Yasin's view towards women

Throughout the novel Palace Walk there are moments that show many contrasts among its characters’ beliefs and actions. One of these contradictions is the way the way Yasin reacts versus the way Fahmy reacts when they find out the truth about their father, Al-Sayyid Ahmad. In their eyes their father had always been a proper, honorable, and pious man. However, they then find out that he has been going to parties to sing and drink and has been having affairs with various women. Yasin and Fahmy react very differently when they learn this truth. Fahmy condemns his actions and Yasin praises him. We get a glimpse of what they about their father’s actions on the third and fourth paragraphs on page 271.

The first of these paragraphs show Fahmy’s thoughts. He says, “‘My father doesn’t differ at all from Yasin except in having sunk lower…. There must be something I don’t know… My father hasn’t done anything wrong…. He can’t do anything wrong'" (271). To Fahmy his father was a true hero, so much so that when he learned this he believed it was a lie. When he finally accepted it as the truth the image he had of his father was marred. He no longer regarded him with the same respect and admiration. He believed he was even worse than Yasin. When Fahmy learned this truth he was appalled and condemned his father’s actions.

In the second of these paragraphs we see the way Yasin thinks. He says, “’He sings. So what’s wrong about singing? He gets drunk, and believe me, drinking is even better than eating. He has affairs and so did the Muslim caliphs…. Our father isn’t doing anything sinful'" (271). Yasin always held his father in the highest esteem. However, when he learned about this truth he became even admirable to him. Yasin thought it was great that his father acted the way he did. He thought that there was nothing wrong in having many affairs and objectifying women.

This contrast of what Fahmy thought versus what Yasin thought about their father’s actions is just one example that shows the way Yasin feels about women. Other examples are the way he describes women and how he tried to rape Umm Hanafi. With this last incident we saw what a savage animal he is. His brutal sexual desires are well described here: “He was blinded by lust. What kind of lust was it? A lust kindled by a woman simply because she was a woman, not because of any of her qualities or associations. It was a lust that loved beauty but would not turn away from ugliness. In these crises, everything was equivalent. He was like a dog that eagerly devours whatever scraps it finds" (277). When I saw the way Yasin viewed women as objects I asked myself, why?

After searching for the answer I came to the conclusion that the reason for this could be that Yasin’s mother’s marriage-divorce cycles affected him deeply. In fact, according to the Clinical Psychology of North Central Florida many children will eventually adjust to their parents' divorce, but some could continue to have problems into adulthood. Also boys tend to react to their parents' divorce becoming more aggressive and disobedient. This is the case for Yasin.

After seeing how his mother acted, getting married and divorced incessantly, he began to give marriage little importance. It was no longer a sacred union; it turned be something more like a game in which you played with a toy until you got tired of it. He also began thinking that all women were like his mother. He thought that if you gave them a chance they would all act the way she did. In this way he progressively lost respect for women until he viewed them as objects. He used them, turning to them for entertainment and pleasure while they, along with alcohol, began to be the way he coped with his pain. Because of these things Yasin began being promiscuous and celebrated his father’s promiscuity.

Source Citation

"Effects of Divorce on Children - Clinical Psychology Associates N.C. Florida, P.A." Clinical Psychology Associates of North Central Florida Gainesville Ocala Florida. Web. 24 Feb. 2010.