Midaq Alley Analysis

Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz coveys a power struggle in abusive relationships revolving involving Haminda and Ibrahim through open dialogue in order to bring conflicts regarding prostitution, that hide in the shadows, to light. First, dialogue introduces the economically and emotionally abusive relationship between Hamida and Ibrahim, which centers primarily on prostitution. The first sign of economic abuse appears when Ibrahim refuses to engage with Hamida due to the fact that people will “gladly pay fifty pounds for virgins”, insinuating that he will gain profit off her body (Mahfouz 223). Ibrahim’s scheming statement plays with Hamida’s emotions and pushes her out of her moral comfort zone for his economic interests. He associates numerical …show more content…
He once again associates her worth with her ability to produce him money through her prostituting herself. Consequently this emotional abuse humiliates Hamida and tests her confidence within herself as well as frustrates her within the relationship. She starts to catch on that his emotional manipulation is merely a tactic to lure her into economic abuse in order to profit off of her. As result, the reader sees through their dialogue their flawed relationship that starkly contrasts from their initial relationship where he constantly worships her. Next, Hamida has to validate herself to Ibrahim through he claim that she “make[s] more money for” him than most of the other girls he employs (258). This is an attempt of Hamida to reverse the economic and emotional abuse put onto her by Ibrahim by showing her own economic worth, as well as using it as leverage against him, thus showing him that she is not expendable. In addition, this demonstration of power reveals the slight power the victim has in an abusive relationship, as the abuser only contains power with someone to abuse. This applies directly to prostitution in the sense that the pimp cannot make economic gains without the employment of others, of those he abuses economically and sexually for profits. Overall, the open dialogue within …show more content…
Although their dialogue may not reveal their entire inner thoughts and intentions, it does show some stronger intentions that cross the barrier from thought to speech. In addition their dialogue reveals the way they interact with each other, further exemplifying Ibrahim’s abusive behavior and Hamida’s response to it, as well as why she subjects her to it. Their dialogue uncovers the veil to their abusive relationship giving the reader a scope to view his manipulation of Hamida sexually, economically, and emotionally, which exposes the reader to abuses that are not commonly