"Her anger for everyone in general was nothing compared with the feelings of jealousy and resentment against Aisha that she had packed into her breast. She hated her happiness. Most of all she hated Aisha's attempt to hide her happiness. She hated her beauty, which to Khadija's eyes appeared to be an instrument of torture and oppression. In much the same way, a man stalking prey finds the glistening full moon oppressive. She hated life too." (Page 238)
In this passage, Mahfouz really describes Khadija's anger towards her sister. His word choice really shows how Khadija is feeling. For example, he uses a lot of strong words to show her strong feelings. Mahfouz uses the words anger, jealousy, resentment, and hate to show how this is really affecting her life.
This passage shows the overall feeling of the book because it shows how the culture really shapes the purpose of the girl's life. It shows their culture and how important it is for a girl to get married as soon she can. Overall Mahfouz uses a lot of pathos in this passage in order for the reader to feel how she is really feeling.
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Keep going with this? Why does Mahfouz appeal to pathos here, why does he want us to sympathize with Khadija's emotions in this part?
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I agree with you when you say this passage is mainly pathos. The author wants to convey Khadija's feelings toward Aisha. From the beginning of the book we see that Khadija's hatred for the beauty of Aisha was lurking inside, ready to explode at any moment. How is it that the culture is responsible for Khadija's hatred toward Aisha? I understand that the author implies the importance of getting married as soon as possible, but is just a competition for the Islamic women? Or does it mean something else to them? I'm not trying to be mean but I'm basically trying to help you think a little further into this passage.
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