“Then, the children arrived, one after the other. In their early days in the world, though, they were tender sprouts unable to dispel her fears or reassure her. On the contrary, her fears were multiplied by her troubled soul’s concern for them and her anxiety that they might be harmed. She would hold them tight, lavish affection on them, and surround them, weather awake or asleep, with a protective shield of Qu’rans suras, amulets, charms, and incantations. True pace of mind she would not achieve until her husband returned from his evening’s entertainment” (3).
This passage really impacted me because its found on the third page of this novel. The author was able to include a lot of things in these few sentences that are fundamental to the whole understanding of the Egyptian culture and this book. Mahfuouz, makes it seem as if women are married young and find themselves serving no purpose until their children are born. He makes me feel that their only purpose in the Egyptian culture is to be a care giver and provide comfort to the family. I believe this was okay back then because times weren’t this different like they are now, and women were only married to procreate and take care of their husbands. I don’t think that women should be treated this way. They need to have their own rights. They need to be free to make their own decisions and not be submissive to their men and wait for them until they “return from their evenings entertainment.” They need to want to be more than just wives. The problem that I see is that Amina doesn’t really know what to do with herself aside from being a mother and a wife and that’s a problem. Women think so little of themselves because the men are much more dominate but don’t realize that they are the ones that do the work. They take care of the entire family and always make sure that the men are ready for whatever they have to do. They should be the ones taking the credit for being the best caretakers. They make things possible they make things happen. I think that he portrayed the women to be so submissive to make us think and debate weather we agree with how this society works. I believe that it must let us explore how we see women as being equal to us now.
Do you think its fair for women to be treated this way during this period?
To have no real authority or rights? To just be mothers and wives?
You raise some interesting questions and are starting to decipher the author's point of view. You questions about what happens to women who are shut up and limited in this way are valid. What do you see happening as a result of this in the novel?
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