A critical reading of Nawal El Saadawi’s woman at point zero

Abstract EN

Women all over the world, and Egypt specifically, have been looked upon as second-class citizens for a long time in comparison to men.

However, this paper argues that it is unethical for feminists, specifically here Nawal El Saadawi, to discuss this issue in an extreme way where the truth is lost.

Hating men and holding them wholly at fault for the plight of women while giving alibis to and even praising women for their selfdestructive decisions is not a solution.

The paper critically reads El Saadawi's Woman at Point Zero, discussing the very methods and elements that El Saadawi uses in the novel.

Such methods and elements reveal El Saadawi to be a person who states one thing publicly and does another on the personal level.

She misrepresents her protagonist.

She commits misandry, and she gives life to a character who deals with choice as an obstacle.

Above all, she uses literary stylistic devices through which she attempts to enforce her point of view on her readers.