Secondary School Certificate (Symbol)
Despite being born into a lower class farming community and having little to no education as a young girl, Firdaus excels in school. Not only does she earn her secondary school certificate, but she also graduated second in her class and seventh in the country. Thus, the certificate is a symbol of achievement, evidence of her intellect, and a source of pride for Firdaus. Later on, when she returns to her uncle’s house and when she lives with Bayoumi, she suggests to the men using her certificate to find work, but they scoff at her. They claim it will be impossible for Firdaus to find a respectable job with only a secondary school certificate, and that she needs to remain dependent on them for her livelihood. At this point, the certificate symbolizes Firdaus’s thwarted hopes and dreams for her future.
Drowning / The Sea (Motif)
In Woman at Point Zero, the powerful sea and the feeling of drowning are a prominent motif. It’s first mentioned when Firdaus describes trying to walk for the first time. She kept falling, “buffeted...like an object thrown into a limitless sea...slashed by waters when it starts to sink” (Saadawi 31). Here, Firdaus likens herself to a piece of jetsam that the sea manipulates. Later on, when Firdaus meets Sharifa Salah el Dine, the green of Sharifa’s clothing, along with the green of the Nile, envelope Firdaus in a green light that makes her feel as if she were drowning (Saadawi 73). Firdaus recalls “gradually sinking without getting wet, gradually dropping without getting drowned” (Saadawi 74). Based on these examples, the overall intent of this motif is to illustrate how disoriented and powerless Firdaus feels at times.
Money (Symbol)
Firdaus’s father gives her a piastre after she begs him and does extra chores. This is the first and only piece of money Firdaus holds in her own two hands until she gets her first ten-pound payment from a john. Firdaus compares the moment she receives the ten pounds to having a veil lifted from her eyes (Saadawi 88). Suddenly she realizes the newfound freedom and independence money gives her. She no longer has to depend on the men in her life for her livelihood.
Later on in the novel, Firdaus tears up the money the prince gives her for sex. As she destroys the money, she feels as if she were also destroying all the men she’s ever known, and finally freeing herself of them (Saadawi 131). At this point, money no longer symbolizes independence: it now symbolizes toxic men, and by further extension, the systems they use to control women. When Firdaus reduces the money to ash, she says the final veil shrouding the truth from her is torn away. She can now see the complete picture.
Rebirth (Motif)
The motif of rebirth is first introduced when Firdaus moves to Cairo with her uncle. When Firdaus steps into her uncle’s house, she wonders “whether a person can be born twice” (Saadawi 34). This is her gut reaction to seeing all the technology and modern conveniences in his home. The moment she turns on a light switch, she shuts her eyes against the glare and screams. When she opens them again, she feels as if she were using her eyes for the first time again, or as if she were being born a second time.
This feeling of rebirth occurs again when Sharifa takes Firdaus under her wing. Sharifa helps Firdaus bathe, combs her hair, and dresses her in soft clothing. After this, Firdaus feels as if she were being born again with a new body (Saadawi 75). Both of these rebirth moments mark the beginning of new chapters in Firdaus’s life.
The Clitoris (Symbol)
In the modern day, the clitoris represents female sexual freedom, independence, and pleasure. In some countries, the removal of the clitoris is practiced as a way to limit and control female sexuality. The clitoris is an unnamed but very present symbol in Saadawi’s novel. Firdaus’s mother has her daughter’s clitoris removed after Firdaus asks about her birth father. For the remainder of the novel, this missing piece haunts Firdaus. Whenever she has a sexual encounter, she feels its absence acutely (Saadawi 28, 38, and 79). In this way, Firdaus’s missing clitoris symbolizes all the attempts people have made to control her, along with the stunting of her sexual freedom.
