After reading Amber’s blog post, I strongly agree with the connection she made between Woman at Point Zero and A Thousand Splendid Suns. While I was in the process of reading Woman at Point Zero, I continuously found connections between Saadawi’s book and The Kite Runner (which is the novel which prefaces A Thousand Splendid Suns). I found the realness of both of these pieces of literature to contain raw shock value and come from a place of honesty. It is important to note that while Woman at Point Zero was prompted by actual events, Hosseini’s The Kite Runner only draws from life experiences and is a work of fiction. However, the themes which are pragmatic in both of these books seem to intertwine with one another.
Consensual and non-consensual sexual acts riddle both of these texts, which become an apparent theme throughout Woman at Point Zero and The Kite Runner. At the beginning of Hosseini’s novel, readers stumble upon a traumatic scene of a young boy (being Hassan) being raped by another child, who is the main antagonist of the book. Perverted, disgusting acts and rape are mentioned many times throughout The Kite Runner, as they are as well in Woman at Point Zero. It becomes apparent that Firdaus experiences many of the same issues which are present in The Kite Runner, such as the molestation by her uncle and various other men in her life (including her husband). The thematic sexual experiences – consensual or not – is what led me to draw the connection between the two books. Both are sadistic, but beautifully written pieces of literature which surround difficult topics.
While there are numerous similarities, differences are also present and apparent. I appreciated the feministic approach to Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, which gave a whole new insight into issues which were current in Cairo during this time. Fidarus discusses ad nauseam her love of books and thirst for education but also brings up the standard of women in Egypt at this time. Going to University was beyond a privilege, and could even be seen as a sin. Fidarus can overhear her aunt (her uncle’s new wife) speaking about how society would look down on females being education side by side with men, which also solidifies religion as a theme throughout Woman at Point Zero.
It is clear that there are many reoccurring themes throughout Woman at Point Zero, and it is difficult to pinpoint just a few. Readers can link many of these themes to other pieces of literature and have the ability to strike many connections.