All posts by Jasmine Erfan

“In Camera”

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Nawal el Saadawi’s “In Camera” is a short story about how a young woman named Leila Al-Fargani is put on trial for something ridiculous: referring to the President as ‘stupid’. Saadawi writes about many issues, including the roles of women and the dehumanization of the female sex.

Throughout this time period, especially in Egypt, women were considered inferior to men and were told not to speak most of the time. This is exactly what Leila Al-Fargani does, as she speaks her mind and calls the President ‘stupid.’ The President is portrayed in a somewhat godly fashion, as the judge states: “This student, who is not yet twenty years old, refers to Him, whom God protect to lead this noble nation all his life, as ‘stupid.'” However, his high status wasn’t what got her trouble, but the destruction of societal boundaries is what got her in trouble. Clearly, Leila is put on trial for disobeying the societal norms. This claim is furthered when her mother asks: “What’s politics got to do with you? You’re not a man. Girls of your age think only about marriage” (1109). Women were not allowed to do the things that men were able to do, especially politics, since she was living in a fairly patriarchal society. Women weren’t meant to live for themselves, but for men. Saadawi sees fault in this, since women had their own lives to live and their own opinions, so they should be able to state what they feel, without being punished by other males, which is in this case, the judge and the President.

Another evident theme in this short story, is the issue of violence against women. Throughout the story, Leila has flashbacks of a series of terrible events. She constantly remembers the incident where a group of men raped her, until “her tongue, her eyes, her mouth, her nose, all part of her body, were constrained” (1106). While she is being raped, one of the men say: “This is the way we torture you women – by depriving you of the most valuable thing you possess” (1113). This clearly illustrates what men felt towards women, as they felt that the only thing valuable about a woman is what is in between their legs. However, Leila responds with “You fool! And the most valuable thing I possess is not between my legs. You’re all stupid. And the most stupid among you is the one who leads you” (1113). Her response furthers the idea the Leila, unlike other women, was able to speak her thoughts, without the fear of punishment from men.

El Saadawi’s writing is one of the many stories that questions the roles of women, like Wollstonecraft, Sor Juana, etc. It is very interesting how in all different parts of the world, women were considering inferior to men, and how these group of women authors went against what was expected of them, and wrote powerful stories that strove to make a change.

 

Bartleby the Scrivener : A Story of Wall Street

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While reading what can be called a “biography” of Bartleby, I found that Bartleby had a very strange, yet captivating personality. I felt that his emotionless characterization was somewhat a way of shielding his true inner emotions: a sad and depressed human. However, as readers, we don’t realize this until the end of the story. In the beginning, he seems obedient and hard-working. The lawyer applauds his diligence, as he completed “an extraordinary quantity of writing,” but realizes that “he wrote silently, palely, and mechanically” (301). The lawyer’s description is an accurate indication of Bartleby’s work-ethic, along with his true personality. But as time goes on, he becomes more stubborn and responds with “I would prefer not to” to all the tasks that the lawyer asks him to perform. His responses represents his carelessness and disregard of what other people think of him, even when it is towards his own powerful boss, who works on one of the most powerful financial capital, Wall Street. However, the lawyer does not become angry nor agitated, but a sense of curiosity fills his mind. I found this rather interesting since the lawyer is paying Bartleby to work for him, yet he doesn’t lose his temper when Bartleby basically rejects all his requests. Nowadays, someone who disobeys or doesn’t do as they are told, would get fired. Later on in the story, the lawyer discovers that Bartleby lives in the office, which he finds astonishing. I feel that this was one of the big indications that Bartleby was, indeed, depressed and lonely. He probably didn’t have a family, nor anyone to talk to; that is enough to make someone upset and somewhat anti-social.  Once, Bartleby is forced to leave the office, even after the new lawyer has taken over the space, he refuses; further illustrating his stubborn personality. He is then thrown in jail, where we learn that Bartleby previously worked at a Dead Letter office. This aspect of Bartleby’s sad life is an indication of why he is the way he is. Anyone would progressively become dispirited and glum after reading over the deaths of a countless number of people. It could be said that the cause of Bartleby’s internal death, rather than his physical death, was ultimately from sadness, not from being in the jail. But why are the last lines of the story, “Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!” (321)? Perhaps, the lawyer feels as if humanity was the cause of his death. In other words, the death of Bartleby was caused by the harsh reality involved with life and that is death.