Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
Set in 1983 and written in the context of despair, hope, and rebirth
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Tense, sorrowful, pitiful, and disheartening
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonist is Samya.
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between Samya and society, believing that women are men's property. Samya is married off at fifteen, and she leads a miserable life.
Climax
The climax comes when Samya gets the courage to face her brutal husband and shoots him to gain her freedom.
Foreshadowing
Patriarchal attitudes and Egyptian cultural beliefs foreshadow the suffering of women who are considered properties for men.
Understatement
The suffering of women under forced and arranged marriages is understated.
Allusions
The story alludes to the suffering of women due to cultural beliefs that favor men in Egyptian society.
Imagery
The imagery of gender roles in Egyptian society is depicted when Samya is forcefully married at fifteen. Samya’s father wants to exchange her daughter for financial gain. Similarly, Samya’s husband uses her as his property, mistreating her as he wishes.
Paradox
The main paradox is that women are brainwashed to believe that they are men’s properties. Instead of condemning the act of marrying off Samya at a young age, women welcome her with gifts and shower her with praises for getting married.
Parallelism
There is parallelism between the toleration of the oppressive culture by women and the patriarchal attitudes.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
N/A
