Palace Walk

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1956

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-14

Chapters 15-28

Chapters 29-42

Chapters 43-56

Chapters 57-71

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Chapters 29-42Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 29-33 Summary

Al-Sayyid Ahmad returns home and learns that his wife is injured. When he meets with her, she confesses what really happened and is surprised by his relatively calm response. He tells her to “stay in bed till God heals [her]” (184). After al-Sayyid Ahmad exits the room, Khadija and Aisha rush in. Amina explains that she told their father the truth. They are as shocked as she is by al-Sayyid Ahmad’s understated reaction. Because Amina is injured, she sends Khadija to perform her duties and take care of al-Sayyid Ahmad. Khadija does her best but cannot perform the duties to the same high standard as her mother. Amina recovers in bed as her daughters try to run the household in her absence.

After three weeks, Amina is able to return to her duties and is apprehensive about al-Sayyid Ahmad’s reaction. She brings his breakfast, which he eats with his sons as usual. When she brings him coffee, he calmly reveals his judgement and tells her that she must “leave [his] house immediately” (193). Because he has had time to reflect on the judgement rather than delivering it in an emotional state, he has decided that allowing her to stay would reflect poorly on “his prestige, honor, personal standards, and set of values” (194). He tells Amina that she must be gone from his house by noon, when he plans to return from his store.

Amina is shocked by al-Sayyid Ahmad’s decision. She reveals her fate to her children, who share her horror. She tries to reassure them as she prepares to leave for her mother’s house. At Khadija’s insistence, she takes only one set of clothing. Amina returns to her family home, arriving as a “chastised wife” (200). She explains the situation to her mother, but she does not mention the car accident. Amina’s mother has refused to give up her home, even though al-Sayyid Ahmad has offered for her to move into his house. She is now alone, as an epidemic killed Amina’s sisters many years ago. The children soon visit Amina and assure her that they are desperate for her return. They discuss al-Sayyid Ahmad’s will and speculate on whether they will be able to change his mind.

Chapters 34-38 Summary

Meanwhile, Khadija and Aisha take over Amina’s duties in the family house. The children debate which of them is best placed to raise the subject of their mother’s return, and they eventually agree to invite Maryam’s mother to intervene on their behalf. One day, Kamal finds himself near his father’s store. His father notices him, and after an awkward silence, Kamal desperately shouts for him to “bring back mama” (217). The outburst earns him a beating.

Umm Maryam visits al-Sayyid Ahmad. She is Maryam’s mother and is the wife to a man who has paralysis. Al-Sayyid Ahmad is intrigued by her visit; when she casually alludes to his absent wife, he wonders whether she is sexually attracted to him. Nevertheless, he has a personal rule about not pursuing the wives and girlfriends of friends and associates and therefore refuses “to answer the temptations of passion” (223). He notices that she squeezes his hand as she bids him goodbye.

Next, al-Sayyid Ahmad is visited by the widow of the late Mr. Shawkat, his former mentor. She knows him well enough to chide him for sending his wife away, but the true purpose of her visit is because she wants Aisha to marry her son, Khalil. Although he has sworn that the older Khadija must marry first, al-Sayyid Ahmad cannot ignore this request from the esteemed, respectable family.

Amina spends her exile in the company of her mother. Her boys visit frequently, and eventually, al-Sayyid Ahmad sends word that she is permitted to return. The boys collect her and walk her home, which is a novel experience for them. She receives a warm welcome from the family. After an awkward reunion with al-Sayyid Ahmad, he tells her that Aisha will marry Khalil. Aisha is delighted by the prospect of the marriage. Khadija is less pleased, but her irony and sarcasm mask her resentment at being passed over. However, her mood improves when she is given the task of making Aisha’s wedding gown.

Chapters 39-42 Summary

Yasin muses on his angry thoughts as he sits outside Zubayda’s home, thinking about his attempts to court Zanuba, a lute player. He sits there many nights until Zanuba invites him into her mistress’s home. Inside, he learns that Zubayda is also hosting a male guest, and he tries not to reveal his surprise when Zanuba reveals that the guest is al-Sayyid Ahmad. Yasin is shocked at the discovery of his father’s dual life and finally sees his father’s true self. He is also relieved to realize that his own womanizing is not unique. Yasin begins his love affair with Zanuba while his father is in the next room.

The wedding between Aisha and Khalil is conducted in silent dignity in accordance with al-Sayyid Ahmad’s wishes. The women and the men are separated for the party, with al-Sayyid Ahmad retiring to a room with his own guests for a private night of entertainment that differs from his usual drunken escapades. Kamal is young enough to flit between all groups as he struggles to come to terms with his sister’s marriage and imminent departure. Fahmy sees Maryam at the wedding, and the sight of her rekindles his old passions. The singer Jalila is booked to sing for the women. She drinks and makes suggestive comments to Amina, hinting at her prior affair with al-Sayyid Ahmad. Eventually, an intoxicated Jalila confronts al-Sayyid Ahmad and publicly tells him that she is happy for him and his lover, Zubayda. He is furious that she would mention this in front of his family. Yasin uses this revelation as an opportunity to tell Fahmy about their father’s secret life, in which he “gets drunk and commits adultery” (271). Fahmy does not want to believe this, and Amina is ashamed by the current spectacle but keeps quiet. Personal feelings are put aside in time for the wedding procession as Khalil leads his new bribe away. Amina hushes Kamal, who demands an explanation for why Khalil was secretly kissing Aisha.

By the time he returns home, Yasin is drunk. Laughing to himself about his father’s proclivities, he feels a sudden desire for female company. Sneaking out of the house, he notices Umm Hanafi, the family servant, sleeping in the courtyard and tries to force himself on her. However, her shouts and resistance wake his father. A furious al-Sayyid Ahmad appears and calls Yasin a “criminal” (279). He sends Yasin to his room.

Amina and Fahmy know about Yasin’s treatment of Umm Hanafi, and Khadija soon notices that something is amiss in the family dynamics. Al-Sayyid Ahmad summons Yasin to a private meeting and states that his son will marry the daughter of his friend, a textile merchant in al-Hamzawi. Yasin’s initial excitement is dashed when he realizes that he has spent all his salary on carousing and will not have a dowry for his new wife. Al-Sayyid Ahmad is disgusted by the knowledge that he will be forced to pay for his delinquent son’s wedding. When the family is told of this new engagement, Kamal is relieved to learn that Yasin’s new wife will join the household, rather than Yasin leaving as Aisha did.

Chapters 29-42 Analysis

After he discovers his wife’s act of disobedience, al-Sayyid Ahmad takes his time to impose a punishment, and although he allows her to heal, his judgment falls squarely into the category of The Disempowerment of Women, for by exiling her from the house, he crafts a rebuke that mirrors the perceived transgression. If Amina will not stay in the house, al-Sayyid Ahmad seems to suggest, then she will not be permitted to return to the house. More cruelly, however, the punishment has a devastating impact on Amina’s sense of identity. Since she has never been permitted to leave the house, her entire life revolves around her dual roles as a devoted wife and a loving mother. By exiling her from the house, al-Sayyid Ahmad is denying her these identities. Thus, while the punishment ostensibly frees her from her husband’s rule, however temporarily, it proves to be a prison of a different kind: one that reshapes Amina’s entire perception of herself. As an exile in disgrace, Amina is barely recognizable as the self-possessed woman who appeared in the first chapters of the novel, and she does not know what to do with herself in the absence of her usual responsibilities. The severity of the punishment is an indication that al-Sayyid Ahmad knows how to manipulate and control his family, and he is willing to do so in the harshest terms possible to maintain his authority.

Significantly, Amina’s exile ends with the announcement of Aisha’s wedding, the arrangement of which is a subtle imposition on al-Sayyid Ahmad’s authority, given that the advantageous match forces him to renege on his long-standing assertion that Khadija would be married first. However, he is forced to bend this rule when the widow of his friend and mentor approaches him with a marriage proposal on behalf of her son. Because the widow’s family is from a higher social class than al-Sayyid Ahmad, he feels obliged to accept. He is not pleased, but his reluctant acceptance suggests that he is aware of the broader social strata of influence and power within Cairo. The scene therefore demonstrates that although he may be the most prominent authority figure in his own household, even his power has limits. This reality is further reinforced during the actual wedding, for he refrains from his usual wanton methods of celebration in order to maintain the air of authority by which he commands in his household. He fears that if his family sees him drunk and happy, the illusion of his stern paternal demeanor will vanish along with his authority. However, his attempt to maintain his autocratic veneer is ruined when the singer, Jalila, publicly announces his fondness for singing and drinking. By inserting moments that detract from al-Sayyid Ahmad’s public image, the author uses the wedding to highlight the patriarch’s many flaws and emphasize the fact that even he can be forced into actions that compromise his identity and his authority. Ultimately, he compromises his proposed order of marriage for his daughters, his public persona, and his domestic supremacy.

It is also important to note that the difficulties that al-Sayyid Ahmad has during Aisha’s wedding will fuel his desire to use Yasin’s wedding as a punishment. When Yasin causes a scandal by drunkenly trying to rape Umm Hanafi, his father is appalled, not because of his son’s disregard for women—a disregard that al-Sayyid Ahmad shares—but because of Yasin’s lack of self-control. Just as al-Sayyid Ahmad knew that sending Amina into exile would be a deeply affecting punishment for her, he decides to arrange a marriage for Yasin as another form of exile. This marriage is a punishment because it is designed to be an extension of the pain and awkwardness that al-Sayyid Ahmad felt during Aisha’s wedding, and thus, he weaponizes marriage itself to strike back at his scandalous son. In addition to expressing his disgust for his son’s lack of discipline, this decision also shows the lack of respect that al-Sayyid Ahmad has for marriage as an institution.