God Dies by the Nile
Title; God Dies by the Nile
Author; Nawal EL Saadawi
Year of Publishing; 1985
Publisher; Zed Books Ltd
Pages; 138
God Dies by River Nile illustrates religious, political, and social issues in Kafr EL Teen, a village located on the banks of the River Nile. Nawal El Saadawi describes the life of a peasant woman, Zakeya, her son, Gala, brother Kafriwa, and two nieces, Zeinab and Nefissa. The Mayor is a strong political figure in the community and is surrounded by four individuals who help him control the village. These include the village guard, Sheikh Zahran; the village mosque's Imam, Sheikh Hamzawi; and the village doctor and barber, Haj Ismail. The Mayor is obsessed with Zakeya's nieces and forcefully wants to marry them. This leads to Nefissa escaping.
The story begins with Zakeya walking the buffalo to the water wheel and going to the fields to dig nonstop. On Fridays, Sheikh Hamzawi calls every man to attend the Mosque while women pray at home, but Zakeya does not adhere to this. Eventually, her family disintegrates; Kafriwa is arrested, Nefissa escapes, and she is left with Zeinab, who is young to perform most chores. She becomes sick and believes that evil spirits have stricken her, thus requesting the cleansing of Om Saber, who is neither a male nor a female but participates in most celebrations in the village, such as wedding and cleansing ceremonies.
Since Om Saber could not help, Haj Ismail convinces Zakeya that she is the cause of her family issues, and one way to solve that is by letting Zeinab work at the Mayor's house. Eventually, Galal returns and marries Zeinab, since he had wanted to before he was forced into the army, thus stopping her from going to the Mayor's house. This results in his arrest and the escape of Zeinab, thus leaving Zakeya alone.
Zakeya kept repeating that she knew who had caused her that mess; Allah. She disguises herself as one of the Mayor's cleaners, enters his house through the iron gate, hits him with a hoe, and kills him. She confesses that she buried him on the banks of the River Nile.
God Dies by the Nile is a feminist classic that deploys strong political powers. The Mayor controls the village system, and Saadawi notes that only the Mayor knows who is the man of God because he is certainly the village God, thus showing his immense powers. I love how the author brings Zakeya to a sudden awakening and realization that she is not the cause of problems in her family. Although the novel begins with a quiet, slow motion of the ancient culture of poor Egyptians, it develops into an interesting story of women's position in society. It is an intriguing story that I highly recommend to anyone.
