Oppression On Women As Portrayed In “Celia, A Slave” And “Woman At Point Zero”: A Comparative Literature

OPPRESSION ON WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN “CELIA, A SLAVE” AND “WOMAN AT POINT ZERO”: A COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

A THESIS

BY

IVANALIZA JALALUDDIN REG. NO. 130721004

DEPARTEMENT OF ENGLISH FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERISTY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2015

OPPRESSION ON WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN “CELIA, A SLAVE” AND “WOMAN AT POINT ZERO”: A COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

A THESIS

BY

IVANALIZA JALALUDDIN REG NO. 130721004

SUPERVISOR CO SUPERVISOR

Dr. Martha Pardede, M.S. Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M.Hum NIP. 19521229 197903 2 001 NIP. 19580517 198503 1 003

Submitted to Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara Medan in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from Department of English.

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA MEDAN 2015

Approved by the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara (USU) Medan as thesis for The Sarjana Sastra Examination.

Head, Secretary,

Dr. H. Muhizar Mucthar, M.S Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A., Ph.D NIP. 19541117 198003 1 002 NIP. 19750209 200812 1 002

Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Sarjana Sastra from the Department of English, Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara.

The examination is held in the faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara on Friday, 9th October 2015

The Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies University of Sumatera Utara

Dr. H. Syahron Lubis, M.A. NIP. 19511013 197603 1 001

Board of Examiners

Dr. H. Muhizar Muchtar, M.S. ……….

Rahmadsyah Rangkuti, M.A, Ph,D. ……….

Dr. Martha Pardede, M.S. ……….

Dr. Siti Norma Nasution, M.S. ……….

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION

I, IVANALIZA JALALUDDIN DECLARE THAT I AM THE SOLE AUTHOR OF THIS THESIS EXCEPT WHERE REFERENCE IS MADE IN THE TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS CONTAINS NO MATERIAL PUBLISHED ELSEWHERE OF EXTRECTED IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM A THESIS BY WHICH I HAVE QUALIFIED FOR OR AWARDED ANOTHER DEGREE. NO OTHER PERSON’S WORK HAS BEEN USED WITHOUT DUE TO ACKNOLEDGEMENTS IN THE MAIN TEXT OF THIS THESIS. THIS THESIS HAS NOT BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE AWARD OF ANOTHER DEGREE IN ANY TERTIARY EDUCATION.

Signed : ………

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

NAME : IVANALIZA JALALUDDIN

TITLE OF THESIS : OPPRESSION ON WOMEN AS PORTRAYED

IN “CELIA, A SLAVE” AND “WOMAN AT POINT ZERO”: A COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

QUALIFICATION : S-1/SARJANA SASTRA

DEPARTMENT : ENGLISH

I AM WILLING THAT MY THESIS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE FOR REPRODUCTION AT THE DISCRETION OF THE LIBRARIAN OF DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF CULTURAL STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SUMATERA UTARA ON THE UNDERSTANDING THAT USERS ARE MADE AWARE OF THEIR OBLIGATION UNDER THE LAW OF THE REPUBLIC INDONESIA.

Signed : ………

ABSTRAK

Skripsi ini berjudul “Oppression on Women as Portrayed in “Celia, A Slave” and “Woman At Point Zero”: A Comparative Literature”. Skripsi ini berisi tentang studi sastra bandingan menggunakan dua novel dari negara yang berbeda dengan motif yang sama, yaitu penindasan pada perempuan. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana perempuan dalam dua novel tersebut tertindas dan menemukan kesamaan serta perbedaan terkait masalah ini melalui tingkat dan jenis penindasan tertentu yaitu, penindasan individu, penindasan institusionil dan penindasan sosial. Karakter utama dari masing-masing novel, Celia dan Firdaus mengalami kekerasan fisik, verbal dan mental yang menindas mereka sepanjang hidup mereka. Studi ini juga melihat unsur intrinsik untuk melihat persamaan dan perbedaan yang ditemukan dalam dua novel. Dalam menyelesaikan analisis, penulis menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif karena semua data disampaikan dalam bentuk kata-kata dan kalimat. Penulis mengumpulkan data dari berbagai sumber termasuk novel Celia, A Slave oleh Melton A. McLaurin, Woman At Point Zero oleh Nawal el Saadawi, buku, artikel dan jurnal yang berkaitan untuk mendukung analisis. Berdasarkan hasil analisis dapat disimpulkan bahwa kedua novel menunjukkan persamaan dan perbedaan mengenai tingkat dan jenis penindasan. Firdaus dan Celia mengalami penindasan individu oleh orang terdekat mereka. Mereka berjuang melawan penindasan institusionil oleh hukum, pendidikan dan media dari masing-masing negara dan juga penindasan sosial oleh peran .

ABSTRACT

This thesis is entitled “Oppression on Women as Portrayed in “Celia, A Slave” and “Woman At Point Zero”: A Comparative Literature”. This thesis contains a study of comparative literature which involves two novels of different nations with similar motifs, which are women oppression. The purpose of this study is to find out how women in the two novels are oppressed and find the similarities as well as differences regarding the issue in specific levels and types of oppression that are, individual oppression, institutional oppression and social oppression. The respective main characters, Celia and Firdaus experience physical, verbal and mental abuse which oppresses them throughout their lives. The study also involves looking at the intrinsic elements to look at the similarities and differences found in the two novels. In completing the analysis, the writer uses descriptive qualitative method which represents all the data in forms of words and sentences as well as including tables to show the similarities and differences more clearly. The writer collects data from various sources including the novels Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin, Woman At Point Zero by Nawal el Saadawi, relevant books, articles and journals to support the analysis. Based on the analysis it can be found that the novels show similarities and differences regarding the levels and types of oppression. Firdaus and Celia experienced an individual oppression by the people closest to them. They struggle against the institutional oppression done by the respective law, education and media of each country and also social oppression by the social norms and roles.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim.

First of all, “Alhamdulillah” the writer gives praise and thank to Allah SWT who has given her the mercy such as life, healthy, times, believe, and blessing. Shalawat and Salam for the Prophet Muhammad SAW who has brought us from the darkness to the brightness.

This thesis could have been accomplished with the guidance, suggestions and comments from many people. In this occasion, the writer would like to express her sincere gratitude toward her supervisor, Dra. Martha Pardede, M.A. and co-supervisor, Drs. Siamir Marulafau, M.Hum, for the benefit of their wide knowledge and for their suggestions, guidance and advice in making corrections to this thesis.

Her gratitude also goes to the Dean of Faculty of Cultural Studies Dr. Syahron Lubis, the Head of English Departement Dr. Muhizar Muchtar M.S. and the Secretary of English Department Rahmadsyah Rangkuti M.A., Ph.D. She also wishes to express her thanks to all the lectures of the English Department for their helping and valuable knowledge during her study at this department.

The writer wishes to express her deepest gratitude and love to her beloved parents, Jalaluddin Ibrahim and Erliza Yusni, who have patiently given moral, advices, and prayer to their daughter. She also wishes to thank her brother, Muhammad Hamyasa Jalaluddin for his support and great companion.

Then, her great thanks also go to her beloved aunt, Yusharlenny and cousins, Putra, Rizal, Shinta, Yudhi, Nurul, and Oddi who have taken care of the writer and for the constant support throughout the academic years she has spent.

For her best friends Liza, Riris, Annis, Nelfi, Yati, Arianda, and Anggi who have always given the writer supports, critics, and advices. Then for her dearest partner Atika who has always been the best companion throughout her academic years in University of Sumatera Utara. The last but not least, thanks to her friends Tya, Winda, Anggie and the rest of 2013 Extension Class classmates who gave contribution in supporting the writer to complete the study and her thesis.

Finally, I hope that this thesis will be worthwhile contribution for the readers. And also receive any constructive criticism to develop this thesis.

Medan, 9th October 2015 The Writer

Ivanaliza Jalaluddin Reg.No. 130721004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ... i

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ... ii

ABSTRAK ... iii

ABSTRACT ... iv

ACKNOLEDGEMENTS ... v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ... 1

1.1 Background of the Study ... 1

1.2 Problem of the Study ... 5

1.3 Objective of the Study ... 5

1.4 Scope of the Study ... 6

1.5 Significance of the Study ... 6

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ... 7

2.1 Theory of Literature ... 7

2.2 Brief Description of Comparative Literature ... 8

2.3 Brief Description of Oppression ... 11

2.3.1 Women Oppression ... 12

2.3.2 Levels and Types of Oppression ... 12

CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ... 14

3.1 Research Design ... 14

3.2 Data and Resource Data... 14

3.3 Data Collecting Procedure ... 14

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ... 16

4.1 Women Oppression Portrayed in Woman At Point Zero .. 16

4.1.1 Individual Oppression ... 17

4.1.2 Collective Oppression ... 23

4.1.3 Institutional Oppression ... 28

4.2 Women Oppression Portrayed Celia, A Slave ... 31

4.2.1 Individual Oppression ... 32

4.2.2 Collective Oppression ... 36

4.2.3 Institutional Oppression ... 37

CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ... 42

5.1 Conclusion ... 42

5.2 Suggestion ... 48

REFERENCES ... 50

APPENDICES :

Appendix 1 : Biography of Nawal el Saadawi

Appendix 2 : Summary of the novel: Woman At Point Zero Appendix 3 : Biography of Melton A. McLaurin

ABSTRAK

Skripsi ini berjudul “Oppression on Women as Portrayed in “Celia, A Slave” and “Woman At Point Zero”: A Comparative Literature”. Skripsi ini berisi tentang studi sastra bandingan menggunakan dua novel dari negara yang berbeda dengan motif yang sama, yaitu penindasan pada perempuan. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana perempuan dalam dua novel tersebut tertindas dan menemukan kesamaan serta perbedaan terkait masalah ini melalui tingkat dan jenis penindasan tertentu yaitu, penindasan individu, penindasan institusionil dan penindasan sosial. Karakter utama dari masing-masing novel, Celia dan Firdaus mengalami kekerasan fisik, verbal dan mental yang menindas mereka sepanjang hidup mereka. Studi ini juga melihat unsur intrinsik untuk melihat persamaan dan perbedaan yang ditemukan dalam dua novel. Dalam menyelesaikan analisis, penulis menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif karena semua data disampaikan dalam bentuk kata-kata dan kalimat. Penulis mengumpulkan data dari berbagai sumber termasuk novel Celia, A Slave oleh Melton A. McLaurin, Woman At Point Zero oleh Nawal el Saadawi, buku, artikel dan jurnal yang berkaitan untuk mendukung analisis. Berdasarkan hasil analisis dapat disimpulkan bahwa kedua novel menunjukkan persamaan dan perbedaan mengenai tingkat dan jenis penindasan. Firdaus dan Celia mengalami penindasan individu oleh orang terdekat mereka. Mereka berjuang melawan penindasan institusionil oleh hukum, pendidikan dan media dari masing-masing negara dan juga penindasan sosial oleh peran .

ABSTRACT

This thesis is entitled “Oppression on Women as Portrayed in “Celia, A Slave” and “Woman At Point Zero”: A Comparative Literature”. This thesis contains a study of comparative literature which involves two novels of different nations with similar motifs, which are women oppression. The purpose of this study is to find out how women in the two novels are oppressed and find the similarities as well as differences regarding the issue in specific levels and types of oppression that are, individual oppression, institutional oppression and social oppression. The respective main characters, Celia and Firdaus experience physical, verbal and mental abuse which oppresses them throughout their lives. The study also involves looking at the intrinsic elements to look at the similarities and differences found in the two novels. In completing the analysis, the writer uses descriptive qualitative method which represents all the data in forms of words and sentences as well as including tables to show the similarities and differences more clearly. The writer collects data from various sources including the novels Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin, Woman At Point Zero by Nawal el Saadawi, relevant books, articles and journals to support the analysis. Based on the analysis it can be found that the novels show similarities and differences regarding the levels and types of oppression. Firdaus and Celia experienced an individual oppression by the people closest to them. They struggle against the institutional oppression done by the respective law, education and media of each country and also social oppression by the social norms and roles.

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1.Background of the Study

Stereotypically, women are known to be the weak and powerless creatures. Women tend to be more dependent on men financially and mentally. Meanwhile male adopts the character “masculine” and female adopts “feminine”. For instance, males are more interested in performing physically tough activities like, working in heavy industries while females perform tasks like raising children, cooking, sewing and so on.

Males predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege and control of property; and, in the domain of the family, fathers or father-figures hold authority over women and children. It implies the institutions of male domination and entails female subordination. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage. In the familial sense, the female equivalent is matriarchy.

Apparently, this image of men having more power than women tends to bring an inequality in gender. Not a few men take the advantage to control women as they like concerning their own satisfaction. Speaking of which, sexual exploitation and abuse tend to happen among women society during the old days and even until now. Women are oppressed by the abusive acts done by those who have more power like individuals, institutions and social.

In the most basic sense, feminism is the movement for social, political, and economics of women. A feminist advocates or supports the rights and equality of women. Feminists believe are an oppressed class. They believe to break the

oppression is to liberate women. This can mean different things, from issues like equal pay and equal access to jobs, to providing child care, money and equality in the social security system.

Feminism can be based on many aspects, but in this study the movement is seen based on literary works. Feminist literary criticism is literary criticism informed by feminist theory or by the politics of feminism more broadly. It can be understood as using feminist principles and ideological discourses to critique the language of literature, its structure and being. This school of thought seeks to describe and analyze the ways in which literature portrays the narrative of male domination in regard to female bodies by exploring the economic, social, political, and psychological forces embedded within literature.

Nevertheless, women oppression seems to becoming an ongoing issue around the world since earlier centuries when almost every woman was horribly treated as slaves. During the time, women were not able to get better education which became their biggest consequence for them of not getting good jobs to support their living. Moreover, their lack of experience in outside world made men look down on women which are still believed until now. Regarding this issue, literary writers started to take the chance to sound the issue in their works; may it be fiction or non-fiction. Many literary works talk about how women oppression is going around the world with concerns.

There are two novels which the writer finds similar in motif reflecting the issues above. One is from America entitled, Celia, A Slave by Melton A. McLaurin and another one from Egypt, Woman At Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi. The use of these two novels helps the writer to look at women oppression from different countries with similar motif. Both novels portrayed oppression on women physically

and mentally. The novels show how men took control on their lives which turned them into someone different. Therefore, the analysis will involve comparing how the novels are similar and different from each other which is part of the Comparative Literature.

The novel Celia A Slave is an American novel which talks about a girl named, Celia who was sexually exploited by her Master, Robert Newsom. After purchasing Celia in a neighboring county, Newsom raped her on the journey back to his farm. He then established her in a small cabin near his house and visited her regularly (most likely with the knowledge of the son and two daughters who lived with him). Over the next five years, Celia bore Newsom two children; meanwhile, she became involved with a slave named George and resolved at his insistence to end the relationship with her master. When Newsom refused, Celia one night struck him fatally with a club and disposed of his body in her fireplace. Her act quickly discovered, Celia was brought to trial. She received a surprisingly vigorous defense from her court-appointed attorneys, who built their case on a state law allowing women the use of deadly force to defend their honor. Nevertheless, the court upheld the tenets of a white social order that wielded almost total control over the lives of slaves. Celia was found guilty and hanged.

Apparently, by 1850, when knowledge of Celia begins, Missouri had already been at the center of the national slavery debate for more than a quarter of a century. The author of the novel, Melton A. McLaurin is a professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He is author of eight books, including the award-winning Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South. Melton McLaurin's interest in race relations started in seventh grade when he went to

work at his grandfather's store in Wade, a village near Fayetteville. It was 1953 when he witnessed the complete different world between the whites and blacks those days.

Woman at Point Zero (Emra'a Enda Noktat el Sifr) is a novel by Nawal El Saadawi published in Arabic in 1975. The novel is based on Saadawi's encounter with a female prisoner in Qanatir Prison and is the first-person account of Firdaus, a murderess who has agreed to tell her life story before her execution. Firdaus describes a childhood of poverty and neglect and recounts being circumcised by her mother. After being orphaned she is sent to secondary school, where she excels, but upon graduation she is forced into an arranged marriage with Sheikh Mahmoud, a disgusting man who is emotionally and physically abusive. After a brutal beating she leaves and eventually becomes a high-end prostitute, encountering abusive and manipulative men throughout. When a man named Marzouk forcibly becomes her pimp, she resists his control. When Firdaus decides to leave, and Marzouk pulls a knife to prevent her escape, she stabs him to death. She later confesses the murder and is imprisoned. Firdaus concludes that all men are criminals, refuses to submit an appeal on the grounds that she has not committed a crime, and goes to her death a free woman, without fear or regret. The novel explores the issues of the subjugation of women, female circumcision, and women's freedom in a patriarchal society.

Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist. She has written many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice of female genital mutilation in her society. In 1972, she published her first work of non-fiction, Women and Sex, which evoked the antagonism of highly placed political and theological authorities and led to a dismissal at the Ministry of Health. Other works include The Hidden Face of

Eve, God Dies by the Nile, The Circling Song, Searching, The Fall of the Imam and Woman at Point Zero.

The two novels show how the main characters are struggling to get away from the men who took control of their lives. Shown in both novels, oppression is the motifs of the novel. Clearly, in Celia A Slave, the main character was sexually exploited by her Master and struggling to find a way to fight back risking her own justice at the end. Similarly, Firdaus, the main character of Woman At Point Zero is sexually exploited by her close people and becoming a high-end prostitute as her protest to the men harassing her body freely. Her struggles against the men in her life ended after she killed a pimp. Though she failed to seek for justice, she died in her own satisfaction. Both novels reveal the injustice experienced by Celia and Firdaus due to certain social institutions.

1.2.Problems of the Study

In doing this study, there are the problems that are going to be discussed as follow:

1. How is oppression on women portrayed in Melton A. McLaurin’s Celia, A Slave and Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman At Point Zero?

2. What are the similarities and differences of women oppression portrayed in both novels?

1.3.Objectives of the Study

Regarding to the problems of this study, here are the guidelines of the objective:

1. To find out how women are oppressed in Celia, A Slave and Woman At Point Zero.

2. To find the similarities and differences of women oppression in Celia, A Slave and Woman At Point Zero.

1.4.Scope of the Study

It is important to focus on the objective in this study in order to make it easier in figuring out the problems. Within this thesis, the discussion will concentrate on how the women in the two novels are oppressed by the people around them, especially man. Oppression can be done by anyone and be seen in several ways, however, in this thesis the writer looks at women oppression by man through the levels and types which are: individual oppression, institutional oppression and collective oppression. This study deals with comparing two novels from different countries with similar motif. Therefore, this study is restricted to discuss the similarities and differences of motif portrayed, specifically to identify the oppression to the main characters of both novels.

1.5.Significance of the Study

In writing this, the writer hopes to give significances as follow:

1. This study can be useful to enrich knowledge about literary works from different nations.

2. This study can help readers to know more about Comparative Literature.

3. This study can help readers to explore kinds of oppression within women society.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1.Theory of Literature

Literature is one of literary works in which generally refer to the work that tells something in fiction and imaginary. In the book Theory of Literature by Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1985), Wellek quoted (Wellek, 1985: 4) Literature as one of the imaginary works, literature performs various problem of human and humanity, and the life. They propose their literary work based on the experience and observation on the life of society; in other words, literature portrays the life. It can be accepted in which it is commonly known that authors who write the literary work are also part of society and literature as a social institution, a social creation that represents life. They also mention two approaches in analyzing literary works; they are intrinsic approach and extrinsic approach. The intrinsic approach is also called the textual analysis, because this approach analyzes the literary work based on the text and the structural points of the literarywork like characters, plot, setting, theme, style, and point of view. On the other hand, the extrinsic approach analyzes the literary work and its relation with external factors like biography of the writer, the environment, society, history, psychology, and so on (Rene Wellek and Austin Warren, 1967:73, 81,110).

Peck and Coyle devide literature into three genres or types; they are : poetry, drama, and novel. Peck and Coyle (1984: 102) mentions, novels do not, however, present a documentary picture of life. Alongside the fact that novels look at people in society, the other major characteristics of the genre is that novels tell a story. In fact, novels tend to tell the same few stories time and time again. Novelists frequently

focus on the tensions between individuals and the society in which they live, presenting characters who are at odds with that society.

Novels can be fiction (unreal) or nonfiction (real-story) about people and the surroundings. Novels usually tell about experiences and feelings of people which help readers to read about new things that may happen to us in real life as well as different cultures. Novelists help us to picture the worst condition of life and the possibility to overcome them.

In parts of the book, Peck and Coyle describes that novelists usually get their ideas for works are based on the society on their surroundings. As the authors, Melton A. McLaurin and Nawal el Saadawi show their awareness towards the society through their work. In this case, el Saadawi shows her concern towards women in her society who receive various different exploitations which oppress them in particular ways. Similarly goes with Melton A. McLaurin, in one of his works he wrote a novel of true story which tells about slavery during the early era. He gained his concern towards the issue which motivates him to tell the story of years before to the world showing his concern. Therefore, society is a big impact on authors to get the idea of what they are going to compose as it is the closest phenomena happen within their surroundings.

2.2.Brief Description of Comparative Literature

Razali Kasim (1996: 26) mentions that comparative literature is an analysis that includes a comparison of literary works form different national literature, the relationship between literary works and science, religion (beliefs), and arts as well as about theories, history, and critics.

The purpose of Comparative Literature is to identify the literary works based on the literary elements wither in intrinsic elements and extrinsic elements. It does not only concentrate on the literary elements, but as well as other aspects like history, religion, knowledge, society, etc. As David Damrosch (2009: 46) mentions that, reading world literature gives us the opportunity to expand our literary and cultural horizons far beyond the boundaries of our own culture.

In this study, the writer looks at intrinsic elements of the novel to look at how the novels are similar and different to each other. This involves looking at the characters, plot, setting, theme, style, and point of view. Moreover, the study also involves looking at other aspects like history, society as well as religion to support the idea how those aspects affect the whole idea of the novels.

Comparative Literature can be seen through several fields, they are: Themes and Motifs, Genre and Form, Movement and Generation, and Interdisciplinary Aspects. In this analysis, the writer compares two literary works using thematic analysis focusing on theme and motif as the object of the study. Theme basically includes the meaning of motif. In further explanation, theme is the spiritual phenomenon of human which has repeated and will always repeat its self (Goethe in Weisstein, 1973: 138) whilst motive has the similarity with the other meaning of motive that is the main of the story which is universal, traditional, and appears repeatedly in the two literary works.

Razali Kasim (1996: 16, 17) mentions that American movement shows a wider scope study on comparative literature. Comparative study is not only about ‘comparing’ literary works or the authors, but also talks about various other fields. Broadly, comparative literature includes:

2. A study about the relationship between literary works and other sciences (such as, philosophy, psychology, sociology, etc.), with religion and beliefs as well as arts (such as paintings, music, architecture, and sculpture).

3. A study of theory, history, and literary criticism (more precisely ‘literary criticism theory’) which covers more than one national literature.

The scope study of American movement classified above shows the extensive study field because it is not only about literary texts. Needless to say, various studies are not included in one national literary, ‘taken over’ by comparative literature. For instance, Rene Wellek and Austin Warren’s book Theory of Literature, does not belong to the US national literature, even both authors are American; similarly, Northrop Frye’s Anatomy of Criticism, Tzvetan Todorov’s The Fantastic, or Robert Schole’s Structuralism are not part of any one national literature.

Based on the view above, a study that compares Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s literary works, for example, are not included in the comparative literature scope study. Indonesia and Malaysia, likewise England with America and Australia, have similar cultural background; in this case, if there are similarities found in their literary works, this is a reasonable case. In this thesis, the writer uses two different novels from different nations which are from Egypt and America which has different cultural background as Woman at Point Zero is from the middle-east whilst Celia, A Slave is from America. However, they are similar to each other in case of a motif which is women oppression.

Then Kasim (1996: 18, 19) mentions in the book that an author can probably create a literary work with location outside the cultural scope of where the author

lives. Even the characters in that literary work are probably the people who have a different cultural background from the author. Classic examples can be seen in several William Shakespeare’s works. Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Antony and Cleopatra, and The Two Gentlemen of Venice are all have the same setting of place and all characters outside England, which is Italy. However, all works are still considered as English national literature.

Regarding the theory above, the writer uses an English translated version of the novel Woman At Point Zero. Though the novel is written in English it still belongs to Egyptian literary works as it was originally written in Arabic (Egyptian language) and by an Egyptian writer who tells stories about women in her society.

2.3.Brief Description of Oppression

Oppression is a type of injustice. Oppression is the inequitable use of authority, law, or physical force to prevent others from being free or equal. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions or people, and anxiety.

Charlton (1998: 8) states, oppression occurs when individuals are systematically subjected to political, economic, cultural, or social degradation because they belong to a social group…results from structures of domination and subordination and, correspondingly, ideologies of superiority and inferiority. The novels of both countries show how the women characters face the power of those with domination against the women as subordinate. In this study, the struggles of Firdaus and Celia against superiority of individuals, institutions and social are visibly portrayed.

2.3.1. Women Oppression

The oppression of women stems largely from men’s desire for power and control. The same need which, throughout history, has driven men to try to conquer and subjugate other groups or nations, and to oppress other classes or groups in their own society, drives them to dominate and oppress women. Since men feel the need to gain as much power and control as they can, they steal away power and control from women. They deny women the right to make decisions so that they can make them for them, leave women unable to direct their own lives so that they can direct their lives for them.

In Europe and America (and some other countries) the status of women has risen significantly over the last few decades, but in many parts of the world male domination and oppression continues. In many Middle Eastern countries, for example, women effectively live as prisoners, unable to leave the house except under the guardianship of a male guardian. (There are many Saudi Arabian women who have only left their houses a handful of times in their whole lives.) And when — or if — they do go outside, they are obliged to cover themselves from head to toe in black, leaving them in danger of vitamin deficiency and dehydration. They have no role at all in determining their own lives; they are seen as nothing more than a commodity, property of the males of the family, and as owners, the men have the right to make decisions for them.

2.3.2. Levels and Types of Oppression

The system of oppression maintains advantage and disadvantage based on social group memberships and operates, intentionally and unintentionally, on individual, institutional and collective levels. Through these, oppression can be

measured by respective levels and types. Moreover, oppression can also be intentionally as well as unintentionally.

a. Individual Oppression: Individual oppression attitudes and actions that

reflect prejudice against a social group (intentional and unintentional). Specifically, this level of oppression is shown within attitudes, beliefs, socialization, interpersonal interactions, and individual behaviors.

b. Institutional Oppression: Institutional Oppression occurs when Policies, laws, rules, norms and customs enacted by organizations and social institutions that disadvantage some social groups and advantage other social groups. These institutions include religion, government, education, law, the media, and the health care system (intentional and unintentional).

c. Collective Oppression: Collective oppression is sustained through

conditioning us to remain separated for reasons we lack the knowledge to recognize as trivial.

In this study, Celia, A Slave and Woman At Point Zero are novels which show oppression on women. Respective novels show how women struggle against their society seeking for their own virtue. Therefore, in studying their struggles involves looking at the levels and types of oppression that they experienced.

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1Conclusion

Based on the Analysis and Findings in Chapter IV, the writer concludes that there are similarities in motifs found in the two novels as well as the differences. The conclusions are presented into tables dividing similarities and differences of oppression portrayed in Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave as well as elements of the novel; looking at the plot, setting of place, characters, point of view, theme, and motifs. Both novels also showed that the women characters faced individual oppression, collective oppression and institutional oppression.

a. The Similarities and Differences of Elements of the Novel

Throughout the analysis the elements of the two novels that the writer comes across are listed below. These elements found in the two novels show how they differ and similar to each other.

1. Both novels, Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave have linear plot. Both stories did involve a flashback of events, however, the stories were moving through series of events.

2. The two novels were taken in different places. Woman At Point Zero takes place in Egypt whilst Celia, A Slave took place in America.

3. Main characters of both novels were women; however, they have different characteristics that Firdaus of Woman At Point Zero is a prostitute whilst Celia of Celia, A Slave was a slave.

4. The character of man role in Celia, A Slave was her master whilst Woman At Point Zero involved her father, her uncle and several men from the society. Therefore, both novels showed difference regarding the man role.

5. Woman At Point Zero was written in the point of view is first person, but since the story is Firdaus’s story as told to Nawal El Saadawi, it seems as though there are two narrators: first Nawal, and then Firdaus. However, Celia, A Slave was written in third person.

6. Both novels have similar theme which is nature of power, women always the victim and no freedom.

7. Both novels have similar motifs which are women oppression/exploitation and men’s desire.

The writer represents the listed elements into a table to look at the similarities and differences in easier and clearer way.

Table 1

Elements of the

Novel Woman At Point Zero Celia, A Slave

1) Plot Linear Linear

2) Setting of Place Egypt America

3) Characters Prostitute; Woman Slave; Woman

4) Character of man role

Her father, her uncle and several men of the society (high-class man, princes and pimps)

The master and Celia’s lover, George

5) Point of View First person Third person

6) Theme

Nature of power; women as the victim; no freedom

Nature of power; women as the victim; no freedom

7) Motifs

Women oppression and men’s desire: is clearly shown in the novel as Firdaus struggles to resist the physical, verbal as well as mental abuse by the men’s role; her father, her uncle, the men in her society as well as social institutions like education, law and high-class authorities.

Women oppression and men’s desire: is clearly shown in the novel as Celia struggled to resist the physical, verbal as well as mental abuse by the men’s role; her master, her lover and social

institutions like slave community and law of Missouri.

b. The Similarities and Differences of Oppression Based on Its Levels

The writer drawn into a conclusion that below are the oppressions portrayed in both novels according to the levels and types. The list below show how they differ and similar to each other:

1. Both novels, Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave portrayed oppression by individuals. As for Firdaus she is oppressed by individuals around her like her father, her uncle and her husband. Their oppression towards Firdaus which drawn her to prostitution and involved several individuals like Bayoumi, the Arab Prince and several other men which she recognized as ‘clients’, in oppressing her individually. Similarly, Celia was oppressed by individuals like

her master and her lover George who made her do something she had never committed to. Both of them were physically and mentally abused by the behaviors. Clearly, Firdaus is being cursed at times by men verbally which put her down.

2. Both novels, Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave portrayed collective oppression by the men role and collective behavior. Firdaus was oppressed by her father’s role in a family which makes her think that men owns women and affects her view in life. Same goes for her husband, who would go mad if she fails to serve him right. The men in her society showed similar actions towards her which affected her. As for Celia, she was collectively oppressed by the master’s role as a father of his children who were still depending on him economically which prevented them from stopping their father’s act towards Celia. This fact left Celia alone unsupported. Celia was also oppressed by collective of white people during her trial that she could not seek for justice. They were mentally abused by their action as both of them did not get care, support and love from the people around them.

3. Both novels, Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave portrayed institutional oppression. Celia was hanged without anyone being able to defend her and prove her innocent for unintentionally killing the master because of the Missourian law on slavery by that time. Similarly, Firdaus is also sentenced to death for unintentionally killing a pimp and threatening to kill a prince. However, in the novel Firdaus refused to get attorney because she felt that she had had enough proving to the men that she was the one whom they should be afraid of because of the ugly truth the men hid. On the other hand, Celia’s lawyer failed to seek for her justice as the Missourian law that time proved to have protected a master

regarding slavery. As for Celia’s case, political issue during the antebellum also affected her fate during the trial. Both of the characters died without being able to stand for their own privileges as a woman. They weren’t able to restructure their lives into a better one.

Oppression is a type of injustice that could happen in anywhere within society and family. Oppression can be done by the society intentionally and unintentionally. Sometimes, we never intended to oppress individual to which, without us knowing, might oppress them in ways that they should have never been. Individuals, social groups as well as institutions are the levels in which oppression can occur.

Nevertheless, the writer represents the listed elements into a table to look at the similarities and differences in easier and clearer way.

Table 2

Levels and Types of Oppression

Woman At Point Zero Celia, A Slave

1. Individual Oppression

a) Firdaus was oppressed by individuals; her father, her uncle, Sheikh Mahmoud, Bayoumi, the Arab Prince.

b) She received physical, mental as well as verbal abuse by them.

c) She was oppressed as a

a) Celia was oppressed by two individuals; her master, Robert

Newsom and her lover, George.

b) Celia received physical and mental abuse. c) She was oppressed as a

normal daughter and wife.

2. Collective oppression

a) Firdaus was oppressed by her father and husband’s role.

b) Firdaus was oppressed by the collective behavior in her society which leads to

prostitution.

c) She was physically and mentally abused by them.

a) Celia was oppressed by her master’s role towards her and Newsom’s children. b) Celia was oppressed by

the collective behavior of white people in her society which most of them were pro-slavery. c) Celia was mentally

abused by him.

3. Institutional Oppression

a) Firdaus was oppressed by the law as she was imprisoned for what she and people believed was not a crime.

b) She was also oppressed by the secondary school certificate that she only got.

c) She was mentally and

a) Celia was oppressed by the law in Missouri regarding a slave should not commit any crime towards her/his master.

b) Political and the media also showed an impact regarding Celia’s case. c) She was mentally

Based on the conclusion presented above, the writer concludes that both characters in the novel ended up their life miserably. The oppressions they faced affected their lives in so many ways that they cannot catch a glimpse of happiness. They struggled upon people who would have been strangers to them; however, they were the ones who turned their lives into misery.

The novel, Woman At Point Zero and Celia, A Slave are one of the many literary works which talk about women in the society. Nawal el Saadawi shares the story of her life experience in the prison which she uses to picture her encounter with the prostitute, Firdaus. As a feminist activist, she successfully brings out the reality of women oppression by man in the society. She digs out the possibilities of women to ever go to the dark life of prostitution by picturing men’s action on women. Similarly, Melton A. McLaurin wrote back Celia’s recorded past as a slave whose story considered as history of the slavery era. He successfully brought up portion of American past regarding slavery which had opened many eyes in the recent days.

5.2Suggestion

Based on the conclusion above, the writer wants to point out that oppression within society can affect anyone negatively. Therefore, the writer suggests readers to act wisely within society. As can be seen in the study above, that someone might have affected badly by our action. Men and women are two different creatures with different roles applied to us. However, it is not something that we should hold on to

verbally abused by the social groups of institutions.

abused by the trial she had to face.

oppress each other. Women are meant to be created naturally with soft hearts, feminine and motherly. Woman needs man to be their leaders who can lead them to and man needs woman to stay by their side supporting their efforts. Therefore, by respecting each other’s roles and norms, the world we live in definitely will get the better of it; within individuals, social groups and institutions.

Comparative literature would help readers to open up their eyes and look at different national literary works which represent the respective society which possibly have the same social problems. Finally, we can conclude that similar things do happen in different places, yet we only realize it if we try to look at them closely and wisely. Therefore, the authors of the two novels help people to see the possible issue on women oppression in the world which open eyes of many regarding the issue.

REFERENCES

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Charlton, J. I. .1998. Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression And Empowerment. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Cortius, Jan Brandt. 1968. Introduction to Comparative Study of Literature. New York: Random House, Inc.

Damrosch, David. 2009. How to Read World Literature. UK: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Ellis, John M. 1974. The Theory of Literary Criticism. Berkeley: University of California Press.

El Saadawi, Nawal. 1983. Woman at Point Zero: English Version. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.

Ghisa, Shaykh Muhammad Salim. What Does Islam Say About

Forced/Arranged/Love/ Secret Marriages?. Retrieved from

Kasim, Razali. 1996. Sastra Bandingan: Ruang Lingkup dan Metode. Medan:

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McLaurin, Melton Alonza. 1999. Celia, A Slave. New York: University of Georgia Books.

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2015)

Persell, Caroline Hodges. 1987. Understanding Society: An Introduction to Sociology. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, Inc.

Peck, John and Coyle, Martin. 1984. Literary Terms and Criticism. London: Macmillan Education.

Richards, Sam and Saba, Paul. Basis of Women’s Oppression. Retrieved from Stallnech, Newton P and Horst, Frenz. 1961. Comparative Literature: Method

Weisstein, Ultrich. 1973. Comparative Literature and Literary Theory. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

Wellek, Rene and Warren, Austin. 1985. Theory of Literature. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Biography of Nawal el Saadawi

Nawal El Saadawi is an Egyptian feminist writer, activist, physician and psychiatrist. She has written many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice of female genital mutilationin her society.

She is founder and president of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association and co-founder of the Arab Association for Human Rights. She has been awarded honorary degrees on three continents. In 2004, she won the North-South prize from the Council of Europe. In 2005, the Inana International Prize in Belgium.

Nawal el Saadawi has held positions of Author for the Supreme Council for Arts and Social Sciences, Cairo; Director General of the Health Education Department, Ministry of Health, Cairo, Secretary General of Medical Association, Cairo, Egypt, and Medical Doctor, University Hospital and Ministry of Health. She is the founder of Health Education Association and the Egyptian Women Writer’s Association; she was Chief Editor of Health Magazine in Cairo, Egypt and Editor of Medical Association Magazine.

Saadawi was born in the small village of Kafr Tahla on October 27, 1931. She is the second eldest of nine children. Her father was a government official in the Ministry of Education, who had campaigned against the rule of the British occupation of Egypt and Sudan during the Egyptian Revolution of 1919. As a result he was exiled to a small town in the Nile Delta and the government punished him by not promoting him for 10 years. He was relatively progressive and taught her self-respect and to speak her mind. He also encouraged her to study the Arabic language. Both her parents died at a young age leaving Saadawi with the sole burden of providing for a large family.

Saadawi graduated as a medical doctor in 1955 from Cairo University. That year she married Ahmed Helmi, who she met as a fellow student in medical school. The marriage ended two years later. Through her medical practice, she observed women's physical and psychological problems and connected them with oppressive

cultural practices, patriarchal oppression, class oppression and imperialist oppression.

While working as a doctor in her birthplace of Kafr Tahla, she observed the hardships and inequalities faced by rural women. After attempting to protect one of her patients from domestic violence, Saadawi was summoned back to Cairo. She eventually became the Director of Public Health and met her third husband, Sherif Hetata, while sharing an office in the Ministry of Health. Hetata, also a medical doctor and writer, had been a political prisoner for 13 years. They married in 1964 and have a son and a daughter.In 1972 she published Al-Mar'a wa Al-Jins (Woman and Sex), confronting and contextualising various aggressions perpetrated against women's bodies, including female circumcision, which became a foundational text of second-wave feminism. As a consequence of the book as well as her political activities, Saadawi was dismissed from her position at the Ministry of Health.Similar pressures cost her a later position as chief editor of a health journal and as Assistant General Secretary in the Medical Association in Egypt. From 1973 to 1976 she worked on researching women and neurosis in the Ain Shams University's Faculty of Medicine. From 1979 to 1980 she was the United Nations Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa (ECA) and Middle East (ECWA).

Long viewed as controversial and dangerous by the Egyptian government, in 1981 Saadawi helped publish a feminist magazine, Confrontation, and was imprisoned in September by President Anwar al-Sadat.She was released later that year, one month after his assassination. Of her experience she wrote: "Danger has been a part of my life ever since I picked up a pen and wrote. Nothing is more perilous than truth in a world that lies."

Saadawi was one of the women held at Qanatir Women's Prison. Her incarceration formed the basis for her memoir, Mudhakkirâtî fî sijn an-nisâʾ (Memoirs from the Women's Prison, 1983). Her contact with a prisoner at Qanatir, nine years before she was imprisoned there, served as inspiration for an earlier work, a novel titled Imraʾah ʿinda nuqṭat aṣ-ṣifr (A Woman at Point Zero, 1975).

In 1988, when her life was threatened by Islamists and political persecution, Saadawi was forced to flee Egypt. She accepted an offer to teach at Duke University's Asian and African Languages Department in North Carolina as well as

the University of Washington in Seattle. She has since held positions at a number of prestigious colleges and universities including Cairo University, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the Sorbonne, Georgetown, Florida State University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1996, she moved back to Egypt. Nawal thus speaks fluent English in addition to her native Arabic.

She has continued her activism and considered running in the 2005 Egyptian presidential election, before stepping out because of stringent requirements for first-time candidates. She was awarded the 2004 North-South Prize by the Council of Europe. She was among the protesters in Tahrir Square in 2011.She has called for the abolition of religious instruction in the Egyptian schools.

List of Nawal el Saadawi’s works:

Here is the list of el Saadawi’s works all originals in Arabic. Many have been translated into English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Indonesian, Japanese, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and other 30 languages.

FICTION:

NOVELS (in Arabic):

• Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (Cairo, 1958)

• The Absent One (Cairo, 1969)

• Two Women in One (Cairo, 1971)

• Woman at Point Zero (Beirut, 1973)

• The Death of the Only Man on Earth (Beirut, 1975) • The Children’s Circling Song (Beirut, 1976)

• The Fall of the Imam (Cairo, 1987)

• Ganat and the Devil (Beirut, 1991) • Love in the Kingdom of Oil (Cairo, 1993) • The Novel (Dar El Hilal Publishers Cairo 2004) • Zeina, Novel (Dar Al Saqi Beirut, 2009)

SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS (in Arabic): • I Learnt Love (Cairo, 1957)

• A Moment of Truth (Cairo, 1959)

• Little Tenderness (Cairo, 1960)

• The Thread and the Wall (Cairo, 1972)

• Ain El Hayat (Beirut, 1976)

• She was the Weaker (Beirut, 1977)

• Death of an Ex-minister (Beirut, 1978)

• Adab Am Kellet Abad (Cairo, 2000)

PLAYS (in Arabic):

• Twelve Women in a Cell (Cairo, 1984)

• Isis (Cairo, 1985)

• God Resigns in the Summit Meeting (1996), published by Madbouli, and other

four plays included in her Collected Works (45 books in Arabic) published by Madbouli in Cairo 2007

NON-FICTION: MEMOIRS (in Arabic):

• Memoirs in a Women’s Prison (Cairo, 1983)

• My Travels Around the World (Cairo, 1986)

• Memoirs of a Child Called Soad (Cairo, 1990)

• My Life, Part I, Autobiography (Cairo, 1996) • My Life, Part II, Autobiography (Cairo, 1998) • My Life, Part III, (Cairo, 2001)

BOOKS (Non Fiction) (in Arabic):

• Women and Sex (Cairo, 1969)

• Woman is the Origin (Cairo, 1971)

• The Naked Face of Arab Women (Cairo, 1974)

• Women and Neurosis (Cairo, 1975)

• On Women (Cairo, 1986)

• A New Battle in Arab Women Liberation (Cairo, 1992)

• Collection of Essays (Cairo, 1998) • Collection of Essays (Cairo, 2001)

• Breaking Down Barriers (Cairo, 2004)

BOOKS TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH:

• The Hidden Face of Eve [Study] (London: Zed Books, 1980), re issued 2008

•

• God Dies by the Nile [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1984) reissued 2008

• Circling Song [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1986) reissued 2008

• The Fall of Imam [novel] (London: Methuen, 1987) Saqui Books London 2001 ,

2009

• Searching [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1988) reissued 2008

• Death of an Ex-minister [short stories] (London: Methuen, 1987) • She has no Place in Paradise [short stories] (London: Methuen, 1987)

• My Travel Around the World [non-fiction] (London: Methuen, 1985)

• Memoirs from the Women’s Prison [non-fiction] (London: Women’s Press,

1985) (also:

• Two Women in One [novel] (London: Al-Saqi Books, 1992)

• Memoirs of a Women Doctor [novel] (London: Methuen, 1994) (also: City

Lights, USA, 1993)

• The Well of Life [two novels] (London: Methuen, 1994)

• The Innocence of the Devil [novel] (London: Methuen, 1994) (also: University of California Press, 1995)

• Nawal El Saadawi Reader [non-fiction essays] (London: Zed Books, 1997)

• Vol 11 Nawal El Saadawi Reader (Zed Books 2009)

• Part I A Daughter of Isis [autobiography] (London: Zed Books, 1999) reissued

• Part II Walking Through Fire [autobiography] (London: Zed Books, 2002) reissued 2008

• Love in the Kingdom of oil [novel] (London: Alsaqui Books, 2001)

• The Novel [novel] (Northampton, Mass: Interlink Books, 2009)

• Zeina [novel] (London: Saqi Books, 2011)

Appendix2: Summary of the novel: Woman At Point Zero

The novel opens with a psychiatrist who is researching inmates at a women's prison. The prison doctor speaks of a woman, Firdaus, who is unlike any of the murderers in the prison: she rarely eats or sleeps, she never talks, she never accepts visitors. She feels certain the woman is incapable of murder, but she has refused to sign any appeals on her behalf. The psychiatrist makes several attempts to speak with her, but Firdaus declines. This rejections causes the psychiatrist to have a crisis of self-confidence. She became consumed with the idea that Firdaus was better than herself, and possibly better than even the president, whom she has refused to send an appeal to. As the psychiatrist is leaving the warder comes to her with an urgent message: Firdaus wants to speak to her. Upon meeting, Firdaus promptly tells her to close the window, sit down, and listen. She explains that she is going to be executed that evening and she wants to tell her life story.

Firdaus describes a poor childhood in a farming community. She recalls that she was confused by the disparity between her father's actions, such as beating her mother, and his dedication to the Islamic faith. Those days were relatively happy days, as she was sent out to the fields to work and tend the goats. She enjoys the friendship of a boy named Mohammadain, with whom she plays "bride and bridegroom," and describes her first encounters with clitoral stimulation. One day Firdaus's mother sends for a woman with a knife, who mutilated her genitals. From that point on Firdaus is assigned work in the home. Firdaus' uncle begins to take a sexual interest in her and she describes her new lack of clitoral sensitivity, noting, "He was doing to me what Mohammadain had done to me before. In fact, he was doing even more, but I no longer felt the strong sensation of pleasure that radiated from an unknown and yet familiar part of my body. ... It was as if I could not longer

recall the exact spot from which it used to arise, or as though a part of me, of my being, was gone and would never return."

After the death of her mother and father, Firdaus is taken in by her uncle, who sends her to primary school. Firdaus loves school. She maintains a close relationship with her uncle, who continues to take an interest in her sexually. After Firdaus receives her primary school certificate a distance grows between uncle and niece, and her uncle marries and withdraws all affection and attention. Tensions between Firdaus and her aunt-in-law build until Firdaus is placed in boarding school, where Firdaus falls in love with a female teacher named Miss Iqbal, whom she feels a mutual connection to, but Iqbal keeps her at an arm's length and never allows her to get close.

Upon graduation, Firdaus' aunt convinces her uncle to arrange her marriage with Sheikh Mahmoud, a "virtuous man" who needs an obedient wife. Firdaus considers running away but ultimately submits to the marriage. Mahmoud repulses her—he is forty years older and has a sore on his chin that oozes pus. He stays home all day, micromanaging Firdaus' every action, and begins to physically abuse her.

Firdaus runs away and wanders the streets aimlessly until she stops to rest at a coffee shop. The owner, Bayoumi, offers her tea and a place to stay until she finds a job. Firdaus accepts. After several months, Firdaus tells him she wants to find a job and her own place to live. Bayoumi immediately becomes violent and beats her saveagely. He starts locking her up during the day and allows his friends to abuse, insult, and rape her. Eventually, Firdaus is able enlist the aid of a female neighbor, who calls a carpenter to open the door, allowing her to escape.

While on the run, Firdaus meets the madame Sharifa Salah el Dine, who takes her into her brothel as a high-class prostitute. She tells Firdaus that all men are the same and that she must be harder than life if she wants to live. In exchange for working in Sharifa's brothel Firdaus is given beautiful clothes and delicious food, but she has no pleasure in life. One evening she overhears an argument between Sharifa and her pimp, Fawzy, who wants to take Firdaus as his own. They argue, and Fawzy overpowers Sharifa and rapes her. Firdaus realizes that even Sharifa does not have true power and she runs away.

Firdaus is wandering in the dark and rain when she is picked up by a stranger who takes her back to his home. He sleeps with her, but he is not as disgusting as the

other men she's dealt with in her profession, and after they are done he gives her a 10 pound note. This is a moment of awakening for Firdaus, and she recalls that it, "solved the enigma in one swift, sweeping moment, tore away the shroud that covered up a truth I had in fact experienced when still a child, when for the first time my father gave me a coin to hold in my hand, and be mine." Firdaus realizes that she can exert her power over men by rejecting them, and can force men to yield to her will by naming her own price; she gains self-confidence and soon becomes a wealthy and highly sought prostitute. She employs a cook and an assistant, works whatever hours she wishes, and cultivates powerful friendships. One day, her friend Di'aa tells her she is not respectable. This insult has a jarring and immediate impact on Firdaus, who comes to realize that she can no longer work as a prostitute. She takes a job at a local office and refuses to offer her body to the higher officials for promotions or raises. Although Firdaus believed that her new job would bring respect, she makes significantly less money than when working as a prostitute, and lives in squalid conditions. Furthermore, her office job gave her little autonomy or freedom which she values so highly. She eventually falls in love with Ibrahim, a coworker and revolutionary chairman, with whom she develops a deep emotional connection. But when Ibrahim announces his engagement to the chairman's daughter, which has clearly been engineered to help his career, Firdaus realizes he does not reciprocate her feelings and only used her for sex.

Crushed and disillusioned, Firdaus returns to prostitution, and once again amasses great wealth and becomes highly influential. Her success attracts the attention of the pimp Marzouk, who has many political connections and threatens her with police action. He repeatedly beats Firdaus and forces her to give him larger percentages of her earnings. Firdaus decides to leave and take up another job, but Marzouk blocks her way and tells her she can never leave. When he pulls a knife Firdaus stabs him to death.

High with the sense of her new freedom, Firdaus walks the streets until she is picked up by a high-profile Arabian prince, who she refuses until he agrees to her price of 3,000 pounds. As soon as the transaction is over, she tells him that she killed a man. He doesn't believe her, but she scares him to the point that he is convinced. The prince has her arrested and Firdaus is sentenced to death. Firdaus says that she has been sentenced to death because they were afraid to let her live, for, "My life

means their death. My death means their life. They want to live." As she is finishing her story, armed policemen come for her, and the psychiatrist sits, stunned, as Firdaus is taken to be executed, and realizes that Firdaus has more courage than her.

Appendix 3 : Biography of Melton A. McLaurin

Melton Alonza McLaurin received his Ph.D. in American history from the University of South Carolina in 1967 and taught at the University of South Alabama prior to joining the UNCW department of history as chairperson in 1977. From 1996 until 2003 he served as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, retiring in 2004. He is the author or co-author of nine books and numerous articles on various aspects of the history of the American South and race relations.

He was born in Fayetteville, NC, the United States on July 11,1941. McLaruin’s interest in race relations started long before he became a history professor. In fact, it started in seventh grade when he went to work at his grandfather's store in Wade, a village near Fayetteville. It was 1953. The store stood on the line between the town's black and white sections. Young Melton had little interest in the mundane conversations of his white neighbors, but coming to know the town's black citizens was like looking into another world.

“I was in the last generation to grow up in segregation,” he said.

That lifelong fascination led McLaurin to write “Separate Pasts: Growing Up in the Segregated South,” a 1987 autobiographical book that received the Lillian Smith Award for Nonfiction, and “Celia, a Slave,” a 1991 New York Times notable book selection.

It spurred him to obtain a grant for the University of North Carolina Wilmington's 1998 symposium “Wilmington's Racial Violence of1898 and Its Legacy.” He was active in the 1898 Foundation, whose work culminated in the building of the 1898 monument dedicated on the 110th anniversary of the riot. And it inspired McLaurin to write and direct “The Marines of Montford Point,” a documentary produced by UNCW-Television in 2006 about the first black Marines, who trained in a section of Camp Lejeune during World War II. The film, narrated by Louis Gossett Jr., has been shown on many PBS stations across the country. McLaurin taught at the University of South Alabama before joining UNCW as

chairman of the history department. In 1996 he became associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. He retired in 2004.

List of His Works:

• Paternalism And Protest; Southern Cotton Mill Workers And Organized Labor. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Greenwood Press, 1875

• The Image of Progress: Alabama Photographs. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of Alabama Press, 1872

• Southern Cultures. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Allan Araganus, 1997

• You Wrote My Life: Lyrical Themes in Country Music. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Routledge, 1992

• The Knights of Labor in The South. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Greenwood, 1978

• The Marines of Montford Point: America’s First Black Marines. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of North Carolina Press, 2007

• The Wayward Girls of Samarcand. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Bradley Creek Press, 2012

• Celia a Slave. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Avon, 1991

• Separate Pasts: Growing Up White In the Segregated South. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of Georgia Press, 1998

Appendix 4: Summary of the novel: Celia, A Slave

Around 1820, Robert Newsom and his family left Virginia and headed west, finally settling land along the Middle River in southern Callaway County, Missouri. By 1850 (according to the census), Newsom owned eight-hundred acres of land and livestock that included horses, milk cows, beef cattle, hogs, sheep, and two oxen. Like the majority of Callaway County farmers, Newsom also owned slaves-five male slaves as of 1850. During the summer of 1850, Newsom purchased from a slave owner in neighboring Audrain County a sixth slave, a fourteen-year-old girl named Celia. Shortly after returning with Celia to his farm, Newsom raped her. For female slaves, rape was an "ever present threat" and, far too often, a reality. Over the next

five years, Newsom would make countless treks to Celia's slave cabin, located in a grove of fruit trees some distance from his main house, and demand sex from the teenager he considered his concubine. Celia gave birth to two children between 1851 and 1855, the second being the son of Robert Newsom.

Sometime before 1855, a real lover, another one of Newsom's slaves named George, entered Celia's life. On several occasions, George "stayed" at Celia's cabin, although whether for a few hours or an entire night is unknown. In late winter, either February or early March, of 1855, Celia again became pregnant. The pregnancy affected George, and caused him to insist that Celia put an end to the pattern of sexual exploitation by Newsom that continued to that time. George informed Celia that "he would have nothing more to do with her if she did not quit the old man" [trial testimony of Jefferson Jones]. Celia approached Newsom's daughters, Virginia and Mary, asking their help in getting Newsom "to quit forcing her while she was sick." It is not clear whether either of the Newsom daughters made any attempt to intervene on Celia's behalf, but it is known that the sexual assaults continued. In desperation, Celia begged Newsom to leave her alone, at least through her pregnancy, but the slave owner was unreceptive to her please.

On June 23, 1855, Newsom told Celia "he was coming to her cabin that night." Around 10 P.M., Newsom left his bedroom and walked the fifty yards to Celia's brick cabin. When Newsom told Celia it was time for sex, she retreated to a corner of the cabin. He advanced toward her. Celia then grabbed a stick placed there earlier in the day. Celia raised the stick, "about as large as the upper part of a Windsor chair, but not so long," and struck her master hard over the head. Newsom groaned and "sunk down on a stool or towards the floor." Celia clubbed Newsom over the head a second time, killing him [testimony of Jefferson Jones]. After making sure "he was dead," Celia spent an hour or so pondering her next step. Finally she decided to burn Newsom's body in her fireplace. She went outside to gather staves and used them to build a raging fire. Then she dragged the corpse over to the fireplace and pushed it into the flames. She kept the fire going through the night. In the early morning, she gathered up bone fragments from the ashes and smashed them against the hearth stones, then threw the particles back into the fireplace. A few larger pieces of bone she put "under the hearth, and under the floor between a sleeper and the fireplace." Shortly before daybreak, Celia carried some of the ashes out into

the yard and then went to bed. In the morning, as Newsom's family was growing concerned about Robert's disappearance, Celia enlisted the help of Newsom's grandson, Coffee Waynescot, in shoveling ashes out of her fireplace and into a bucket. Coffee testified later he decided to help when the slave said "she would give me two dozen walnuts if I would carry the ashes out; I said good lick." Following Celia's instruction, Coffee distributed the remains of his grandfather along a path leading to the stables.

On the morning of the 24th, Virginia Newsom searched for her father in along nearby creek banks and coves, fearing he might have drowned. By mid-morning, the search party grew to include several neighbors and Newsom's son, Harry. After fruitless hours of searching, suspicion began to turn to George, who--it was thought-- might have been motivated to kill Newsom out of jealousy. William Powell, owner both of slaves and an adjoining 160-acre farm, questioned George. George denied any knowledge of what might have happened to Newsom, but then added-- suspiciously--"it was not worth while to hunt for him any where except close to the house." Faced with, most likely, severe threats, George eventually provided an additional damning bit of information. He told Powell "he believed the last walking [Newsom] had done was along the path, pointing to the path leading from the house to the Negro cabin." George's comment immediately led investigators to the conclusion that Newsom had been killed in Celia's cabin.

When a search of Celia's cabin failed to turn up Newsom's body, Powell and the others located Celia doing her regular duties in the kitchen of the Newsom home. Powell falsely claimed that George had told the search party that "she knew where her master was," hoping this approach might prompt a quick confession from Celia. Instead, Celia denied any knowledge of her master's fate. Faced with escalating threats, including the threat of having her children taken away from her, Celia continued to insist on her innocence. (She undoubtedly understood that confessing to the murder of her master would be an even more serious threat to her relationship with her children.) Eventually, however, Celia admitted that Newsom had indeed visited her cabin seeking sex the previous night. She insisted that Newsom never entered her cabin, but rather that she struck him as he leaned inside the window and "he fell back outside and she saw nothing more of him." Finally, after refusing "for some time to tell anything more," Celia promised to tell more if Powell would "send

chairman of the history department. In 1996 he became associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. He retired in 2004.

List of His Works:

• Paternalism And Protest; Southern Cotton Mill Workers And Organized Labor. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Greenwood Press, 1875

• The Image of Progress: Alabama Photographs. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of Alabama Press, 1872

• Southern Cultures. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Allan Araganus, 1997

• You Wrote My Life: Lyrical Themes in Country Music. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Routledge, 1992

• The Knights of Labor in The South. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Greenwood, 1978

• The Marines of Montford Point: America’s First Black Marines. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of North Carolina Press, 2007

• The Wayward Girls of Samarcand. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Bradley Creek Press, 2012

• Celia a Slave. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, Avon, 1991

• Separate Pasts: Growing Up White In the Segregated South. Melton Alonza Mc.Laurin, University of Georgia Press, 1998

Appendix 4: Summary of the novel: Celia, A Slave

Around 1820, Robert Newsom and his family left Virginia and headed west, finally settling land along the Middle River in southern Callaway County, Missouri. By 1850 (according to the census), Newsom owned eight-hundred acres of land and livestock that included horses, milk cows, beef cattle, hogs, sheep, and two oxen. Like the majority of Callaway County farmers, Newsom also owned slaves-five male slaves as of 1850. During the summer of 1850, Newsom purchased from a slave owner in neighboring Audrain County a sixth slave, a fourteen-year-old girl named Celia. Shortly after returning with Celia to his farm, Newsom raped her. For female slaves, rape was an "ever present threat" and, far too often, a reality. Over the next

five years, Newsom would make countless treks to Celia's slave cabin, located in a grove of fruit trees some distance from his main house, and demand sex from the teenager he considered his concubine. Celia gave birth to two children between 1851 and 1855, the second being the son of Robert Newsom.

Sometime before 1855, a real lover, another one of Newsom's slaves named George, entered Celia's life. On several occasions, George "stayed" at Celia's cabin, although whether for a few hours or an entire night is unknown. In late winter, either February or early March, of 1855, Celia again became pregnant. The pregnancy affected George, and caused him to insist that Celia put an end to the pattern of sexual exploitation by Newsom that continued to that time. George informed Celia that "he would have nothing more to do with her if she did not quit the old man" [trial testimony of Jefferson Jones]. Celia approached Newsom's daughters, Virginia and Mary, asking their help in getting Newsom "to quit forcing her while she was sick." It is not clear whether either of the Newsom daughters made any attempt to intervene on Celia's behalf, but it is known that the sexual assaults continued. In desperation, Celia begged Newsom to leave her alone, at least through her pregnancy, but the slave owner was unreceptive to her please.

On June 23, 1855, Newsom told Celia "he was coming to her cabin that night." Around 10 P.M., Newsom left his bedroom and walked the fifty yards to Celia's brick cabin. When Newsom told Celia it was time for sex, she retreated to a corner of the cabin. He advanced toward her. Celia then grabbed a stick placed there earlier in the day. Celia raised the stick, "about as large as the upper part of a Windsor chair, but not so long," and struck her master hard over the head. Newsom groaned and "sunk down on a stool or towards the floor." Celia clubbed Newsom over the head a second time, killing him [testimony of Jefferson Jones]. After making sure "he was dead," Celia spent an hour or so pondering her next step. Finally she decided to burn Newsom's body in her fireplace. She went outside to gather staves and used them to build a raging fire. Then she dragged the corpse over to the fireplace and pushed it into the flames. She kept the fire going through the night. In the early morning, she gathered up bone fragments from the ashes and smashed them against the hearth stones, then threw the particles back into the fireplace. A few larger pieces of bone she put "under the hearth, and under the floor between a sleeper and the fireplace." Shortly before daybreak, Celia carried some of the ashes out into

the yard and then went to bed. In the morning, as Newsom's family was growing concerned about Robert's disappearance, Celia enlisted the help of Newsom's grandson, Coffee Waynescot, in shoveling ashes out of her fireplace and into a bucket. Coffee testified later he decided to help when the slave said "she would give me two dozen walnuts if I would carry the ashes out; I said good lick." Following Celia's instruction, Coffee distributed the remains of his grandfather along a path leading to the stables.

On the morning of the 24th, Virginia Newsom searched for her father in along nearby creek banks and coves, fearing he might have drowned. By mid-morning, the search party grew to include several neighbors and Newsom's son, Harry. After fruitless hours of searching, suspicion began to turn to George, who--it was thought-- might have been motivated to kill Newsom out of jealousy. William Powell, owner both of slaves and an adjoining 160-acre farm, questioned George. George denied any knowledge of what might have happened to Newsom, but then added-- suspiciously--"it was not worth while to hunt for him any where except close to the house." Faced with, most likely, severe threats, George eventually provided an additional damning bit of information. He told Powell "he believed the last walking [Newsom] had done was along the path, pointing to the path leading from the house to the Negro cabin." George's comment immediately led investigators to the conclusion that Newsom had been killed in Celia's cabin.

When a search of Celia's cabin failed to turn up Newsom's body, Powell and the others located Celia doing her regular duties in the kitchen of the Newsom home. Powell falsely claimed that George had told the search party that "she knew where her master was," hoping this approach might prompt a quick confession from Celia. Instead, Celia denied any knowledge of her master's fate. Faced with escalating threats, including the threat of having her children taken away from her, Celia continued to insist on her innocence. (She undoubtedly understood that confessing to the murder of her master would be an even more serious threat to her relationship with her children.) Eventually, however, Celia admitted that Newsom had indeed visited her cabin seeking sex the previous night. She insisted that Newsom never entered her cabin, but rather that she struck him as he leaned inside the window and "he fell back outside and she saw nothing more of him." Finally, after refusing "for some time to tell anything more," Celia promised to tell more if Powell would "send

two men [Newsom's two sons] out of the room." When Harry and David left, Celia confessed to the murder of Robert Newsom. Following Celia's confession, the search party located Newsom's ashes along the path to the stables. They also gathered bits of bones from Celia's fireplace, larger bone fragments from under the hearth stone, and Newsom's burnt buckle, buttons, and blackened pocketknife.

The political implications of Celia's trial could not have escaped Circuit Court Judge William Hall. Certainly, he knew, proslavery Missourians expected Celia to hang. Hall's choice as Celia's defense attorney, John Jameson, was a safe one. Jameson's reputation as a competent, genial member of the bar and his lack of involvement in the heated slavery debates (despite being a slave owner himself) ensured that his selection would not be seriously contested. Jameson could provide the defendant with satisfactory--but not too satisfactory--representation. In addition, Hall appointed two young lawyers, Isaac Boulware and Nathan Kouns, to assist Jameson in his defense.

Celia's jurors, of course, were all male. They ranged in age from thirty-four to seventy-five and, with one exception, were married with children. All were farmers. Several were slave owners. The prosecution's first witness, Jefferson Jones, described his conversation with Celia in the Callaway County jail. He told jurors Celia's account of the murder and how she had disposed of the body. On cross- examination, Jameson questioned Jones about what Celia had said about the sexual nature of her relationship to the deceased. Jones testified that he had "heard" Newsom raped her soon after her purchase from an Audrain County farmer--and that Celia told him that Newsom had continued to demand sex in the five years that followed. Jones also acknowledged that Celia had told him that she "did not intend to kill" Newsom, "only to hurt him."Virginia Waynescot, Newsom's eldest daughter, testified next. She described the search for her father on direct examination, testifying, "I hunted on all of the paths and walks and every place for him," including "caves and along the creeks," but "I found no trace of him."Virginia faced questioning on cross-examination concerning Celia's possible motive for the killing. She admitted that Celia became pregnant ("took sick") in February "and had been sick ever since"-- too sick even to cook for the Newsom.

After Coffee Waynescot described for jurors his unknowing dumping of his grandfather's ashes, William Powell took the stand. Jameson cross-examined Powell

vigorously, gaining admissions from the search party leader that he had threatened Celia with the loss of her children and with hanging to obtain her confession. Powell also testified that Celia had complained that Newsom repeatedly demanded sex and that the slave girl had approached other Newsom family members in a vain attempt to stop the rapes. Powell also admitted that Celia told him that her attack on Newsom came from desperation and that she only intended to injure, not kill, her master. After Powell's testimony, the prosecution called two doctors who identified the bone fragments found in Celia's cabin as those from an adult human. Following the doctors' testimony, the state rested its case.Dr. James Martin, a Fulton physician, testified first for the defense. (Celia, as a slave, was not called as a witness. Under the existing law in Missouri and most other states, a criminal defendant could not-- under "the interested party rule"--testify.Celia's attorneys appeared again in court the next day to move for a new trial, based on Judge Hall's evidentiary rulings during the proceeding and his allegedly erroneous instructions. Judge Hall took twenty-four hours to consider the defense motion, then rejected it and sentenced Celia to be "hanged by the neck until dead on the sixteenth day of November 1855." The defense motion that it be allowed to appeal the judge's ruling to the Missouri Supreme Court was granted.

In jail awaiting her execution, Celia delivered a stillborn child. As the date for her execution approached, still no word had come from Jefferson City on her appeal filed in the Missouri Supreme Court. The possibility that she might be hanged before her appeal was decided seemed ever more real to Celia's defense team and whoever else she might count among her supporters. Something had to be done. On November 11, five days before her scheduled date with the gallows, Celia and another inmate were removed from the Callaway County jail, either with the assistance or the knowledge of her defense lawyers. The defense team, in a letter to Supreme Court Justice Abiel Leonard written less than a month after her escape, noted that Celia "was taken out [of jail] by someone" and that they felt "more than ordinary interest in behalf of the girl Celia" owing to the circumstances of her act. Celia was returned to jail--by whom it is not known--in late November, only after her scheduled execution date had passed. Following her return, Judge Hall set a new execution date of December 21--a date, the defense hoped, that would give the Supreme Court time to issue its decision on their appeal.

The Supreme Court ruled against Celia in her appeal. In their December 14 order, the state justices said they "thought it proper to refuse the prayer of the petitioner," having found "no probable cause for her appeal." The stay of execution, the justices wrote, is "refused."Celia was interviewed for a final time in her cell on the evening before her execution. Again, she denied that "anyone assisted her...or abetted her in any way." She told her interrogator, as reported in the Fulton Telegraph, "as soon as I struck him the Devil got into me, and I struck him with a stick until he was dead, and then rolled him into the fire and burnt him up." Celia died on the gallows at 2:30 P.M. on December 21, 1855.