الفهرس 
Two Writers and Two Well-ChosenOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The thesis at hand is concerned with studying the condition of women in male-dominated societies through investigating women
victimization versus male violence. It specifically focuses on the theme
of revenge, in a feminist perspective, as a means of achieving retributive
justice. Thus, I made my focus on two novels: Taha Hussein’s Doa’a Al-
Karawan (The Call of the Curlew) 1934 and Erika Holzer’s Eye for an
Eye 1993 to compare. The reasons why I have chosen this subject are,
firstly, feminist psychology of revenge is a new and fertile soil for
research. Secondly, such comparison involving such a new novel Eye for
an Eye is untouched before. Thirdly, female attitudes have not been dealt
with before from this particular point of view. The study focuses on the feminist point of view towards the theme
of revenge, dealing with the tenet of eye for an eye in both cultures; the
American culture and the Egyptian one; and in the two religions;
Christianity and Islam, with a practice on Do’aa Al-Karawan (The Call of
the Curlew) by Taha Hussein and Eye for an Eye by Erika Holzer. The
thesis is based on an analytical critical approach through analyzing the
two novels taking in mind the objective way of analysis to a considering
extent. On the other hand, when revenge turns to the hands of a woman
against a masculine oppression, another important point shows itself into
the surface of the study. The status of women in a society and their
attitudes and reactions towards specific situations such as violent crimes
as rape with its kinds, patriarchal traditions, failing law justice system,
injustice and finally revenge–the theme of my study–are important points
to be studied for the two protagonists of both novels are females. This is
why feminism takes its place in my study.The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters and a
conclusion. Its introduction elucidates the principle of eye for an eye in
Islam and christianity as a preliminary step towards discussing the theme
of revenge, and some theoretical substances about feminism. The
introduction also focuses on the role of literature in investigating social
problems in a realistic way. By virtue of their realism, these two novels
can serve as a kind of documentary which gives us unadorned and true
picture of the life and manners of the time and the cultures to which they
pertain. Both writers attempt to give a genuine picture of the time these
novels were written in by presenting a realistic setting and real
philosophies of two women who try to revenge against other male
antagonists for the sake of other female innocent victims.
Eye for an eye is a religious principle in all the three religions;
Islam, christianity and Judaism. So revenge is every man’s right, in any
religion, if his right is rapped. This principle is also called ”mirror
punishment” in some contexts. ”Eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” is a
quotation from Exodus 21:23-27 in which a person who has taken the eye
of another in a fight is instructed to give his own eye in compensation.
The same quotation is also found in the Old Testament in Jesus of
Nazareth’s Sermon on the Mount. Its core is also found in the Holy
Qur’an, ”Life for life, eye for eye, nose for nose, ear for ear, tooth for
tooth, and wounds equal for equal” (El-Tawrah, 44). It is the principle of
retributive justice. The inevitable result is that the heavenly justice will
be achieved by any way and at any time. It is the fair compensation for
anyone to have his own right and to revenge what happened to him in a
violent way and against his desire. Applying this tenet, there would be a
simple equality of suffering.
Chapter One is entitled, Two Writers and Two Well-Chosen
Juxtapositions with elements of Similarity and Difference. It includes
identical, social and historical backgrounds on both writers and novels. It will tackle the biographies of Taha Hussein and Erika Holzer in addition
to studying the circumstances of the societies they were living in. As the
novels foreshadow the time, the society and the circumstances of the
protagonists, the thesis focuses on the differences between the two
societies and the two cultures, paying a considerable attention to critical
review points written on both novels.
The chapter shows that both writers had a rare and almost
unparalleled power of putting themselves in other people’s shoes, and of understanding other people’s lives and thought. In both novels, they
interweave the personal life of the individual with the social milieu. The
writers want their readers to concern themselves more with the moral of
their stories than with the particular incidents of them.
Taha Hussein (1889 - 1973) who was born in the middle Upper
Egypt was educated in Al-Azhar University, and this had given him a
wide background about his religion (Islam) which influenced his writings
to a great extent. He moved to Paris to complete his portion of
education, this also had its marvelous role to put him on the step to
understand the other different world of the West and to differentiate
between the two cultures. His novel Doa’a Al-karawan (The Call of the
Curlew) is one of the most famous novels in Egyptian literature. He
defends woman against the oppression of the male-dominated society of
that time in Egypt. Hussein made his protagonist Amna able to seek
revenge for a date rape victim, her sister Hanadi, and then a domestic
violence prey in the name of honor killing on the hands of a masculine
figure of her family, therefore her revenge is directed against male
members’ faults and misjudgments in both cases.
Erika Holzer (1953) is an American female novelist and essayist.
She is a lawyer who seeks human rights around her society, advocating
women rights specifically. Eye for an Eye is her second novel, published
in 1993. It is a disturbing look at street, urban violence, the criminal
justice system-a story of vigilantism growing out of the ongoing
American obsession with law and order. Its plot centers on a mother–
called Karen–who joins a vigilante group to revenge for her killed
daughter against her male violent rapists after the criminal justice system releases them for being juveniles.Chapter Two, entitled; Rape as an Act of Violence against
Women: Street Gangs in America versus Honor Killings in Egypt,
tackles the victimization dilemma of the two victims, on a basis of a
feminist critical analysis, illustrating a number of concepts that are settled down in favor of male figures against female rights. This chapter tackles the kinds of rape, the behavior of male rapists in two main frames; street
gangs in America versus honor killings in Egypt. It shows violence
against women in a feminist perspective discussing women victimization
in front of males’ power and oppression, applying all these concepts
analytically on the two compared novels.
Chapter Three deals with the theme of revenge according to a
feminist philosophical psychological consideration of revenge towards
justice; having the title of ’Revenge in the Psychological Feminist
Perspective and Heavenly Justice’. Both novels have a considerable
psychological interest, considering not only the outward actions of the
protagonists but also their inner thoughts and conflicts towards other
persons in different situations. Considering the fact that, the protagonist
in each novel is a female figure; so the term of feminism makes its
appearance clear and imposes itself for studying. Firstly, what is
feminism? Feminism implies that both genders are equal and have the
same rights. It is further maintained that gender leads to a social system
that is dominated by males, which in turn influences the individual
psycho-sexual development. Feminism focuses on the role of women in
the events around her, it also tries to criticize and re-evaluate the ideas of
traditional and judicial philosophy in a feminist view.
The protagonist, in both novels, is a female character. Amna is the
main character in Doa’a El-karwan. She is someone who is trying to
improve her social conditions. With the beginning of the novel, her sister
Hanadi was killed as a result of a male mistake. The antagonist rapped
her and as a result, she also became the victim of her society which
considers her in such case a sinner not a victim; the male traditions were
the main cause which makes her uncle to kill her. Amna proved to be a
strong woman who seeks revenge against this man. On the other hand, in
Eye for an Eye, the protagonist is female as well, she is a delicate mother
who loses her daughter in a rape accident of street gangs, and this is the point of her convert. She joins a vigilante group to revenge for her killed daughter after the criminal justice system releases her murderers. She seeks her revenge and also proves to be a strong woman to do that. The
two protagonists prove that women are able to do what men are capable
of with the same insistence but in a defensive revenging form not a
criminal violating one.
So, why is revenge? Again it is because of male mistakes, both of
them commit violent sexual affairs through acts of rape and murder
against their victims which is unaccepted in both cultures and also in
both religions. Thus the theme of revenge may be described as the novels’
”personal” and ”social” aspect respectively, and these two aspects are
closely related to each other. Both victims are oppressed by their
societies, and the main cause is that they are females judged by a male
mind.The study ends with a conclusion that deals with the findings and
summarizes the defending of my thesis, hoping it to be a useful research
in the field of comparative literature.