As a Female Prostitute

50

4.2.4 As a Female Prostitute

Firdaus experiences the cruelty of men around her. After her husbands bad treatments toward her, Firdaus decides to run away from her husband. On her run from her husband, Firdaus meets a man whose name is Bayoumi. At first, Firdaus thinks Bayoumi is a different type of a man who will save her from her suffering. According to Firdaus, Bayoumi is a kind man who cannot be violent and cruel to a woman. Firdaus feels safe with him. Therefore, she agrees to live with him in Bayoumis flat El-Saadawi 47. Bayoumi treats Firdaus very well. He is very polite to Firdaus and does things which Firdaus has never got from any men before. Bayoumi asks Firdaus to choose whether she wants to eat oranges or tangerines. Firdaus cannot reply him because no one including her father, her uncle, or her husband ask her before whether she prefers oranges or tangerines El-Saadawi 47. It is shown that Bayoumi treatments toward Firdaus are very good. Bayoumi is the first man who asks Firdaus’s want and allows her to choose. Firdaus is very surprised of his offering that she cannot reply. On one night, Bayoumi even asks Firdaus to sleep on the bed while he will sleep on the floor. Moreover, Bayoumi never hits her unlike her husband who always tortures and beats her many times El-Saadawi 48. Firdaus safety feeling with Bayoumi does not exist for a long time. One day, Firdaus tells Bayoumi that she does not want to stay with him anymore. She wants to find a job for herself that Bayoumi has ever promised her to give. Since Bayoumi cannot fulfil his promise, Firdaus decides to find it by herself. Because of Firdaus’ decision to leave his house, Bayoumi becomes very angry and he slaps Firdaus with his big and strong hand. The slap that Firdaus receives is the worst PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 51 slap that she has ever experienced El-Saadawi 49. Bayoumis anger to Firdaus does not stop; he even rapes Firdaus after he slaps her. It was as though I was seeing the eyes that now confronted me for the first time. Two jet black surfaces that stared into my eyes, travelled with an infinitely slow movement over my face, and my neck, and then dropped downwards gradually over my breast, and my belly, to settle somewhere just below it, between my thighs. A cold shiver, like the shiver of death went through my body, and my hands dropped instinctively to cover the part on which his gaze was fixed, but his big strong hands moved quickly to jerk them away. The next moment he hit me with his fist in the belly so hard that I lost consciousness immediately El-Saadawi 49-50. The condition is getting worse. Bayoumi locks Firdaus in his flat and on the night he will rape her again. This happens many times. Moreover, his friend even rapes Firdaus on one night El-Saadawi 50. Luckily, one day one of Firdaus neighbours saves her and Firdaus decides to leave Bayoumis house. Then, she decides to run to the street, the place that she feels save the most in which she can free and escape from anyone who wants to make her suffer El-Saadawi 51. In her escape from Bayoumi, Firdaus meets Sharifa El-Saadawi 51. For Firdaus, Sharifa seems to understand her sufferings which she gets from all men around her. Sharifa cares about Firdaus and wants to help Firdaus. Therefore, Firdaus agrees to live in Sharifas luxurious house and she teaches Firdaus to face the life El-Saadawi 53-54. “How is it possible to live? Life is so hard.” “You must be harder than life, Firdaus. Life is very hard. The only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself.” “But you are not hard, Sharifa, so how do you manage to live?” “I am hard, terribly hard, Firdaus.” “No, you are gentle, and soft.” “My skin is soft, but my heart is cruel, and my bite deadly.” “Like a snake?” “Yes, exactly like a snake. Life is a snake. They are the same, Firdaus. If the snake realizes you are not a snake, it will bite you. And if life knows you have no sting, it will devour you.” El-Saadawi 54 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 52 Not only teaches Firdaus about life, Sharifa also shows Firdaus to value herself. Sharifa tells Firdaus that all men around her who cause her sufferings do not realize her worth. A man does not value woman, so a woman have to value herself. The higher Firdaus price, the higher her value is El-Saadawi 54-55. Thus, Sharifa asks Firdaus to be a young prostitute El-Saadawi 54. By becoming a prostitute, Firdaus price will be more highly so that her value will also rise. Although it seems like Sharifa really wants to help Firdaus, actually she takes over Firdaus life and gets a profit from her. It can be seen from the conversation between Firdaus and Sharifa below: “And do you have a price?” “Of course. Nobody can touch me without paying a very high price. You are younger than I am and more cultured, and nobody should be able to come near you without paying twice as much as what is paid to me.” “But I cannot ask for anything from a man.” “Dont ask anything. Thats not your affair. Its mine.” El-Saadawi 55 Sharifa knows that Firdaus is a plain woman. Firdaus is so much younger and she is well cultured, so that her price as a prostitute is more expensive than herself. Yet, though Firdaus prostitute herself, Sharifa is the one who receives the money from Firdaus prostitute. Thus, she wants to make Firdaus a prostitute who works for her for her own profit. Firdaus does not enjoy her job as a prostitute. She does not get any pleasure from her sexual intercourse as what she feels long time ago. Therefore, she asks Sharifa why not she feels anything on her sexual intercourses with her customers. Yet, Sharifa teaches her that Firdaus must not mix work with feeling. Firdaus has to consider her sexual intercourses with her customers as her job, not as her way to get pleasure. Her pleasure comes from the fancy foods she can eat, the glamorous PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 53 clothes she can wear and the luxurious house she can live in from being a prostitute El-Saadawi 56. One day, Firdaus’ customer whose name is Fawzy tells Firdaus that Sharifa fools her. She uses Firdaus to get money for her, and Firdaus can only get the pain from it El-Saadawi 58. Thus, Firdaus decides to run from Sharifa El-Saadawi 61. Firdaus realization of becoming Sharifas slave makes her think that it is better for her to be a free prostitute who works for herself. Since her becoming of a free prostitute, Firdaus can choose her customer by her own will El-Saadawi 68. By being a free prostitute, Firdaus becomes a different woman who finally can decide her own life and enjoy the high class life style. Firdaus can decide on the food she wants to eat, the house she prefers to live in. Firdaus can also refuse the man no matter what the reason and choose the man she wishes, even if it is only because he is clean and well manicured. After a long period of her life, she finally has her own clean apartment near from the main street, engages a cook who prepares the food she orders, and employs someone to arrange her appointments at the hours which suites her with her clients El-Saadawi 69. Then, Firdaus becomes a very successful free prostitute. She is paid with the highest price. Firdaus popularity as the most expensive prostitute even makes an important man wants to meet her. Yet, Firdaus refuses to meet him El-Saadawi 89. Firdaus refusal to meet the important man is caused by some reasons. I knew that successful politician cannot bear to accept defeat in front of others, probably because they always carry defeat with themselves. A human being cannot stand up to a double defeat. This is the secret of their continuous attempt to rise to power. They draw a feeling of supremacy from their power over others. It makes them feel victorious rather than defeated. It hides how essentially hollow they are inside, despite the impression of greatness they try to spread around them, which is all they really care for PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 54 El-Saadawi 90. Firdaus wants to show to the important man that even only a prostitute, she can defeat a man like him by refusing him. Moreover, Firdaus does not want to give the man a chance to raise his power upon her. Prostitution is a non respectable job. The novel also mentions this. One night, when Firdaus is walking alone suddenly a police officer comes to her and wants to arrest her. The police say that Firdaus is a prostitute and a prostitute is a non respective woman. As a not respectable woman, her existence will cause a bad impression for the respectable families. Thus, she has to be arrested El-Saadawi 62. This shows that being a prostitute means a not respectable woman. Thus, prostitution is not a respectable job. Those are the explanations of Egyptian society treatments toward Firdaus as a woman. From the explanations, it can be seen how the society at that time treats women as it is reflected in the novel.

4.3 Firdaus’ Searching for Freedom