Throughout my literary career I have shrunk within myself and shied away whenever confronted with questions concerning my private life and the factor… - Fadwa Tuqan

silence has its own aesthetic genius that bespeaks a thousand thoughts and emotions. (p181)

The man dominated family life, as in all homes of our society. The woman had to forget that the word 'no' existed in the language, except when she repeated, "There is no God but God', in her ablutions and prayers. 'Yes' was the parroted word instilled in her from infancy, to become embedded in her consciousness for the rest of her life.
The right to express her feelings or views was prohibited. Laughing and singing were also taboo and could be indulged in only secretly, after the men, the lords and masters, left for work. Personal independence was a concept foreign to a woman all her life.

In school I was able to discover some parts of my lost self. There I established myself as a person, something I had not been able to do at home. (p45)