Sins (Situational Irony)
“For was it not verily true that stealing was a sin, and killing was a sin, and defaming the honour of a woman was a sin, and injustice was a sin, and beating another human being was a sin…?” (Saadawi 28.)
After hearing the imam speak, Firdaus’s father and the other men of their farming community would meet and talk about the weekly prayer. They would remark on how eloquent and convincing the imam was when talking about being honorable and nonviolent. This is ironic because Firdaus’s father frequently stole from his neighbors and beat his wife, among other sins.
Hunger (Situational Irony)
“After he [Firdaus’s father] had eaten his meal, and beaten my mother and calmed down, he would ask me, ‘Are you hungry?'” (Saadawi 72.)
Firdaus’s father is a common source of irony in Woman at Point Zero because he often does and says ironic and/or hypocritical things. Here, after eating all of the food his wife prepared and leaving none for his starving children, he turns to Firdaus and asks, “Are you hungry?” This is highly ironic considering he is the principal reason Firdaus has no food.
A Prostitute's Life (Dramatic Irony)
“I came to realize that a female employee is more afraid of losing her job than a prostitute is of losing her life. An employee is scared of losing her job and becoming a prostitute because she does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers. And so she pays the price of her illusory fears with her life, her health, her body, and her mind” (Saadawi 111).
For a time, Firdaus returns to the life of an “honorable” woman. She stops selling her body and gets a company job. After toiling at her firm for a time, she makes the realization that the life of a prostitute is better and more secure than the life of a female employee. It is ironic, then, that female employees fear losing their jobs and becoming prostitutes, for they would have a higher quality of life as a prostitute.
Firdaus the Murderess (Dramatic Irony)
“'And have you killed anybody yet?’
‘Yes, I have.’
He stared at me for a brief moment, laughed and then said, ‘I can’t believe that someone like you can kill’" (Saadawi 142).
This quote is taken from an exchange between Firdaus and her last client, the prince. Firdaus confesses to the prince that she has indeed killed someone, but he refuses to believe she’s capable of killing. This is an example of dramatic irony: although the prince doesn’t know Firdaus is a man killer, the reader does know. Furthermore, we also know that, if he threatened Firdaus, she would be capable of killing him, too.
