Theme of Identity for the Story of Zahra

Identity Written by Hanan al-Shaykh, the Story of Zahra is a very detailed and book that opens the sacred yet messed up life of Lebanese woman by the name of Zahra. A lady by the name of Semia Harbawi gives it the perfect explanation. She says “It is a thrust into those tender zones of the psyche laid open to a probing, inquisitive gaze”. The author of this book really gives the reader a 100% probing into this young lady’s life, with no regard for her secrets, short comings or her embarrassing thoughts and deeds. This is what gives this book its raw detailed edge that made me want to read more and more. The book shows constant instances of the betrayal of this woman’s trust, the total mutilation of her self-respect and her self-esteem and the continuous invasion of her personal life by strangers and hateful family members. This author shows the outside of the Islamic community what the life of woman that goes against the Qur'an looks like. She had the principles at heart but because along with the help of the continuous taunting of her whole community and the ones she loves most, she was otherwise forced to do the things that she did. In this essay I will explain one of the many negative encounters that Zahra had, IDENTITY PROBLEMS. She had what is called, Schizoid. This is a personality disorder that originates from a lack of interest in social relationships and results in a tendency towards a solitary lifestyle, secretiveness, emotional coldness, and sometimes (sexual) apathy, with a simultaneous rich, elaborate, and exclusively internal fantasy world. These symptoms are exactly what Zahra displays during the book. Ever since a little girl, Zahra’s mother Fatame, sows seeds of her daughter’s own destruction by always carrying her on the trips she took when she left the house to be with her outside man (master). Even though this may not seem extreme at the time to her mother, this is the tiny seed that did not take much time to eventually grow into a huge