Nawal al-Wazir Character Analysis

This middle-aged film director leads a secretive life and is interpreted in different ways by different characters. Although she claims to have a purely professional relationship with Saidi, some people believe that she is Saidi’s lover. Saidi’s driver, Sultan, goes so far as to say that Nawal is responsible for the legal actions taken against Saidi, because she used her political contacts against her former lover. Mahmoud, who claims to be in love with her, finds that her behavior toward him is ambiguous: although she rejects him, she also seems to want to cultivate a certain intimacy with him. Overall, it is difficult to ascertain Nawal’s true motives, since she is always seen through different characters’ eyes. This makes her just as difficult to understand as Saidi and suggests that, like the editor, she, too, might be less interested in transparency than in manipulating those around her.