Woman at Point Zero

Firdaus next finds herself in a new neighborhood where the streets and air are cleaner, along the Nile river. She stops to sit and rest, enjoying the breeze, and is soon approached by a woman filled with poise and confidence named Sharifa Salah el Dine. Firdaus is instantly swept away by Sharifa’s green eyes and green shawl and feels that she can trust her. Sharifa already seems to know what happened to Firdaus, asking her, “What did the son of a dog do to you?” (52). Firdaus tells her story as they walk back to Sharifa’s apartment, where Firdaus bathes and receives new clothes. Everything in Sharifa’s apartment feels soft and new, but Sharifa insists that she herself is hard and that Firdaus must learn to be “harder than life” (54) if she’s ever to live.

Sharifa begins teaching Firdaus to examine her past and herself and to see her own worth. Firdaus discovers that she’s beautiful and has a form much desired by men. Sharifa insists that women must determine their own worth because men will never be able to do so. She tells Firdaus that she won’t have to worry about finding men or demanding