A Comparison of the Heat and Cold Imagery Used in Nawal El SaadawisJoin now to read essay A Comparison of the Heat and Cold Imagery Used in Nawal El SaadawisA Comparison of the Heat and Cold Imagery Used in Nawal El Saadawi’sWoman at Point Zero and Yasunari Kawabata’s Thousand CranesIn the books Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi, and Thousand Cranes by Yasunari Kawabata, both authors use various forms of imagery that reoccur throughout the works. These images are used not to be taken for their literal meanings, but instead to portray a deeper sense or feeling that may occur several times in the book.
One type of imagery that both Saadawi and Kawabata use in their works is heat and cold imagery. In the works, Woman at Point Zero and Thousand Cranes, Nawal El Saadawi and Yasunari Kawabata each use heat and cold imagery to portray the same feelings of love and fear and /or the lack thereof.
In both works, the authors use heat and cold imagery in order to portray the presence and/or lack of love in three different forms. These three forms of love that are illustrated through the use of heat and cold imagery are protection, comfort, and intimacy.
Heat and cold imagery is used repeatedly in both works to provide a feeling of love in the form of protection and security, usually having the presence of heat or warmth representing a feeling of protection and security, and the absence of heat representing a lack of security or protection. In the following lines from Kawabata’s Thousand Cranes, it is a memory of Mrs. Ota that provides Kikuji a sense of security during a conversation with Fumiko: “Mrs. Ota’s warmth came over him like warm water. She had gently surrendered everything he remembered, and he had felt secure” (Kawabata 36). In Woman at Point Zero, Saadawi uses the warmth of Firdaus’ uncle’s arms as an image for love in the form of protection in the following lines: “During the cold winter night, I curled up in my uncle’s arms like a baby in its womb. We drew warmth from our closeness” (Saadawi 21). This passage provides an even greater sense of protection through Saadawi’s use of the simile, “like a baby in its womb” (21).
The second form of love expressed through the use of heat and cold imagery in both works is comfort. In Woman at Point Zero, heat is used in order to provide comfort to Firdaus who is “shivering with cold” and “soaked in rain” (63).
The third and final form of love expressed through the use of heat and cold imagery in Thousand Cranes and Woman at Point Zero is that of intimate relations. It is for this reason that Kawabata uses heat imagery as the prominent literary device to describe the intimate relationship between Kikuji and Mrs. Ota. For instance, “The very face of the Shino, glowing warmly cool, made him think of Mrs. Ota” the previous quote provides an example of how Kawabata uses heat imagery to describe anything that relates to Mrs. Ota or her relationship with Kikuji (Kawabata 137). In addition, sentences like, “The woman in Fumiko’s mother came to him again, warm and naked.” are used to portray the intimate connection that existed between Kikuji and Mrs. Ota (104). Heat and cold imagery is also used to portray intimacy in the following lines from Woman at Point Zero: “We talked very quietly for a long time and when we had said all we had to say, we gave ourselves to one another in a warm embrace” (Saadawi 82).
Nawal El Saadawi and Yasunari Kawabata also use heat and cold imagery in their works in order to display feelings of fear or uneasiness in a character. Usually it is a feeling of coldness that a character feels when he or she becomes scared or afraid. A prime example of this cold feeling due to an uneasiness is how Saadawi refers to the first time she ever hears Firdaus speak as “cutting deep down inside, cold as a knife”(6). Time and time again, Saadawi uses cold imagery to portray a look from the eyes, as in the following sentences which describe the look received by Firdaus from a co-worker, “His look was that of a top executive to a minor official. I felt it land on my head, and then drop down to my body
[1] These same images seem to apply to every single one of the three main stories, from the first moment the voice is heard throughout the story to the last.[2][3] In an interview he mentions “I got this big mouth coming out of my mouth.”[2][3]
Another popular and widespread idea among writers and activists is that Firdaus is based on a fairy tale (literally, fairy tales) of an African prince who is about to fall in love with a young slave boy.
Many writers and activists (such as Mariam Lohier and James A. Martin), while not trying to be objective in their theories, are often very open about their belief that Firdaus is based a fairy tale. For example, one can find articles by Mariam Lohier, James A. Martin, and many others about the myth that Firdaus is based on a fairy tale. They all argue that Firdaus in the first place is based on a story written by a black man.[3]
According to the popular claim that Firdaus has a dark past or history, Firdaus never died.
Sofia is said to be a true fairy-tale princess from a forest of African descent,[1] in which she speaks three simple words which she uses to describe her story in the sense of speech.
Fantasy
A common fantasy among the general reader will be that this character being very popular with young and naive people in urban and rural cities. This idea stems from the fact that most non-Western cultures never imagined or seen this beautiful “daughter” of Africa that was adopted from one of the most beautiful and dangerous places in the world, and was created by human beings as a symbol of beauty, wealth, and power. Fictional characters have been used and depicted almost as many things as those in reality today. And, in the case of Firdaus, it is said that his relationship with his grandmother, whose name is also used in many historical works of literature.[1][5]
The fantasy of Firdaus is often used as a common way of describing his or her history as a young child or young man.
A common misconception for this type of fanfic is that only some young people want this story to be told.[6]
Fairy Tales
This is a common myth among fantasy authors and activists that these stories are based on fairy tales. The belief that stories with different endings or times are based on fairy narratives is almost always dismissed with ridicule and usually accompanied by a few stories with different interpretations. The idea of myths was also common in