leave her husband‟s house. She goes to her uncle‟s house only to find her uncle‟s admittance that it is a duty for husband to hit his wife. His wife adds that she often
hit by her husband p. 46. After that, her uncle takes her back to her husband‟s house. He always controls everything that she does. Her husband says nothing to
her until the next morning he shouts to her angrily. Another day he hits her harder than before until the blood runs from her nose and ears. This causes her to run
away from house p. 47. This time she does not go back to her uncle‟s house because he will tell to return to her husband‟s house. However, the rule about a
marriage is the husband has a power to control toward the wife‟s life. However, it considers appropriate for Sheikh Mahmoud to hit Firdaus and control everything
that she does since they are a husband and wife. Although Firdaus is his wife, in fact he always treats her badly. His character in treating Firdaus badly never
change from the beginning of their marriage until Firdaus goes away from his house after he hits her hardly until her face becomes swollen and blood runs from
her nose. On one occasion he hit me all over with his shoe. My face and body
became swollen and bruised. So I left the house and went to my uncle‟s house. p. 46
… One day he hit me with his heavy stick until the blood ran from my nose
and ears. So I left, but this time I did not go to my uncle‟s house. p. 47 The story of the novel happens in modern era where the rule in the society
forces a wife to respect a husband. A wife cannot go everywhere freely. A wife cannot choose whether staying at home or getting a job. A wife cannot do some
activities without a husband‟s permission. A husband holds the authority and responsibility for the household. He does not want someone to protest for every
one of the instructions. Therefore, if a wife does not follow her husband‟s rule, he may hit his wife. However, Sheikh always treats Firdaus badly.
4.2.1.4 Bayoumi
Firdaus does not know where she has to go after she leaves her husband‟s house. She has no family to live. She walks a long the street. When she is sitting
down to rest on an empty chair, she smells coffee. Since she is very hungry and thirsty, she pays attention to that smell. Then, there is a waiter boy coming closer
to her and asks if she wants to drink. She asks for a glass of water. He is very angry and advice her to go to the mausoleum if she wants water. He adds that she
can get all the water as much as she needs p. 48. Then he leaves her. After some times, he comes a long with the owner with a glass of water. The owner is
Bayoumi. He looks very kind and polite. He gives her a place in his house to stay. She lives in his house while waiting for a job. After some days, she tries to
ask him about the job he promises. Then he shouts at her angrily. She is so surprised because he always looks very kind, patient, and polite to her, but
suddenly he changes to become into such a wild animal. He begins to slap, hit, rape, and abuse Firdaus.
His hand was big and strong, and it was the heaviest slap I had ever received on my face p. 52.
… The next moment he hit me with his fist in the belly so hard that I lost
consciousness immediately p. 53. …
He would come back in the middle of the night, pull the cover away from me, slap my face, and then bear down on me with all his weight p. 53.
Bayoumi also begins to copulate with her and it happens many times. The fact is that women are considered as the lowest part in the society and they cannot
do anything they want. On the other hand, men are considered as the highest part in the society and they can do anything. Men are the head of everything in the
country. Women cannot make use of their right. Since the condition and culture in that country strengthen men‟s position, makes Bayoumi abuses and rapes Firdaus.
Unfortunately, the man who copulates with her is not only Bayoumi. Another time, a man comes and copulates with her. She knows that he is not
Bayoumi. When she tries to ask who he is, he does not answer. He keeps forcing her to have sex. Since she is afraid of him, she does nothing p. 53. Firdaus is
being caged by Bayoumi so she cannot leave the house. As she is optimistic girl, she believes that she can run away from Bayoumi‟s house. Fortunately, a
neighbour sees her being caged. Firdaus tells her everything. A neighbour tries to help her to leave Bayoumi‟s house. Since the door is locked, she calls the
carpenter as Firdaus asks. Finally, she can escape away from Bayoumi‟s house. As men are superior and women are inferior, Firdaus can do nothing. If
she reports it to the police, probably the police will not care. Another possibility is Firdaus will be arrested although she does not make any mistake. In fact, the
women‟s position is not good enough which means that in every situation women will always be wrong and men will always be right. Based on Firdaus‟
experiences with Bayoumi, he changes from a gentle man into such a wild man. First time they meet, Bayoumi treats Firdaus very well. He treats as woman
