Women and Madness:

A Close Postmo dern Feminist Analysis of Pillars of Salt

"What we consider 'madness' whether it appears in women or in men, is either the acting out of the devalued female role or

:Women and Madness A close postmodern feminist analysis of Pillars of Salt Introduction
Women, like men, need to develop strengths and capacities for living in the world, if not for economic"
(reasons, an increasing pressure, then for reasons of self-esteem." (Demaris S. 1987

Insanity, living in an asylum, could be someone's fate in a certain point of his life as a result to an intolerable violence and pressure, which would leave the sensitive soul of mankind in a state of isolation, instability, despair and madness. Women, with their sensitive soul and less capacity for handling and coping with hardships and violence are easily targeted by madness and anxiety. Many works in literature have tackled women's reaction to violence and social injustice; whether it was domestic or social. The Jordanian novelist Fadia Faqir presented a clear image about the consequences of political oppression and social violence against women in her novel Pillars of Salt (1997), and this research will depend on this novel to prove that women go mad after being a prey for violence and .injustice

Theory and Review of Literature

Faqir was not the only novelist who tackled women's madness as result for the political segregation and the patriarchal obligation. The post colonial novel Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) by Jean Ryhs dealt largely with the themes of racial inequality and the harshness of displacement and assimilation due to colonization and its consequences on the self and the other. Other novels have also tackled the same issue: Nadine Gordimer in July's People (1981), Gloria Naylor in The Women of 2

.(Brewster Place (1990) and Maxine Kingston in The Woman Warrior (1976

Women have been suffering from injustice and inequality for centuries. They were pictured as inferior to men in everything and in every aspect. Feminism as a movement emerged in the 19th century aims to analyze "gender equalities" and to promote for women's rights and issues (Buhle 1998). It aims also to end any kind of discrimination, stereotyping, and oppression against women. later on, Postmodern feminism came to incorporate theories from post-structuralism, like psychoanalysis; in order to criticize and draw attention to the accusations women have unjustly encountered from the .( patriarchal society of being evil spirits, insane, and not as "fully human" as men( Buhle, 1998,Ibid

Many earlier studies discussed the prejudicial claims against women's sanity and insanity. Hysteria has been "solely" associated with women because of their inferiority to men both mentally and biologically and because they are more nervous and melancholic when they go through some domestic misfortunes, disappointments in love and marriage etc (Colley, 1983). If a woman is not being submissive and obedient in a patriarchal society, it means that she is not acting according to reason and good sense. Consequently, such "deviate" behavior is a form of madness that should be treated in an asylum, were most women belong: "women, more than men, and in greater numbers than their existence in the general population would predict, are involved in 'careers' as psychiatric patients".(Chesler, 1973, (p.22 Michel Foucault traced the phenomenon of madhouses that emerged in the classical period. People were sent to asylums not only because they were truly mad, but also they are confined for sometimes "moral reasons". Women were accused of being insane if they dared to 3

repel against injustice or against the rules that were put on them. Their rebellion was seen as "an event" in the patriarchal society and thus a form of insanity (Foucault 1977). Thus, according to :Chesler 1973, if a woman wants to be healthy and recognized as a healthy individual, she must

Adjust to, and accept the behavioral forms for her sex even though these kinds of behavior" are generally regarded as less socially desirable... The ethics of mental health is

(masculine in our culture". (P 68-69

. The Ultimate Purpose Thus, the purpose of this paper is to prove that women's madness, or "so called" madness, is not due to a natural and a direct relationship between women and insanity. This paper is also to prove that: "female psychology is conditional and affected by an oppressive patriarchal male culture" (Chesler, 1973, Ibid). This will be achieved through examining the females' characters: Maha and Umm Saad in Faqire's postmodern novel Pillars of Salt

Limitations Madness, as a wide general topic, has been universally tackled from many perspectives and angles: historically, medically, psychologically and socially. My research will be limited in discussing madness in women as a social phenomenon through literature and some psychoanalytical aspects in the light of what have some psychologists and theorists said about it

Textual Analysis Madly Ever After

."A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free" Nikos Kazantzakis

Repression, rape, and false accusations, were part of what a woman in the Middle East went through in her life of injustice. She was accused of being evil, seductress, and mad. If women wanted to free themselves and live in equality with men, they would be sent to asylums, to precede their lives in "confinements". In Fadia Faqir's Pillars of Salt, Maha and Um Saad ended up at 'Al Fuhais Madhouse' not because they truly got mad as a result of oppression and ."injustice; but because they dared to challenge the "dominant", the "mighty", the "man

Mahaa Character Jordan in the 1920s was under the British mandate. Many Jordanians were struggling hard in order to get their independence back; just like Harb, Maha's husband, who was killed by the English colonizer. Maha, like any other Bedouin women, was fighting her own battle to achieve her personal independence. Unfortunately, her life became more complicated; especially her disagreements with her brother Daffash who thought that putting his sister in a sanitary is the best solution since she refused to .give up her land after the death of her father

Um Saads Character Um Saad in Amman had also her own battle. After so many years in her marriage, her husband got married to another woman; who is younger and more beautiful. She could put up with the idea that her husband and his new wife have taken over her own room; pushing her later on to sleep in the kitchen. She could not accept the misfortunes she had in the big city, so she ran out of the house, slept next to a .mosque and finally was put in the mad house by her husband, because to him, she has lost her mind

Further Analysis The patriarchal perspective the storyteller is telling his story from, describes the thoughts and the attitudes men have toward women. The storyteller is amazed by Maha's strength and capability; but he refuses to believe that such powers could naturally exist in a woman. To him it is "the soul of a fiery jinnee escaping from the depth of the sea must have possessed her." (Faqir 26). To men, it must be supernatural powers that made her able to work hard in the land and .cook mansaf to a lot of men by herself

When Maha knew that her brother Daffash has raped her friend Nasra, she got furious and she decided to kill him. When Daffash got away with it and laid his hands on the rifle, he wanted to shoot both Maha and Nasra calling them "crazy whores" (Faqir 12). He explained to his father: "I want to put some sense into those crazy women's heads"(Faqir 13). Foucault traced the attitudes toward women in the past and the way they are regarded in a society; she has to accept the wishes and the rules perceived by a man as "divine" (Foucault, 1974). That is why .Daffash saw Maha's courage to shoot him is a form of craziness

Carl Jung believed that the differences between men and women are physically and psychologically determined; like the structure of the psyche he talked about. (Jung, 1980). From the feminist perspective, these differences are socially constructed not biologically. The Bedouin society where Maha lived legitimates and celebrates the dominance of man. Even women lived with the idea that men are superior by nature. Maha's mother tried to justify that to her daughter explaining: "what do you expect? He is a boy. Allah placed him a step higher. We must accept Allah's verdict"(Faqir 33). Um Saad shares such beliefs that boys are better than girls: "Girls are a worry until they are in the graves" (Faqir 129). Um Saad's mother as well shared the same thoughts with the other people of the society: "Haniyyeh, where are you broken-neck?" (Faqir .95) It is because Um Saad was the first daughter and her mother wanted a son

Having a close examination to the deep complicated psyche of mankind, one can come to realize that madness lies deep inside everyone of us. People who live in such an oppressive community are easily targeted by madness that finds its way to them by a reason another, just like a monster that was hidden and now is released. In Maha's case, melancholia and despair were the triggers of her so-called madness; when she found out that she was pregnant after Harb's death: "[she] stood up and began wailing and jumping in the air. Harb was not dead". (Faqir118). Nasra held her hand calling her: "mad Maha?" (Faqir 118) Maha was just desperate and sad; but according to the community where she lived, it was just a form of madness and ."evil" simply because she is a woman in a man's world

The primitive societies used to kill those who were seen as "deviants". More civilized cultures dont kill them, they simple outcast them, causing them "the death of the soul" rather than the physical death. (Foucault, 1977). That was the punishment for both Um Saad and Maha; as they were both sent to the madhouse to be punished for daring to challenge the man, the dominant. What Maha wanted is to develop her strength for living in the world. She wanted to insure her life economically by trying hard to keep her land. She was also striving to preserve the residues of her self-esteem when her brother wanted to force her to get married to an old man. .She ran away, she wanted to get her freedom no matter what

Ann Ulanov, a Jungian analyst, intensifies Jung's argument about the feelings and the attitudes that are motivated by unconscious, sometimes come out like "rage". As a result, this rage would work like a weapon to achieve a social change. (Demaris S., 1987). Maha's rage was to make such a difference, but it was fruitless. She managed to escape, but when her "womanly instinct" motivated her to go back to see her son, she was accused of being a sinner that should be stoned. To Daffash she is simply a crazy woman because she dared to challenge everyone and run away; she is not even worthy of being talked to: "I don't talk to women. No brain and no (faithsecond, what is the use of talking to a crazy woman". (Faqir 217

Conclusion
In brief, the novel has succeeded in alerting women for the necessity of not being submissive and slave-like. Although the novelist sometimes exaggerated in presenting some of the facts, the aim of this novel seems noble and worthy of appreciation. Someday, women will be

more daring in achieving their goals and shaping their own identity; still without attacking men and trying to steal their role in society. Both sides should live in a world of harmony and peace, where both sexes are appreciated and highly valued, because "what we consider 'madness' whether it appears in women or in men, is either the acting out of the devalued female role or the total or partial rejection of one's sex-role stereotype".(Felman, 1975, p 27). So, no one should be devalued or mistreated; because that may lead to madness and psychological instability to both men and women. The goal of my research is prove from written novels and biographies that women go mad after being mistreated and devalued, not because they are born mad or naturally .created with a defect in their psyche that makes them vulnerable to mental diseases

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