Woman Between Islam and Western Society
3. Western Woman
~ 158 ~
ladder of success and she quickly reaches dizzy
heights of fame and wealth. She has a host of fans
and is surrounded by luxuries, but the climax of
her success does not bring her peace. Now she
discovers the bitter truth — that “fame has a way
of fading, and friends a way of disappearing when
they are most needed.”
33
With a sigh, she says, “Only a woman knows what
loneliness is.”
34
The main point made by the novel
is that a woman cannot afford to find herself in such
a situation. Making vast sums of money working in
films and securing an independent life may seem
very attractive propositions, but as a woman ages,
her friends no longer see any charm in her and this,
to the woman, proves an unbearable shock.
She may have amassed all kinds of wealth and
material objects, but still lacks what she most needs
— peace of mind. This is something which can only
arise from the stability of a permanent
companionship, but now there is no man in her life
who could give her just that. Too late, she realizes
what it means to possess no family of her own.
“Here is a loneliness born of independence, of
