Memoirs of a Woman Doctor Literary Elements

Non-fiction

The novel is set in Egypt.

First-person narrative

The tone is animated, and the mood is cheerful.

The woman doctor is the narrator and protagonist of the story.

The main conflict is when the young Egyptian woman decides to go against the wish of her parents and society to get married and take care of her husband. Instead, the young woman decided to go to a medical school after high to study medicine and become a doctor by profession.

The climax is when the Woman Doctor decides to run her clinic and focus all her attention there. After leaving a frustrated love life and failing to meet societal expectations of a woman, she decides to focus on her purpose despite feeling lonely.

The narrator’s choice of choosing freedom by going against societal norms foreshadowed her successful career.

A successful career is understated. Despite the young woman successfully becoming a doctor, she realizes that life is not about freedom and success. For instance, despite all her successes, the Woman Doctor realizes that she is lonely and unhappy.

The story alludes to traditions that prevent a Muslim woman from exploiting her potential.

The narrator's description of the kitchen where her mother spends most of the time depicts smell imagery. According to the narrator, the smell in the kitchen symbolizes a female's inferiority.

The main paradox is that when the narrator first sees her menstrual cycle, she thinks that the situation requires urgent medical attention but later realises that it is normal in women.

There is a parallel between societal expectations of a Muslim woman and the narrator’s experiences after reaching the peak of her medical career.

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Societal norms are incarnated as a human hindrance to a woman’s success.