. In the novel, it is the storyteller who has the last word, but it is clear that Um Saad and Maha were in the right; the reader knows who to sympathize with and to believe.

I believe that since Maha and Um Saad’s actions were outside of the societal norms, the men targeted them because their deeds and words were perceived as being threatening to the pervading social order. Any action outside the custom was not tolerated. Maha, in particular, came very close to disrupting the status quo. She raised the awareness of the village women that their men were wrong. She used logic and emotion to appeal to the reason of the women in the village, acting as a community organizer.

***
In the Eye of the Sun
Ahdaf Soueif

Asya and Saif’s characters are so different that their relationship will never work. They seem never to connect, physically or mentally; they are two individuals who happen to be married. Even during Asya’s traumatic miscarriage, the couple does not help each other. Saif did not even stay with his wife at the hospital, but rather went to work. This showed that their marriage has failed, and this is further proven when Asya leaves home over a pointless argument between Saif and her.

In the Eye of the Sun illustrates the level of passivity that is required of women: Asya is not supposed to care whether she is happy or not, and within the society she is not allowed to look for happiness elsewhere. To be sure, Asya strives to obtain the same emotions, such as happiness, as a Western woman, but she is judged more severely.

***

It is impossible for me, as a Western woman, to imagine a reality in which I did not have nearly every opportunity that my male counterpart has. The society in which I grew up has allowed me to consider myself the equal of anyone else, regardless of gender. While the characters in these books all have hadud, in the United States young women have been raised to be independent and determined to succeed.

As the singer M.I.A. says, “Can I get control- do you like me vulnerable? I’m armed and I’m equal, more fun for the people.” The stories collectively point to a shortcoming of Arab society, which is the construction of barriers between men and women. It is detrimental to both sexes, for men are deprived of equal companions, and women cannot contribute to building a stronger society.

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: : Treatment of Women Through Boundaries : Claire Honora Nash : Arab Women Novelists : Dr. Mohammed Jiyad : Women are collectively the most disadvantaged group of people. They have always been, and in most societies they have fewer rights, are more often the victims of violence, double standards, silencing and carry heavier burdens than their male counterparts. The four books which I will analyze, written by Arab women, deal with the lives of women in the Arab: A Woman of Five Seasons, Pillars of Salt, Dreams of Trespass, and In the Eye of the Sun. Thought I will show a progression of thought, this should in no way be misconstrued to be representing a monolithic body of ideas, for these works are rather a multilateral and multi-textured response to the problems and questions facing Arab women. I will also examine the reaction to Arab feminism by western feminists and how this also constrains Arab women. : *** : Dreams of Trespass : Fatima Mernissi : This is the story of a childhood spent in a domestic harem. It is valuable because of the poignancy of a child’s narrative. This allows the reader to see how Fatima is molded by the society in which she lives: namely her immediate environment. In this section, I will focus on three topics: the idea of “hadud” or boundary, female solidarity, and the schism women and men, through that of Fatima and Samir. : Fatima looks for boundaries wherever she is; it becomes almost an obsession, one that she finds comforting. The walls of the harem in Fez are clear frontiers, but even within these, there are rules that one must see and obey. There are differences in the manner that certain women in the household are permitted to act and behave. This is based on social rank- partly on age, and their marriage status- whether they are married or divorced. I think that this practice is limiting for women because it places the importance on being wives, instead of being independent. Aunt Habiba is an example in this situation- having been divorced unfairly, she has taken up residence with the Mernissis, which demonstrates the social-welfare aspect of the traditional harem system. Due to her divorce, Aunt Habiba is lower in rank and therefore subject to certain restrictions. This is an example of a man determining the fate of his wife, when Aunt Habiba’s husband decided to divorce her; she is punished for his decision. Aunt Habiba must endeavor to draw as little attention to herself as possible, as if to excuse her presence, so she cannot contradict or disagree with the women who are superior in rank. This aspect includes not only in terms of arguments, but also ideologically; though Aunt Habiba enjoys making non-traditional designs, she is forced to do so secretly. More tangibly, Aunt Habiba does not wear the bright clothing that she loves, and instead wears washed-out and faded earth tones. All of this is so that she is less offensive and less noticeable, to pardon her existence in the harem. : Although the physical boundaries are easily identified, the invisible boundaries are much more insidious. In the countryside, there are few physical signs of hadud. There are no gatekeepers or walls, with the exception of the fragile fence that divides the men’s and women’s quarters. The women who live in the country can leave the compound whenever they so wish, go fishing and horseback riding. Compared to the women in Fez, the wives of Grandfather Tazi have all the freedom in the world. They do, however, have restrictions and rules that they must abide by. Yasmina described the intangible hadud to Fatima, “A harem was a private space and the rules regulating it. In addition, Yasmina said, it did not need walls. Once you knew what was forbidden, you carried the harem within. You had it in your head, ‘inscribed under your forehead and under your skin’” (61). For Fatima, as a child, this idea is more frightening than the physical walls, and describes being overwhelmed each time that she arrive on the farm. In the country, a peasant would raise his hood and avert his gaze from a wife of Grandfather Tazi, because the peasant knows that he is not allowed to look at them. In the countryside, there is still a hierarchy, but Yasmina and the other wives use their logic and wit to overcome Lalla Thor’s domineering behavior. : Female solidarity is a necessary coping tool in a harem. Being born into an inferior position, the women in both the country and the city form methods of producing strong relationships between themselves, in order to overcome feelings of frustration, boredom, and depression. : In the Fez harem, the Mernissi women are by no means a monolithic entity; Although there exists a deep divide between the modernists and the traditionalists they come together for two reasons: story telling and beauty preparations. The storytelling allows a temporary reprieve in the monotony of harem life for women. Unlike the men who have unfettered access to the films at the nearby cinema, attending a movie is a rare event for the Mernissi women. The men also have access to radio programs and speak about politics, the women’s most frequent entertainment is their own storytelling. These stories provide not only entertainment, but also moral lessons. Fatima’s cousin, Chama, is the principle factor in these productions, and they provide the young woman with a productive outlet for her frustrations. She performs the life story of the free-spirited singer Asmahan, who sings, : “Oh yes, I would tell them about the impossible, about a new Arab world, in which men and women could hug each other and dance the night away, with no frontiers between them, and no fears” (107). : : These lyrics criticize tradition as being a staid remnant of the past, which has no place in post-colonial, modern Morocco. Chama resents the intrusion of traditions into her life; she wants to live her own life, without restrictions. : Other stories that are told on the terrace include strong women who helped forge the way in Arab feminism. These venerable ladies accomplished remarkable things, but their productions were not very popular among the women on the terrace because they involved very little action, love, or singing. This is due to the fact that they were stuck in harems. “The life of Aisha Taymour was the worst. Born in Cairo in 1840, all she did, nonstop until her death in 1906 was write fiery poetry against the veil” (129). Another of Chama’s heroes was a Lebanese writer, Zaynab Fawwaz. This too was rather boring to an audience preferring glamour and singing. “But since Zaynab never stepped out of her harem, transforming her truncated life into drama was awfully difficult. From her harem all Zaynab Fawwaz could really do was inundate the Arab press with articles and poetry, in which she vented her hate of the veil and condemn the seclusion of women” (130). : The discussion of solidarity is controversial in Mernissi’s memoir. Fatima’s mother blames women who side with the men as being worse than men, because they are unraveling their own lives. Relationships between the women are strengthened when they help each other through desperate situations. In the Mernissi family, there are three generations of strong women, who buck the system to fight for their rights and happiness: Yasmina, Fatima’s mother, and Chama each work in their own way to rebel. Yasmina teaches her granddaughter to believe in her strength and the ability to change her own life. Her mother teaches Fatima in courage and hope for the future. An important aspect of this is confronting injustice: she condemns the women who leave the harem by the terrace exit, saying that it was cowardly “The terrace route had a clandestine, covert dimension to it, which was repulsive to those who were fighting for the principle of a women’s right to free movement” (60). Fatima’s cousin Chama provided powerful signs of protestation, through her stories. That of Princess Budur is one of female solidarity, for without it Budur would have been doomed. When she trusted Princess Hyat with her secret identity, Hyat sympathized and helped to save Budur. : Women and men in Dreams of Trespass seem to be operating on entirely different planes. Confined to separate spheres, they expected to behave according to the rules and constructs of normative gender roles. This division starts in childhood, when boys are forbidden from going to the hamam with their female relatives. Fatima does not understand why her friend Samir and she are separated. She asks Mina “Why men and women keep playing together even when they’re older? Why the separation?” This distinction is what plagues the lives of both men and women. : *** : A Woman of Five Seasons : Leila al-Atrash : This novel chronicles the changes of Nadia’s character and how she is transformed from a weak to strong woman. This growth is juxtaposed with the opposite from Ihsan, who is revealed to be an incompetent and corrupt individual. Nadia overcomes her apathy in order to rebel against the situation in which she finds herself. : Nadia had been raised to be a passive observer in her own life, but she became an active resistant; she went from passivity to action. She remembers being a young girl and learning to serve her future husband in every way, : “I became the daughter of that Arab woman who repeated her mother’s advice on her wedding night. For a whole year we’d sat on the wooden steps in front of our teacher, repeating what the Arab woman had pronounced. “Fall in with everything he commands” (96). : Ihsan had been permitted to treat Nadia like an object, his possession, for ten years. By not protesting, Nadia gave her silently acquiesced to be mistreated. During those ten years, during which Ihsan had made all the decisions: what clothing and perfume Nadia would wear, having two children, and the subsequent termination of her education, Nadia never gave a forceful or even audible protest. Nadia describes the feeling of “having another person inside ”, an opinionated, strong-willed woman. These sentiments indicate that there will be a transformation in her character. The explanation of the title is that there are four physical seasons, but the fifth is the one of the woman. : The first sign of actual rebellion catches Ihsan off guard because during the ten previous years, Nadia had never expressed frustration like this. It had built up inside of Nadia and for the first time she articulated it. : “‘For heaven’s sake, Ihsan,’ she said impatiently, ‘do whatever you want…Just don’t involve me in your games. I can’t take anymore of this.’ (…) and when Ihsan calls her ‘my lovely kitten’ she responds, “For heaven’s sake, Ihsan, will you please stop calling my by that wretched name! Do whatever you like. Just don’t get me mixed up in your schemes” (34). : This is just a trickle of the dissatisfaction that had accumulated under the frustrations of ten years of submission to Ihsan. Ihsan is surprised to see that Nadia is displaying a strong character, because he had thought that she had been trained to obey him unfailingly. Earlier in the book, he had boasted that he had gradually forced her to give up reading, something that she had enjoyed, but he never understood. “At any rate…she obeys you absolutely. She even stopped reading books for your sake. Nadia hardly reads now. She’s done that because she loves you” (28). Ihsan does not treat Nadia as an equal partner in their marriage, but rather someone upon who to project his insecurities, obey demands, someone to control. He treats his wife like a possession that he won. In fact he had won her from Jalal, she just did not know she was the prize. : Ihsan should not be so bewildered by Nadia’s newfound demeanor, for he had been raised by a strong woman. His mother had provided for her family after they had lost their lands in Palestine and her husband had become ill. On his deathbed, their father had called Ihsan and Jalal to him, saying: : “But for your mother’s gold, we’d still be at the mosque where we took refuge when the migration started. Bodies were crammed there, in misery, with women wailing…But for your mother’s gold! She had the wit to bring it with her. With that gold, by God, she kept you from hunger and beggary. She saved us from living in tents, spared us the shame of standing in tatters at the doors of the relief agency” (6). : Because of his father’s respect for his mother, it would make sense if Ihsan was more appreciative of his women. However, this is not the case, and he does not treat Nadia equally. Ihsan calls Nadia demeaning endearments that she dislikes. : “It made her feel ill when he called her his ‘kitten,’ … it hurt her too, that he could never see her as anything but his woman. She didn’t understand. Hadn’t it occurred to him, just once, that she might have feelings beyond the ones he wanted from her” (13). Nadia wonders why she allowed Ihsan to decide her life, and these silent protests reveal her untested capacity for resisting unfair treatment. Her character that was originally displayed changes drastically when she rebels overtly against the codes of behavior prescribed by society and the expectations set for her by Ihsan. Her rebellion follows a track: first were her silent objections, then curt protests, vocalizing her frustrations-the influence of the person inside her, then realizing that marriage to Jalal would have been no different because both brothers view here as merely a sexual object. After Jalal’s intoxicated sexual advances in Greece, Nadia states, “From this moment, I possess myself.” (108). This declaration is caused by her disappointments in marriage to Ihsan, and the dashing of Jalal as an ideal. Nadia and Jalal were supposed to marry each other, which seemed like a good domestic arrangement because they were both idealistic and bookish, until Ihsan had insisted on marrying her. The result of this is that Nadia spent ten years believing that her married life would have been better if she had married Jalal. So when she discovers that Jalal is just as boorish as Ihsan, Nadia is crushed. Jalal was crass and enamored with himself, and it is evident that he was only interested in Nadia for sexual reasons. : Nadia understands the power and significance of her new strength, but does not year realize where it could lead her. She later comes to the realization that her rebellion can be used towards a productive end: she asserts her self-worth by words and makes demands on Ihsan. “How this person inside me has become taller, grown up, learned to attack with strength every now and then. It’s still inclined to sleep, but when it does wake, I rebel, quarrel, impose- and Ihsan submits to me” (94). How different this is from the Nadia we saw originally; it is as if Nadia has awoken from a deep sleep, and will now be able to become independent; she will now control her own destiny and future. : Part of this change is due to Nadia’s friendship with Jessica Raban, Ihsan’s very competent and possibly lesbian secretary. She becomes Nadia’s friend and business partner in their real-estate office. A confident and successful businesswoman, Raban is a good example for Nadia’s burgeoning character, : “She listened with obvious passion as Jessica talked about the real estate office, her beloved friend, her school days in Geneva and her job in London. She was clever without ostentation, and Nadia, listening in rapt admiration then bombarding her with questions, gave you no chance to change the subject” (115). : When the two women met, there was mutual respect, which was the first time that Nadia is respected. It is also an example of women becoming independent of men- both financially and socially. : : Nadia displays her confidence when she saves her family’s fortune, by taking responsibility during an economic crisis. Though their banker had sought to receive Ihsan’s permission to sell stocks that were predicted to fail, Nadia took control of the situation. “Ihsan couldn’t believe what I’d done. He just gazed at us silently…I was convinced by what Mr. Black said. And, not knowing how to find Ihsan, I’d acted on my own initiative…” (135-6). : After this incident, Ihsan tells their investment manger to defer to Nadia. Then, Nadia tells Ihsan that she will be studying business administration at a college in London, and when he angrily demands why she did not ask for his permission, she uses logic to discredit him. She knows that he is hiding something, and that he goes away without informing her where. : The final blow to Ihsan and Nadia’s relationship is dealt when she vanishes for several days. He is frantic with worry and apprehension, whereas she is self-possessed and in control. Ihsan thought that she had been involved with a man, while she had in fact been buying photos of Ihsan and Angela to protect the family dignity. He is babbling, deluded, and taken-aback, while Nadia is articulate in despising Ihsan. : : “ I won’t act the way you have, Ihsan. It’s not for your sake that I keep myself clean; it’s out of respect for my own humanity, because I refuse to be anyone’s object of enjoyment. I’m doing it for my sake, not yours. (…) You thought you were the axis and I’d go on and on revolving around you” (166). : Rashid and Angela fooled Ihsan into his own ruin because their characters are the same, seeking wealth through deceit and dishonest lies. He realizes his own insignificance as compared to Nadia. : : *** : Pillars of Salt : Fadia Faqir : Pillars of Salt shows the ramifications of women overstepping their proscribed gender roles. Though Um Saad and Maha began in very different places, because of their words and actions, they finish by being committed to a mental hospital. By Western standards, the two women would not have been considered to be insane, but after a lifetime of injustices being heaped upon their shoulders, their mental breakdowns are entirely understandable. : Family treatment of the two female protagonists is as different as is possible. Maha comes from a line of strong women, for her mother, Maliha, was admired for being her independence. Her father is appreciative of his daughter’s hard work to support the family and is gentle, fair, loving and kind. He told her that he would pass the family’s land to Maha’s child, bypassing his unworthy son Daffash. Sheikh Nimer and Maha have a special relationship. “While Daffash stayed at home, either pretending to be asleep or hiding behind my mother” the father and daughter would hunt together (11). Maha is allowed to accept or decline Harb’s marriage proposal on her own volition. Harb loves Maha and calls her “my Arab mare” he has full respect for her strength. On every level, Um Saad has the most unfortunately nightmarish life imaginable. She is passed from one abusive relationship to another. This starts with her own parents, who don not love her: they do not allow her to marry the man that she loves, Muhammad, because he is Circissian, and force her to marry a repulsive and violent man who is much older. Unfortunately, her troubles continue into her marriage, which she spends as a slave to her husbands will: she cleans, cooks, and produces eight children. Her husband, the offal market butcher, relegates her to domesticity and does not permit her to make friends. Um Saad never grouses or complains until the day that her husband takes a much younger wife, and the most tragic part of her story is that no one helps or stands up for her, not even her own children. : It is telling that when Um Saad does protest her grossly unfair treatment, he husband takes her to be locked up in the mental hospital. The wildly crazy part about the stories of Um Saad and Maha is that no one questions the men who have them committed to the insane asylums-the men have the power to dispose of these poor women without a single question being asked about whether Um Saad and Maha are actually insane. : Society is represented by the storyteller, in Pillars of Salt. He presents a outrageously and shamelessly distorted view of the two women, who are demonized, while the miserable Daffash is lauded and praised with no end. This is an unfair and false assessment of the situations that the characters face, but it does reflect the society’s skewed view of women. : Maha worked hard to provide for her family, while Daffash chased women and helped the British colonialists to rob Jordan of its historical artifacts. Similarly, while Um Saad toils every day to take care of her husband and family, her husband marries another women without repercussions. He kicks her out of her own bedroom, forcing her to sleep in the kitchen. In the novel, it is the storyteller who has the last word, but it is clear that Um Saad and Maha were in the right; the reader knows who to sympathize with and to believe. : I believe that since Maha and Um Saad’s actions were outside of the societal norms, the men targeted them because their deeds and words were perceived as being threatening to the pervading social order. Any action outside the custom was not tolerated. Maha, in particular, came very close to disrupting the status quo. She raised the awareness of the village women that their men were wrong. She used logic and emotion to appeal to the reason of the women in the village, acting as a community organizer. : : *** : In the Eye of the Sun : Ahdaf Soueif : Asya and Saif’s characters are so different that their relationship will never work. They seem never to connect, physically or mentally; they are two individuals who happen to be married. Even during Asya’s traumatic miscarriage, the couple does not help each other. Saif did not even stay with his wife at the hospital, but rather went to work. This showed that their marriage has failed, and this is further proven when Asya leaves home over a pointless argument between Saif and her. : In the Eye of the Sun illustrates the level of passivity that is required of women: Asya is not supposed to care whether she is happy or not, and within the society she is not allowed to look for happiness elsewhere. To be sure, Asya strives to obtain the same emotions, such as happiness, as a Western woman, but she is judged more severely. : *** : It is impossible for me, as a Western woman, to imagine a reality in which I did not have nearly every opportunity that my male counterpart has. The society in which I grew up has allowed me to consider myself the equal of anyone else, regardless of gender. While the characters in these books all have hadud, in the United States young women have been raised to be independent and determined to succeed. : As the singer M.I.A. says, “Can I get control- do you like me vulnerable? I’m armed and I’m equal, more fun for the people.” The stories collectively point to a shortcoming of Arab society, which is the construction of barriers between men and women. It is detrimental to both sexes, for men are deprived of equal companions, and women cannot contribute to building a stronger society.

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