from a lower class. “I still had my secondary school certificate, my certificate of merit, and a sharp decisive mind determined to find respectable work” p. 79.
Unfortunately, having the best mark and a secondary certificate is not enough to have a better life. Her smartness seems useless because she cannot apply the
knowledge that she gets from school into the real life.
4.1.5 Brave
Firdaus is a brave woman. What makes her different from others is that she has a different perception about men. She thinks that as a woman she has to be
appreciated no matter how much she has to pay. Firdaus‟ experiences with men support her to be a respectable woman. By being a respectable woman, she will
not be treated badly by men. They are not even able to make their eyes run all over her body p. 79.
Life makes her a brave woman. There are many reasons which show that Firdaus is a brave woman, such as she used to live under men‟s control and she
hates men so much. The best of her act which shows her bravery is that when she chooses the death sentence rather than asking the President to pardon her. She
does not try to ask the pardon to the president. She says that it will be in vain. She adds that giving her freedom is as the same as letting her kill many more men.
„There‟s hope for your release if you send an appeal to the President asking him to pardon you for the crime you committed.‟
„But I don‟t want to be released.‟ I said, „and I want no pardon for my crime. For what you call my crime was no crime.‟
„You killed a man.‟ „If I go out once again to the life which is yours I will never stop killing.
So what is the use of my sending an appeal to the President to be pardoned?‟
„You criminal. You deserve to die.‟
„Everybody has to die. I prefer to die for crimes which you have committed.‟ p. 111
Those moments show that Firdaus is really a brave woman. Even, her bravery is shown from the beginning until the end of the story. When she loose her family
and has to live by herself, she faces it bravery. At the end, when she is sentenced to death she prefers to be sentenced to live under men‟s control. She is brave
enough to face the death soon in which she never imagined. In the rest of her life, she has really shown as a brave woman. She prefers
to die than live under men‟s authority. She is not even being afraid of death which is waiting for her in a short time.
Through many experiences in life, Firdaus is shaped to be a tough woman. Being abused by her uncle, exploited by the pimps, oppressed by many people
around her, is a hard life. Violences she usually gets from her mother and her father, marriage with a hideous man, and betrayed lovers, add bad experiences
that she has. Every time she makes love with a man, she always pretends that she feels the pleasure although the fact is she feels nothing p. 53.
When she is sitting on a bench near Nil River, she meets Sharifa Salah el Dine. She is very beautiful and gentle. It seems she comes from a high-class
family. She likes to be an obedient woman and never opposes anything in her life. In fact, she is a professional high-class prostitute. Firdaus does not believe that
she is a prostitute because her appearance does not look like a prostitute. She comes closer to her. She tells her many things. She also teaches her to be a tough
woman. She tells her that life is very hard, so she has to be harder than life. In the end, people who can safe are those who can struggle for life itself. “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” p. 57. Under Sharifa‟s guidance, she promises herself to be as strong as men at least. She does not want to be seen lower than them. She wants to abolish
woman‟s slavery created by men‟s control.
4.2 The Influence of Firdaus’ Experiences
This part discusses about the second question that is stated in the problem formulation. It deals with the influence of Firdaus‟ experiences with men which
influence her way in seeing men. During her life, Firdaus has many experiences with men and most of them are related to abuse. She believes that men control
everything in the country. Men consider women as second-class citizens and only good for sexual purposes and taking care of the family.
The concept of men‟s oppression, authority, control, and abuse is shaped and imprinted in her mind. Men are abusing since her childhood. It may happen
because her family belongs to lower class, thus people and its surrounding may live without any norms and values. However, a man is still the person who lives in
the top level of the household and the society. Shahan 1990 says that there are eight types of experiences; physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, virtual,
simulation gaming and subjective experiences para. 8. Some of them can be employed to analyze Firdaus‟ experiences which make her way in seeing man
change. Based on the story of the novel, she has physical, mental, emotional, and social experiences which most of them are dominated by men. Firdaus gets many
bad physical experiences from men. Sheikh Mahmoud and Bayoumi are men who
