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Introduction
Hanna al-Shaykh, an Arabic author in her novel, the story of Zahra, features a troubling life of a young Arabic lady held captive inside herself via the societal demands and family treachery but at the end freed amidst the fighting taking place in her country of Lebanon. This novel mirrors the writer’s feminist empathy and her obsession with the modern Arab society. The novel tells a story of the life in Arabic society of Lebanon through the eyes of a youthful lady, Zahra, who as a kid is exploited to conceal her mother’s extramarital affair with a different man. Following a cruel beating by her vicious dad, who believes that Zahra is involved in her mother’s treachery, the previously brilliant child recoils into herself. She fanatically scuffs her pimple-filled face and gets on a worthless love with an already married gentleman. Zahra procures abortion twice. The family later sends her to Africa, a place in which her uncle who was one time vibrant in Lebanese political affairs now stays exiled. The nostalgic uncle is very much pleased with Zahra’s visit, but she is scared by the passion of the uncle’s interests that took a sexual turn. She hides inside the lavatory, the single thing she adored while in Africa (Al-Shaykh 21). In despair Zahra consents to a fruitless matrimony with the uncle’s colleague Majed, who is also a Lebanese national. Since Zahra’s marriage with Majed has failed, she becomes more solitary and introverted, and journey back to Beirut that is overwhelmed by conflict, a place in which conflict war is raging like a weevil in flour (Al-Shaykh 119).

When the conflict increases, Zahra’s parents travel to their rural community. Zahra, tussling with life, falls in love and starts to meet in secret for sexual engagements with a gentleman who might be a sniper whom she describes as the single god of death and alone danger to the community they live (Al-Shaykh 129). The man kills harmless bystanders from a close by high-rise building’s rooftop. Through this affair, Zahra desires a normal living; however, this is very late as she befalls a casualty of the town’s senseless fighting. A strongly unforgettable portrayal of innocence ruined by conflict at home as well as within the greater society.
Critical Review
The novel even though set in the Middle East state of Lebanon, it may be perceived as a universal since it raises issues that affect women worldwide such as violence. Zahra’s ordeals prior to and after the conflict demonstrate the way a troubled lady having mental disorder cope with life in a rather tough society. As Arabic lady having a mental illness, Zahra is an outcast: an isolated woman who simply cannot blend in. She is irritated at the favored care afforded to her sibling, Ahmad. Her dad is a strict martinet who beats her for removing her pimples and when he learns that she has been accompanying her mother to meet the secret lover. Her affair with Malek, who is married, makes her procure abortion twice. Therefore, it does not astonish that she desires personal space and to be away from everybody. While in Africa, she claims space by closing herself inside the lavatory for long periods. Moreover, it is ironical that the practices of peacetime burden her but the turmoil of conflict affords her liberty. She is also surprised by the occurrence and questions herself how she managed to feel very calm and at peace with herself in the face of the conflict that is raging the entire country but to her she can sleep calmly (Al-Shaykh 137).
While the portrayal of the conflict in Lebanon might not be as comprehensive or correct as other audience may hope, it is not this conflict that Al-Shaykh is endeavoring to express in the novel. The novel is not an account of the civil conflict in Lebanon. The author is illustrating the way this conflict is a catharsis for Zahra. Whereas most of the audiences’ focus may be to the horror as well as war uncertainties, the author paints Zahra as crazy and odd, who is capable of living her destiny amidst the warfare and societal demands on her.
The author tackles the strain on women and men within the society and during a conflict, illustrating that patriarchy as well as domination within the society impacts all. The author successfully investigates how women are confined and get past the patriarchal society as well as civil warfare. Despite her condition, Zahra negotiates the hard life in Lebanon prior to the war. She is beaten and gets abortions and then moves to Africa where she encounters other hurdles. During the war, she returns to Lebanon and encounters a personal threat, but the war affords her the social liberty. Through these experiences, in my opinion, Zahra obtains empowerment within her life as well as discovers how to get past the environment surrounding her. Regrettably, men respond to these challenges by injuring women near them, for example, Zahra’s dad beats her. Thus, the novel provides a necessary investigation of people’s hearts prior to and at the time of conflict. It causes the audience to think seriously about things they do as well as how they may harm others during their search for completeness (whether they endeavor to obtain it in love, revolt or warfare).
Lastly, Zahra’s narrative illustrates to the audience how other people and national desires, as well as hopes, impacts women and youths’ consciousness. Zahra is a young lady and the reason she appears as mentally ill is greatly attributed to how other persons are anticipating a lot from her. These people need Zahra to be flawless in the family, for the nation, for Islam and men desiring her. Therefore, she becomes very deep-rooted in these identities that Zahra underneath collapses into despondency and lunacy.
Conclusion
The novel affords a voice to the people especially women who were earlier silenced by the societal patriarchy. The author provides Zahra together with women like her, the strength to disclose as well as discover themselves within the framework of their environment rather than being swallowed up by the societal expectations and challenges. This novel aspires to challenge the traditional notions about women with regard to their liberty. Moreover, the author requires the audience to think about human conducts under cultural restraints as well as in circumstances where these cultural restraints have crumbled. The author by dealing with the intricate themes of fighting, political affairs, as well as other manifold types of societal oppression, especially to women, the novel is distant from a black-and-white account of women subjugation but a pinnacle of women freedom.
Works Cited
Al-Shaykh, Ḥanan. “The story of Zahra.” Quartet Books, AKM Associates (UK) Ltd, London. (1986): 1-184.