ife is the center of his world and that he has been holding her back.“The foundation of every society is the community, and the core of the community is lain and simply the family. If at the heart of that family the woman is held prisoner, completely veiled and sequestered as we have kept her for centuries, if she has no opening onto the outside world, no active role, society as a whole suffers fatally and closes in on itself with nothing left to give to itself or to the world” (120).Her husband had underestimated her influence in the family. He has come to realize her importance, as well as that of all women. Nagib had first introduced his mother to the outside world. He had planted a seed of knowledge in her that had blossomed. Nagib is proud of what his mother has become and is in awe of her perseverance. The mother was nourished well by her faithful men.By the end of the novel the mother has evolved into an independent woman, unafraid to face the world. She has decided to travel to France to see her youngest son and to broaden her horizons. This is a far cry form the woman who was sequestered in her home for twenty-two years. She has finally been given the opportunity to develop into a woman capable of enjoying new intellectual and emotional realms....
