Palace Walk

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1956

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-14

Chapters 15-28

Chapters 29-42

Chapters 43-56

Chapters 57-71

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

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Chapters 1-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-5 Summary

Content Warning: Both the source text and this guide include descriptions of misogyny, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.

Amina is a married woman who lives in Cairo in the early 20th century. As is her routine, she wakes up at midnight to prepare for the return of her husband, al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, from his usual “evening’s entertainment” (1). Amina married before she turned 14, and until the birth of her children, she spent most of her time alone, as her husband forbids her from leaving the house. To deal with her anxiety, she quotes Qur’an verses at the empty rooms of the house. She is a very devout Muslim; her husband’s regular drunkenness and proclivity for parties bothers her, but she knows better than to question his authority. Tonight, as always, she greets al-Sayyid Ahmad in her “polite and deferential voice” (8). She undresses him and helps him to relax. He enjoys parties and drinks to the point of intoxication on most nights. Amina appreciates their nightly interactions because the alcohol makes him “more amiable” (10) in contrast to his stern, formal demeanor when sober. Tonight, he talks about household matters and curses the presence of the Australian soldiers that the British Army has stationed in Cairo due to the necessities of World War I; these soldiers are causing disruption for the locals. He asks about the children and shares news items, which delight Amina, as she usually hears nothing about the outside world. When al-Sayyid Ahmad falls asleep, the rest of the household sleeps too.

Amina wakes early, and she and the servant, Umm Hanafi, begin to make bread and prepare breakfast. In the oven room, unlike the rest of the house, she is “the queen, with no rival to her sovereignty” (14). The sound of breakfast being prepared wakes the other members of the household, who prepare for the day. Amina’s two sons are Fahmy, a law student, and Kamal, who is still very young. Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s son from his first marriage, Yasin, also lives with the family. Amina’s two daughters are Khadija and Aisha. The latter is considered to be more attractive, while Khadija is known for her quick and cutting wit. The men of the house eat first. The three boys remain disciplined in front of their father, who is quick to criticize them for any infraction. As soon as he leaves, they eat their food quickly. Once they have all eaten, the men prepare to leave the house for the day.

As the women watch the men leave, Aisha lingers. She has become enamored of a young police officer who passes the house each day and creates opportunities to make eye contact with him. Then, the women eat their food. Aisha laughs at her older sister’s remarks, but Amina does not agree with Khadija’s rudeness toward Umm Hanafi. Khadija also tells her mother about her odd dream, which Amina suggests may prophesize an imminent marriage. Khadija is happy but is careful to hide her happiness with irony. Already, her father has turned down a proposal for Aisha because he believes that Khadija should marry first.

Chapters 6-10 Summary

After their breakfast, Amina assigns her daughters to complete housework. Once she has finished with her own meticulous cleaning regime, Amina goes to the roof. There, among the chicken and pigeon coops, she has built a unique garden, which is her favorite place to relax. She can see the distant minarets of the city’s mosques and occasionally thinks about how she is not permitted to visit these places any longer.

While al-Sayyid Ahmad is “dreaded and feared” (36) by his family, he is beloved by everyone else. Al-Sayyid Ahmad runs a store. He has an employee named Jamil al-Hamzawi who is dedicated to him. One visitor to his store is a religious man named Shaykh Mutawalli Abd al-Samad; he knew al-Sayyid Ahmad’s father. Now, he criticizes al-Sayyid Ahmad’s fondness for women and wine, but al-Sayyid Ahmad patiently defends himself. Eventually, Shaykh accepts a gift from al-Sayyid Ahmad, and they part on friendly terms.

Kamil leaves his school and walks home, choosing a route that will not take him past his father’s store. He thinks about the rare occasions when he has gotten into a fight at school and recalls how his father would discipline him. On his way home, he tries to steal a ride on a passing bus, and after a scuffle, escapes from the conductor.

Each evening, the family gathers to spend time together, but al-Sayyid Ahmad does not attend. As the older children talk to Amina, Kamal tries to get their attention by making up a story about a boy who tries to ride the bus without paying, but who is caught by the conductor and beaten to death. The others debate whether the story is true, and this makes Kamal realize the seriousness of falsely giving his word. When Yasin heads out in search of entertainment, Kamal wishes that he could go as well.

Each evening, Fahmy and Kamal head to the roof, where Fahmy quizzes his younger brother on what he has learned in school. However, Fahmy’s ulterior motive is to watch the girl next door, Maryam, with whom he is enamored. As he quizzes Kamal, he watches Maryam gather laundry, and he is pleased when his words to Kamal make the girl smile. He wishes that he could tell his father that he wants to marry Maryam, but he is worried that his father will deny him.

Chapters 11-14 Summary

Kamal leaves Fahmy and joins his mother and sisters, who are “enjoying a continuation of the coffee party limited to women” (63). Because he is still young, his presence is tolerated. Amina approves of her boys’ studies, though their lessons occasionally conflict with what she learned from her father, a renowned religious scholar. Kamal enjoys reciting his lessons to his mother; he craves any time with her and still remembers the traumatic moment when his father forbade him from sharing a bedroom with her.

Yasin leaves the house and follows his familiar nighttime routine. He has a passion for women and wine. In particular, he sits in a café where he can watch for a woman named Zanuba, with whom he has fallen in love. He sees her exit the house on the way to a wedding and follows her cart, making eye context when she tosses “a playful look his way” (75). Afterward, he goes to Mr. Costaki’s grocery store, where he is horrified to recognize an older man. This older man once courted his mother after her divorce from al-Sayyid Ahmad and before Yasin was taken into his father’s custody. The sight of the man appalls Yasin, who tries to forget the memory of the man and his mother. He feels as though the past is a “poisoned weapon” (81) that is constantly trying to attack him, but he comforts himself with the thought of a potential inheritance from his mother.

In his shop, al-Sayyid Ahmad reflects on a friend’s party, which he could not attend. His friends missed his presence, and this touches him. A woman named Umm Ali comes to the store to discuss a potential marriage arrangement between al-Sayyid Ahmad and Madam Nufasa, but he insists that he is happy with one wife (unlike his father, who had many wives). A singer named Madam Zubayda visits the store with her assistant, and al-Sayyid Ahmad flirts with her, recognizing her as a beautiful but “second-rate” (90) wedding singer.

Chapters 1-14 Analysis

In an attempt to recreate the habitual rhythms of an Egyptian family, the author uses interwoven daily routines to introduce the characters of Palace Walk and to explore their various quirks and flaws in a dynamic fashion. From the very first lines, the recurring theme of The Disempowerment of Women becomes apparent, for Amina’s daily schedule begins before everyone else wakes up and only ends when her husband drunkenly stumbles home after carousing and enjoying the attentions of other women. Since Amina spends her life trapped inside the house on her husband’s orders, this routine is the only meaningful structure in her life, and she spends her entire existence in the shadow of her husband’s actions. From the making of his bread and the raising of his children to the removal of his clothes at the end of the day, everything she does is designed to make him happy, or at the very least, to satisfy his demands.

Rather than illuminating the contours of her existence, this initial depiction of Amina’s daily routine only serves to underline her subservience to her husband, which is particularly pronounced, even by the standards of the patriarchal society in which she lives. Because her husband does not believe that women should be seen in public, she is denied the opportunity to build a life and an identity of her own, and her lack of freedom creates an ironic contrast with the much more liberated lives of other women, particularly those with whom al-Sayyid Ahmad has extramarital affairs. Such women are permitted the freedom to break free of their daily routines, while Amina does not have this privilege. Ultimately, the description of her rigid and restrictive daily routine demonstrates the extremely domineering influence of al-Sayyid Ahmad, illustrating the extent to which he compels the women in his life to submit to his will.

Additionally, the opening chapters of the novel illustrate a key difference between the public and private personas of al-Sayyid Ahmad, and this contrast highlights The Toxic Effects of Patriarchal Authority. According to his family, al-Sayyid Ahmad is a terrifying man. He is austere and demanding, imposing his will on his family members and scaring them in order to compel their obedience. His daughters are afraid to look out at the street from the window, while his sons avoid speaking during breakfast. However, in a sharp contrast to the emotionally cold and distant image that he presents to his family, al-Sayyid Ahmad cultivates a jovial, charming, and warm public persona when he meets with his friends, becoming someone else entirely. The vastly different public and private personalities of al-Sayyid Ahmad emphasize the extent to which he wishes to control his family, for he is willing to suppress his actual personality in their presence in order to inspire their fear and ensure their loyalty and obedience. To al-Sayyid Ahmad, the prospect of being warm and friendly with his family is equated with showing weakness that will undermine his authority. However, as the novel progresses, the disparity between his public and private images will widen the emotional gulf between himself and his family members, thereby causing deeper problems that his self-styled authority will be insufficient to solve or control.

The seeds of division are already inherent within the family dynamics, for al-Sayyid Ahmad’s oldest son, Yasin, is a child of divorce. Unlike Khadija, Aisha, Fahmy, and Kamal, he is not Amina’s son. Instead, he is the product of his father’s first marriage to a woman whom his father now considers to be disgraced. Significantly, just as Yasin has inherited his father’s vices, he has also inherited his father’s biases, as is demonstrated when he disregards his mother and views her as a scandalous presence at the very edges of his life. He has also absorbed his father’s misogynistic hypocrisy, and each evening, he too sits in bars and drinks alcohol, staring at women and objectifying them in his mind. Ironically, despite the shared lecherousness of father and son, they both judge Yasin’s mother by harsh standards that they themselves refuse to follow, and as such, they represent a deeply hypocritical presence in the novel. Yasin’s similarities to his father therefore functions as a cautionary tale that is designed to emphasize the dangers of unwittingly passing down learned prejudices and flaws from generation to generation.