08DECEMBER2020 ENGLISH LANGUAGE & LITERATURE A IBDP1

WOMAN AT POINT ZERO

Nawal El Saadawi

Chapter 1

Summary :
 The book begins with an introduction in which the “unnamed” psychiatrist
recalls her time as a prison psychiatrist in the Qanatir prison in Egypt.
 During one of her visits, she is referred to a prisoner , whose story is said to be
very powerful - Firdaus.
 Firdaus awaits a death penalty for being accused of murdering a pimp.
 Saadawi asks to meet Firdaus. She is told that Firdaus is much different from
other women, for example, she refuses to file an appeal to the President of
Egypt to get her sentence commuted to life imprisonment instead of a death
sentence.
 Firdaus refuses to meet the psychiatrist.
 The psychiatrist was driven, by rejection of Firdaus and that of her past, to meet
Firdaus.
 These feelings of rejection and disappointment do not suit a researcher.
 The following day, the psychiatrist goes back to the prison to investigate the
motives behind Firdaus’s rejection by asking the warder about it.
 The warder claims that although Firdaus did not say she knew the psychiatrist,
she could sense Firdaus’ moods.
 This piece of information crushes the psychiatrist. She feels as if the whole world
is pressing down on her, a feeling she only remembers from a previous,
unrequited love(page 4).
 As the psychiatrist intends to leave, she hears the voice of the warder over the
roar of her car engine.
 Firdaus has finally agreed to see the psychiatrist.
 Firdaus agrees to meet the psychiatrist. This news takes the psychiatrist’s breath
away. She feels elated and proud - she compares the feeling to that of meeting
her first love.
 She quickly enters the prison and makes her way to Firdaus’ cell. She tries to
compose herself before entering the cell. She tells herself that she is a
psychiatrist, therefore she shouldn’t feel inferior to a prisoner.
 Suddenly the door opens and the women are face-to-face. The psychiatrist is
paralyzed and cannot hear the door of the cell closing behind her.
 She looks into Firdaus’ eyes and she feels as if she dies at that moment - that’s
how piercing Firdaus’ eyes are.
 Suddenly, Firdaus’ voice cuts through the air and instructs the psychiatrist to
close the window and sit on the floor. The floor is freezing because it’s January
but the psychiatrist cannot feel it’s chill. At that point, all her senses feel muted,
as if she were swimming through the sea.
 The only thing that reaches her is the sound of Firdaus’ voice, as she opens her
mouth and begins to tell her story.