A theme of this book is women’s powerlessness in a male-dominated society, particularly when it is backed with religious beliefs and traditions. In some ways, I felt like Huda and Yyvonne are slamming into a brick wall every time they try to make the man see the inconsistency of their beliefs or even see a woman’s point of view. An example is a conversation between Huda and Hisham about a veil.
“‘…what’s the point of covering my face if people can still see my features?’
‘The point is that it makes the woman’s face as a whole less provocative. The niqab only reveals the eyes, where the greatest provocation resides. What we’re talking about is the provocation that is more powerful than death, the provocation of a woman’s beauty. Don’t we describe a woman as alluring, or enticingly beautiful? As the saying goes, “Ask God’s protection from being led astray by beauty.’”
‘But why are you scared of beauty instead of thanking God for it?’
‘Anyway. Please cover your head with the shawl in the restaurant, for my sake.’ (p 149)”
He completely sides steps the issue, just when she has him cornered. It makes me mad, and if I were Huda, I don’t think that I would go this far for revenge. It is ironic that she must become what she hates to get her revenge on this guy. I also thought that it is interesting that the normal dialogue is not in usual quotation marks. It is only the sayings that people quote at her that is correctly quoted.