has been sentenced to death because they were afraid to let her live, for: "My life means their death. My death means their life. They want to live." As she is finishing her story, armed policemen come for her, and the psychiatrist sits, stunned, as Firdaus is taken to be executed, and realizes that Firdaus has more courage than her. Literary significance and reception Critics have praised Saadawi for exposing the subjugation of women in Middle Eastern societies, but Wen-Chin Ouyang notes that Saadawi's work and its popularity in Western countries is regarded with suspicion by Arab critics, who contend that Saadawi perpetuates negative Western stereotypes of Arab-Islamic male violence and domination and that her work has been neglected due to its literary shortcomings. References External links Podcast of Nawal El Saadawi discussing Woman at Point Zero on the BBC's World Book Club. Woman at Point Zero Literary Dialogues at www.wmich.edu 1979 novels Egyptian novels Arabic-language novels Novels about orphans Novels set in Egypt Novels about rape Works about female genital mutilation Novels about violence against women