It is a dull day at Ahmad’s house; Kamal is alone on the roof while his older brothers are in the study. What a long boring day with nothing of interest to do, and it’s all because of the English. Fahmy, Kamal, Al-Sayyid Ahmad, Zaynab, and Amina have enough patience to endure the entire day without committing insane actions, but not Yasin. He is not able to tolerate staying home without allowing his blinded lust to take over him and force him to commit adultery.
Towards the end of the day, every individual took over a space in the house, but Yasin. Instead of remaining by Zaynab, Yasin is forced, by his boredom and disappointment of having to spend his evening in his house and not the coffeeshop, to escape to the roof of the house. He asks himself, “Why am I so restless, disgruntled, and bored, finding nothing in her beauty [Zaynab] or culture to tempt me to postpone getting drunk?” (378). At this point Yasin feels betrayed by the mentality of marriage he used to posses; marriage is nothing like he had dreamed of. He is at the point where he is realizing that one wife cannot tranquilize his desire for sex. Once Yasin gets on top of the roof, he begins to daydream about the good life he used to have before getting married. Alcohol, women and sexual desire take over his mind. Unfortunately, Nur, Zaynab’s black maid, becomes his victim.
“Suddenly and unexpectedly, and inclination to assault her exploded within his breast like fireworks going off without any warning. This was a forceful, dominating lust. The whole point of his life seemed to be concentrated in it. It got control of him just as it had the night of Aisha’s wedding, when he had seen Umm Hanafi in the courtyard as he was reaching the threshold. His languid being was permeated by a bubbling new life. Restless desire spread through his veins, electrifying him. His ennui and boredom were replaced by an insane, raging, hot interest” (380).
Nur did not bother to scream and let other members of the house know what was going on like Umm Hanafi. “She did not attempt to free her hand, either because she was pleased or because she was obedient” (382). The real reason will remain a mystery because she decides to run away the day after she gets caught naked with Yasin in her room by Zaynab. News quickly reached Ahmad, who takes them as lack of respect for his house. Nur is a black maid in her forties; how could Yasin do this, and in the same house where his wife lives?
Yasin’s actions are not justified, but by his father. Ahmad knows that Yasin made a mistake by committing adultery in the same house where his wife lives, but he also understands that when lust overcomes you there’s no way to escape form it. Instead of blaming Yasin, Ahmad blames Zaynab. Without sympathy, Ahmad criticizes Zaynab’s reaction. According to him, “it was not appropriate for a good wife to implicate her husband in a scandal as she had, no matter what the circumstances… Yasin had made a mistake, but she had made an even greater one” (389). It was okay for Yasin to commit adultery and not okay for Zaynab to get mad about it.
Zaynab had started to be more submissive to her husband. She allowed him to leave the house every evening and come back home drunk, but she was not going to tolerate him cheating on her with a black maid in her forties. Even though she was pregnant and “looking forward to the proud status of motherhood” (386) Zaynab decides to leave the house. She is different from other women because she is able to set a limit on the things that can be tolerated. Ahmad can protest and complain about Zaynab, but I give her all of my respect. Not many women own the courage to leave their husband’s house without being kicked out. Zaynab can be compared to the author of the article My Four Husbands and I because both have the courage to go against the beliefs of the rest of the people. In the article, Nadine Bedair wrote about encouraging change in marriage. Here is the first paragraph she wrote:
"Allow me to choose four, five or even nine men, just as my wildest imagination shall choose. I’ll pick them with different shapes and sizes, one of them will be dark and the other will be blond. ... [T]hey will be chosen from different backgrounds, religions, races and nations” (1).
Both, Bedair and Zaynab have a great point that could lead to equal rights for both men and women.
Marriage is something that every young person desires. Even though every person has a different view of marriage, everybody dreams marriage to be perfect. In this case, Yasin kept dreaming about the perfect marriage, and when it arrived to his hands he wasn’t able to make good use of it. He cheated and ruined his marriage, yet he didn’t pay for the consequences at a full price. Zaynab, the innocent, was the one that was blamed by Ahmad with no real reason. She is accused and forced to be seen as the one doing things wrong.
“Suddenly and unexpectedly, and inclination to assault her exploded within his breast like fireworks going off without any warning. This was a forceful, dominating lust. The whole point of his life seemed to be concentrated in it. It got control of him just as it had the night of Aisha’s wedding, when he had seen Umm Hanafi in the courtyard as he was reaching the threshold. His languid being was permeated by a bubbling new life. Restless desire spread through his veins, electrifying him. His ennui and boredom were replaced by an insane, raging, hot interest” (380).
Nur did not bother to scream and let other members of the house know what was going on like Umm Hanafi. “She did not attempt to free her hand, either because she was pleased or because she was obedient” (382). The real reason will remain a mystery because she decides to run away the day after she gets caught naked with Yasin in her room by Zaynab. News quickly reached Ahmad, who takes them as lack of respect for his house. Nur is a black maid in her forties; how could Yasin do this, and in the same house where his wife lives?
Yasin’s actions are not justified, but by his father. Ahmad knows that Yasin made a mistake by committing adultery in the same house where his wife lives, but he also understands that when lust overcomes you there’s no way to escape form it. Instead of blaming Yasin, Ahmad blames Zaynab. Without sympathy, Ahmad criticizes Zaynab’s reaction. According to him, “it was not appropriate for a good wife to implicate her husband in a scandal as she had, no matter what the circumstances… Yasin had made a mistake, but she had made an even greater one” (389). It was okay for Yasin to commit adultery and not okay for Zaynab to get mad about it.
Zaynab had started to be more submissive to her husband. She allowed him to leave the house every evening and come back home drunk, but she was not going to tolerate him cheating on her with a black maid in her forties. Even though she was pregnant and “looking forward to the proud status of motherhood” (386) Zaynab decides to leave the house. She is different from other women because she is able to set a limit on the things that can be tolerated. Ahmad can protest and complain about Zaynab, but I give her all of my respect. Not many women own the courage to leave their husband’s house without being kicked out. Zaynab can be compared to the author of the article My Four Husbands and I because both have the courage to go against the beliefs of the rest of the people. In the article, Nadine Bedair wrote about encouraging change in marriage. Here is the first paragraph she wrote:
"Allow me to choose four, five or even nine men, just as my wildest imagination shall choose. I’ll pick them with different shapes and sizes, one of them will be dark and the other will be blond. ... [T]hey will be chosen from different backgrounds, religions, races and nations” (1).
Both, Bedair and Zaynab have a great point that could lead to equal rights for both men and women.
Marriage is something that every young person desires. Even though every person has a different view of marriage, everybody dreams marriage to be perfect. In this case, Yasin kept dreaming about the perfect marriage, and when it arrived to his hands he wasn’t able to make good use of it. He cheated and ruined his marriage, yet he didn’t pay for the consequences at a full price. Zaynab, the innocent, was the one that was blamed by Ahmad with no real reason. She is accused and forced to be seen as the one doing things wrong.
Interesting ideas. Be sure to introduce all your sources and links more thoroughly. What about documentation for your outside source and your photograph?
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