For example, another example of this destructive cycle is when Firdaus realizes that the women she considered strong and respectful female role models are nothing more than slaves to the oppression caused from men. When Firdaus goes to live with her uncle, she is introduced to his wife, who is immediately described as a fearsome character, with a "voice [that] was soft not with kindness, but with the softness born of cruelty" (p. .29) and eyes that were “black with a dull vitality that left nothing but pools of dark, sleepy indifference.” (p.29) The wife manages to resist even her uncle, whose "feeling for her was more of fear than love..." (p.30). However, despite her initial description as a strong female character, her wife is later forcibly raped by her uncle, despite her pleas to stop "for the sake of the Prophet" because "this is sinful". (p.51) The same example occurs with another supposed role model of Firdaus, Sharifa, who describes herself as "tough, terribly tough" with a "heart [that] is cruel and my bite [that is] deadly." (pg.72) Sharifa is later raped by Fawzy while also uttering the words "no, for the sake of the Prophet!" (p.81) In both